« February 1, 1951 B.C. LUMBER WORKER CONVENTION | IMPRESSIONS | By TOM MacKENZIE, International Board Member Our 1951 District Convention has come and gone. Delegates and District Officers have during the past week taken the oppor- tunity of assessing the work of the Convention in the surround- ings of their homes, or on the job, which are more conducive to a sound appraisal of the Convention work than anything that might be arrived at during Convention sessions. I was impressed by the urgency and determination expressed by District Convention delegates to do a big. job in i short space of time and in 3 more effective manner than any pr vious convention, In Victoria this yetr, the highlight of the Convention | was the three-hour closed session, at which time, delegates hammered ‘out their wage and contract demands for the yeur 1951 and re-cndorsed the No Contract No Work” policy. Laurel Strike President Fadling, reporting on his | recent visit to Laurel, Miss. told the delegates that the workers in the large | Masonite Corporation plant in that town had been on strike since January | first for wage and. contract “adjust- ments. This is the second strike in | that operation in the last twelve months. The 1950 strike lasted nearly five months. The Laurel Local 4-443 is the sone of our entire organization in the | deep south, During the past- few | years the Masonite workers, number- | ing nearly 2,500, have built District | No, 4 into a District embracing nearly | 6000 woodworkers and when we stop | and realize the tremendous organiza- tional problems and prejudices tha had to be overcome during this period | of time, we are able to understand the | significance of the job that has been | done and its importance to the Inter- rational as a whole. ree { T think that we in District No. 1} have an opportunity at this time to | demonstrate clearly to the rest of the International and particularly to the | woodworkers in the deep south that we are concerned with the need to maintain that fraternal bond existing between workers in all parts of the North American continent and | throughout the world in their struggle to better wages and conditions, to overcame prejudices, and to work to- gether in the building of a society in Which human values will be of much | greater importance than profits. I am sure that the District Officers join with | me in. urging wholchearted financial support in this emergency. | John Brophy | One of the most interesting and in- formative experiences T have had duc- ing the last few months was hearing an addtess by John Brophy, CIO rep- resentative. on the ICFTU, Southeast Asin Commission which has recently returned from a tour covering every nation in southeastern Asia from Ja- pan to India and Pakistan. His first and most striking impres- sion was the condition under which these hundreds of millions of people ive. There, abject and widespread poverty exists on a scale that is dith- cult for the average Westerner to understand. Human life is the cheap- ‘ext of all commodities and the struggle for tence continues on an almost animal-like level. In his discussions with trade union | leaders and liberals, Brophy sensed the revolutionary fervour which has caught _ minds of all Asiatic peoples. Their | jcsire to cast aside the things which | for thousands of years has kept them in a condition of abject ‘poverty is something that can be readily under- | stood even by Canadian woodworkers | who have during their struggle to bet. | ter the conditions under which they | a Alex B. Macdonald | Barrister & Solicitor / 751 Granville Street VANCOUVER, B.C. i Telephone TAtlow 3128 . [ment in Chi | life. | 1.387 GIVES live faced the wrath of vested pow! and corporate strength. ICFTU No Pawn Brophy was particularly emphatic in his condemnation of the imperial- istic policies of big business through which they wished to. maintain the | status quo and perpetuate corrupt and | fraudulent administrations, similar to | the former Chiang Kai Shek govern- Brophy warned that | the ICFTU was not going sto be used | as a pawn to pull anybody's chestnuts | out of the fire, but‘had a mission to | jaccomplish, that is, to extend to all people living under sub-standard con- | ditions the hand of friendship and | understanding. One common topic of | conversation and one common bond between the people of southeastern Asia and the workers in North Amer- ica is the desire to maintain peace and | halt the spread of Communism. Labor through the ICFTU is not concerned with perpetuating the status quo, but is concerned with secing that | instead of bullets the East Asian peoplé receive rice and where: | of | the withal to produce the necessities > Irrespective of whether the United jons forces achieve a military vic- tory in Korea, the one major proble: in Southeastern Asia will still exist | jand labor through the ICFTU has the ‘opportunity of leading the fight on an | international scale for the preservation of world peace and the establishment of the principle of social justice 50 MONTHLY Members of Local 1-357, IWA, New Westminster, voted at their last regular meeting to send $50 a month in aid of the strikers -at the Masonite Cor- poration, Laurel, settlement is won, Twelve delegates elected to at- tend the convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor are: Sandy Smith, Lawrence Vandale, J. S, Alsbury, Rae Eddie, George Mitchell, Stan Engberg, Les Lax- ton, Leo Stadnyk, Ron Walton, Albert Rose, John Wall, and Sandy Naylor. | | | | Smiles From 1-217 Banquet Guests. EDDIE HYDE, President, Lum- ber Inspectors” Union (CCL), assures convention of friendly | co-operation from PLIB men. Vexed question of political action was referred by the IWA District Convention to a special Committee, which selected as Chairman, Ed Sudhues, Local 1-118, and as Secretary, Sandy Naylor, Local 1-35 presented the follo convention, WHEREAS:, The labor move- ment when it becomes organiz- ed on a national scale becomes | a political force and to become | & power to protect its own| interests, must give expression | to its own aims and objects. THEREFORE BE IT RE-| SOLVED: That this 14th An-| nual Convention of the B.C. | District Council No. 1, go on} record as supporting the Poli, tical Action program of the | CCL by means of a comprehen- | sive system of political educa-| tion throughout the whole! district. 2nd Resolution WHEREAS: The 12th Annual | Convention of B.C, District | Council No. 1, IWA, went on | record as, supporting the Poli- | tical Action program of the CCL, | | THEREFORE BE IT RE- SOLVED: That the 14th An- nual Convention of the B.C. District Council No. 1, IWA, | pledge its support to CCL-PAC | and that we instruct our Dis- | ‘After its deliberations, the committee | ing resolutions which were approved by the | trict Officers to do everything . in their power to’ arouse the interest of our membership in forming Political Action Com- mittees in all our Locals. THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this 14th Amnual Convention of the B.C. District Council No./1, IWA, go on record that the’ official “organ of the B.C. District Council, the B.C. Lumber- worker, be used to educate Political Action Committees set up in Locals and to keep the membership informed on cur- rent political issues. | WHE! THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVE (seated, centre) Chairman of the convention Credentials Committee. EXCESS PROFITS BLASTED — Excessive profits of the leading Canadian corporations was a target for IWA condemnation at the recent District Convention, and provoked the following resolution: | WHEREAS: The working people of the Dominion are now being and ng profits beyond all reason, That this 14th Annual District Convention, of the B. C. Distriet Council No. 1, IWA, CCL-CIO, demand of the Dominion Government that they re-impose the Excess Profits T: and IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That said Tax be utilized to alle- viate the privations prevalent in so many sections of our communities across the Dominion. taxed beyond their capacit EAS: Industries are re v2 EN’S CLEANERS Repairs, Alterations of All Kinds Expert Mending Service HEL Quick Mail Order Service for Loggers Our Specialty Vancouver, B.C, resh at Your Food Store Fi ee wicH HITE BREAD Sliced BALANCED RATION LISTEN TO JIMMY ALLEN © CKWX ¢ 5.30 P.M, MON. THRU FRI. e 2 & Upohellet, | . OXFORD Westview,. B.C. Prompt Attention Given To All MAIL ORDERS Ans 77 EAST HASTINGS, Cor. COLUMBIA On DIAMONDS, JEWELRY, SILVERWARE, FURS AND ALL VALUABLES Immediate Cash! No Red Tape! Unredeemed Diamonds for Sale B. C. COLLATERAL LOAN BROKERS LT: PAcific 3557-8