B.C. LUMBER WORKER

January 18, 1951

‘The attack was launched in the
Redwood Empire Labor Journal,
official AFL paper for Northwest

California.
Vice-President Hartung pinned

down the move as typical

“Commie line” methods to cover |

the lack of achievements of the
AFL “piccards” in their dwn
fields of organization.

Brother Hartung reminded
those concerned, too, that AFL
had failed miserably at establish-
ing their union as an effective
bargaining agent, and that when

workers stood by them in a 14-

month strike, the AFL called the
strike off, went back to work, and
did not get job protection for
those who had stuck to the picket
lines in the fight.

The real issue, he said, and
cause of the scurrilous attack on
the IWA, was that the AFL were
afraid of the establishment of
the IWA-CIO as the bargaining
agent for Redwood lumber
workers.

The whole tone of the Redwood
Journal attack, said Hartung was
“communist” in its derogatory
attitude to IWA Minneapolis con-
vention and the Northwest
Regional conference.

In its lying propaganda, the
AFL charged that the IWA in
B.C, “had been left weakened
and tottering” after the Pritchett
breakaway and that only now
was it “regaining its strength as

_ Communists slipped back in to

the organization.”

Hartung disposed of that non-
sense, reminding California’s
workers that the “WIUC had
completely disintegrated, that
leaders in the breakaway were
banned from membership, and
that the IWA in B.C. had risen
to its greatest heights under its
present leadership and direction.

Comparison of wage scale rates
and working conditions between
AFL and IWA unions, in the
Northwest, in the Southern
States, and elsewhere was the
final answer to the AFL lies.

ee 8

“SOUNDER ECONOMY” Re-

_ Sults from IWA Health & Wel-

fare Program,

Doctors, merchants and hospi-
tal operators are beginning to
see the yalue of the IWA-CIO'’s
Health & Welfare program and
voice their approval in no un-
certain terms,

Reports received from widely
Separated sources disclose that
merchants are expressing a great
deal of favorable comment con-
cerning the Health & Welfare
program,

“The merchants feel that we

|

INTERNATIONAL

Ge SESEaEe

Hartung Scores AFL Propaganda

Vice-President Al Hartung has dealt effectively with an attempt by the AFL in
Ukiah, California, to alienate workers from the IWA by lying propaganda about the
TWA-CIO in British Columbia.

Steel Settles

Phil Murray, President of the
United Steel Workers of Ameri-
ca (CIO) said his union would
ask for a “healthy and substan-
tial” wage increase and they got
it without too much trouble.

Perliaps the United States
Steel Corp. remembered the 1949
negotiations on pensions and
they knew they must make a
reasonable settlement or be faced
with picket lines.

The Union had a good case.
Their argument was based on:

1, Cost of living since the war
broke out in Korea;

2. Profits are high and the
company should share the in-
creased profits, thru increased
productivity with labor;

8. The steel industry should
stabilize its working force.

Final settlement—every steel
worker received 123%¢ per hour,
plus an increase of from 414 per
hour to 5c in the pay spread be-
tween each of the 32 job classifi-
cations.

+ 8 &

Effect of CIO drives for pen-
sions and welfare programs
shows up in U.S. Govérnment
statistics. Some 17,650,000. work-

ers are now protected by pension
or insurance plans—about 80%
of them paid for by employers.
Figure has more than doubled
since 1948, the report shows.

* 8 4

Cost-of-Living Index
(1935-1939—100)

The Dominion Bureau of Sta-
tistics cost-of-living index rose
0.4 points to 171.1 between No-
vember ist and December Ist,
1950. This compares with an in-
dex level of 161.5 at December
1949,

Between August 1939 and De-
cember 1950, the Cost-of-Living
index advanced 69.7%.

Pe er

Production, shipments and or-
ders on hand of sawmills in B.C.:

OCTOBER

Production:

1950 1949 %o

M, Ft. M. Ft. Increase

337,829 249,034 35.7
Shipments:

307,271 224,220 37.0
Orders on Hand
(Coast Mills only)

657,145 212,316 209.4

Source: D.B.S.

are definitely becoming more in-
dependent since very few of us
have to run up bills with them
when we are sick or injured,” re-
ports F. Jenkins, Local 5-246.
“They regard this as a step to-
ward a sounder economy for our
community.”

«oe *
«ORGANIZATIONAL PROB-
LEMS of the IWA-CIO in the
southern lumbering states were
tackled by officers of the Inter-
national Union and staff mem-
bers in a series of meetings in
Atlanta, Georgia.

President J. E. Fadling, who
presided at the meetings, summed
up the main problems as that of
maintaining organizers in the
areas where the CIO’s Southern
Organizing Drive is not operat-
ing and the maintaining of an
adequate staff on the servicing

end after local unions have been
set up and elections won in
plants.

“We are here in the common
interest of the CIO and to con-
centrate on building our organi-
zation, to lay plans with the CIO
Southern Drive officers to co-
ordinate our efforts and to strive
to organize the other plants of
the companies that we have al-
ready organized,” President Fad-
ling told the group.

ee ®

BACKED by a determined
membership, Local 108 of South-
ampton, Ontario, opened negoti
tions last month with the Domi:
jon Plywoods and Hepworth Fur-
niture, The union demands in-
clude requests for Union Shop
and a 20 cents an hour wage

MINE MILL LOSES OUT
IN TUSSLE WITH CCL

Workers who haye had the opportunity to vote on whether or
not they want to retain the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers as their
union have shown a preferenee for a CCL union or the United Steel-

workers by an overwhelming majority.

In collective bargaining

votes since Mine-Mill’s suspension from the Congress, 4,394 votes
have been rolled up for the CCL or Steel as against 1,675 for

Mine-Mill, ©
Here is the box score:

ccL
94

Mine-Mill
21
17

118
24
29

vd
16
81
23
325
269

White Heads
Local 1-405

James White, of Cranbrook,
B.C, was named to fill-the
position of President when elec-
tions were conducted recently
by Local 1-405, IWA.

First Vice-President is John G.
Kazmer, and Financial Secretary
is John G. Kazmer, while Bob
Whitefield will act as Warden
and John Rasumseen as Con-
ductor. ;

The financial affairs of the
Local will be watched over by
three Trustees: One-Year term,
Frank Sherbo; Two-Year term,
John Dorey; Three-Year term
Stan Dudka.

John G, Kazmer will represent
pe Local as District Board Mem-

er. 5
Delegates to the forthcoming
pees Goventiany are as fol-
lows: Jol a zmer, Wayne
Agnew, panes Knezacek. Wayne
Agnew and George Knezacek will
also act as delegates the
Safety Convention, while John G.
Kazmer

will represent the Local

ton the Resolutions Committee.

U.S. Wage

Some 250 people attended the
two-day "Conference to decide
what matters will be taken up in
negotiations in 1951.

J. _E. Fadling, International
President of the IWA, in opening
the Conference stated he did not
know what points the delegates
would decide to open in 1951
but it would appear, from the re-
port given by the Research De-
partment of the organization,
that a substantial wage increase
would be sought.

“Wages are of primary import-
ance to all our people,” said
Fadling, “so that we will not be
caught at a sub-standard level of
wages at the time prices are so
rapidly increasing.” He stated
that the Research Department
had pointed out that living costs,
from July to October, 1950, had
come up in the City of Portland
at the rate of $81 per year. He
also stated that Seattle is now
considered to be the highest liv-
ing cost city in the United States,
according to a Bureau of Labor
Statistics figure.

“This means the Bureau of
Labor Statistics budget for a
family of four, which is a moder-
ate budget,” he stated, “would
require $3,723 annually in Seattle
in August; $3,544 annually in
Portland, according to the

Fadling Warns Against

Freeze

The Northwest Regional Negotiating Committee of the
International Woodworkers of America, representing nine Dis-
trict Councils and 50,000 lumber workers in the five northwest
states, met in Portland, Oregon, January 11, to prepare for the
annual Wage Conference of the organization.

October index and $3,630 in San
Francisco, according to the city’s
September index.”

Fadling further stated that
lumber prices had increased
117% since 1945 and lumber, dur-
ing that year, had reached an
all-time high. “Profits have been
huge,” he said, “in all divisions
of the industry.”

He added that the net profit of
the Weyerhaeuser Timber Com-
pany for the first nine months of
1950 was more than $20 million
as compared to $17 million in
1949. Furthermore, the Weyer-
haeuser Timber Company opera-
tions did not operate for nine
weeks in 1950.

US. Plywood, up to six
months, had made $5 million net
income as compared to $1%4 mil-
lion in 1949, Plywood is now
selling at the mill at $99.10 per
thousand square feet, %” ply-
wood.

High living. costs are blamed
for the increasing number of
high school pupils in Toronto
giving up their advanced educa,
tions.

National Employment Service
officials there report increasing
numbers of students giving up
studies to take jobs.

goes to the mental health servic

out that four out of every 1,000
institutions,

‘This is reported by the provincial health mi

4 IN 1000 MENTALLY ILL

Five cents of every dollar of provincial revenue in Ontario

istry. which points
poeple in Ontario are in mental

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