B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Page 9

MASS MEETING

ON PRICES

?
_ The entire trade union move-
ment of the Greater Vancouver
area will unite in a public mass
meeting to demand the imposi-
tion of price controls at the
King Edward Auditorium, 12th

“We'll Fight For Rent,
Price Controls” - Palmer

CCL Unions will engage in militant action, and fight as they
chaye fought before, should the Federal Government fail to listen
to organized labor’s appeal for price controls and continued rent
controls, declared CCL Regional Director, C. G. Palmer of Sas-
katchewan. He was speaking as the Canadian Congress of Labor

SSSPENIERGOMUUININ By J. Stewart Alsbury
Cards Are Face Down

As a well-known radio commentator said the other day,
“What we like about our Federal Government is the way it lays
its cards on the table, face down.” Certainly it becomes more
and more difficult to discover the intentions of Parliament with
regard to price and wage control.

and Oak St., Vancouver, at 8
p.m., February 16.

The meeting will be held un-
‘ the joint auspices of the
B reater Vancouver and Lower

fainland Labor Council, the
Vancouver and New Westmin-
ster Trades and Labor Council
and the Railway Brotherhoods,
with A. T. Alsbury, of the TLC,
as Chairman.

Guest speaker will be Dr.
Leonard Marsh, of the Univer-
sity of B.C. He will be sup-
ported by speakers from each
of the chief participating labor
bodies.

IWA District Secretary-
Treasurer George Mitchell,
now President of the Van-
eouver Labor Council, will ex-
press the views of that body.

_@ Common
ad Front

» Every IWA member in B.C.

_ ean be sure that organized labor
will forge ahead even more quick-
ly if he appreciates the solid
common front developing among
union men in North America.

‘The four major labor bodies in
Q@=: are now fighting as one

restore price controls and re-

tain rent controls,

The AFL and the CIO in the

by U.S. are working out plans for
_<  eloser-relations for common acti-
% ___-Vities and targets,
In the AFL field, too, the
ES Machinists Union has rejoined as
an affiliate after five years of
independence.

This is the second time the
four central bodies in Canada—
the CCL, TLC, Standard Railway
Organizations and the Catholic
Confederation — have got to-
gether although it is the first
time they have met united in a
campaign for a common objec-

_ tive,

It is not so long since they co-
operated in a statement of policy
@u compulsory arbitration

the rail dispute.

Fraternal representative at the 7th Annual Convention of the
B.C. Federation of Labor, Vancouver, February 3.

In a stirring appeal for sup-;
port of, labor’s united campaign |
against sky-rocketting prices, the |
speaker traced the effects of de- |
control, subsequent to 1946. In
five years of war the cost of liv-
ing index had risen only five
points, Since de-control the index
soared 50 points.

Another Yoke . -

“They took off the wage
freeze,” he said, “or in other
words they took off one yoke only
to replace it with another.”

“Do you remember the speeches
made by the advocates of free
enterprise at the time when they
were demanding the lifting of
controls?” asked the CCL Direc-
tor. “They all said the same thing
—that prices would find their own
level. Well, they did, and that
level is now away up in the sky.”

Dealing with the threat of a
wage “freeze”, Palmer stated
that the existing process of col-
lective bargaining, with its
checks and balances, applies
ample wage control. “The boss
never hands anything to us on a
platter,” he explained.

“Pass this information along,’
he urged. “Make it known to
your friends, your neighbors, and
fellow - workers, that a wage
freeze is totally unnecessary, and
quite unfair.”

“We've got to protect ourselves
on this question of any wage
freeze,” he added. “We'll have to
fight. all the way down the line,
for the bosses haye always taken
advantage of such situations to
get tough. Let us gird our loins
for a united fight. We need troops
to resist, but there is little use
in having a million troops unless
they are organized for a definite
project.”

“Second to None”

“Qur Trade Union Act in Sas-
katchewan, we consider second to
none on the North American con-
tinent,” stated the speaker, as he
drew comparisons with the ICA
Act of B.C., described by him as
an “iron collar” for labor.

“Never in my life have I heard
of such unwarranted interference

”

with the basic rights of labor,”
he contended, in references to the
Labor Relations Board of B.C.
“For the Board to determine who
the Unions can have as members

lective bargaining.”

“After guaranteeing union se-
curity out of the left side of their
mouths, with the right side of
their mouths they proceed to des-
troy union rights.”

“In Saskatchewan, our Board
does not presume to tell any un-
ion who it shall have as its mem-
bers. If a union can show that it
has 60% of the employees signed
up, by membership cards alone,
certification must be granted,
even if the employer demands a

vote.”
Sask. Ahead

“We're away ahead of you in
Saskatchewan,” he told the B.C.
membership of the CCL, as he
outlined benefits accruing to the
workers in that province in hospi-
talization benefits, minimum
wage, two weeks holiday with
pay, paid statutory holidays, etc.

“These beneficial laws were not
introduced by a_ Conservative
government, a Liberal govern-
ment, or even a Social Credit
government. They were intro-
duced by a CCF government. In
the province of Saskatchewan,
the CCF has kept its promises
to labor.”

“In Saskatchewan, we are look-
ing forward to the day when
other provinces will elect COF
governments. Labor legislation
jn our province has enormously
helped the trade unions. We have
been freed from the necessity of
continually fighting the bosses
and thus have been able to give
more time to union welfare and
policing the contract.”

“We look to-the East and the
West, with the definite expecta-
tion that the province of British
Columbia will be the next to elect
a CCF government. The CCF is
the only political party pledged
to carry out labor’s program,” he
concluded.

organized in trade unions.

‘The convention did not agree
him, on the latter point.

Mr. Cates was followed on the

cd form by the newly-appointed
irman of the Labor Relations

‘Board, who bespoke the tolerance
‘of the trade unions until he had
the problems of his

ce, He affirmed that he would

80 conduct his administration as
maintain the dignity of the in-

t pelts his relations with the

_ Immediately following the

ial statements of the Minis-

and the LRB Chairman, the
lutions Committee was called

and the officials were

olutions before the conven-
were those seeking amend-
to the ICA Act, condemn-
the practices of the Labor
ons Board and the Board of
ial Relations.
olutions Chairman George

ll assured the Government
tatives that no offence

not a mere coincidence,
aerate Rae that i
is report, he

that the guests might
hand the views held

Labor Relations Board heard dis-
cussed and adopted were:

ICA Act

WHEREAS: This Convention of
the B.C. Federation of Labor
is of the opinion that the pres-
ent I. C, & A. Act should be
abolished and replaced by a
genuine Trade Union . Act,
drafted in co-operation with or-
ganized labor, but recognizing
the many difficulties involved
in such a move and pending the
enactment of such a Trade
Union Act,

THEREFORE BE IT RE-
SOLVED: That we continuously
work through all avenues for
labor’s amendments to the I. C,
& A, Act and endorse all pres-
entations made to the B.C.
Government on behalf of our
affiliates by the Executive, and
that we instruct the incoming
Executive to give the widest
publicity to the unfairness of
certain sections of the Act, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
‘That we pledge full support to
any legitimate section of or-
ganized labor which finds itself
in difficulty because of the
working of the ICA Act.

LEB.

WHEREAS: The Labor Relations
Board has become a law unto

itself,

_ MINISTER CATES HEARS ANGRY PROTESTS
AGAINST HIS LABOR BOARD AND ICA ACT

Labor Minister John Cates, addressing the Annual Conven-
tion of the B,C, Federation of Labor, stated that B.C. is “well
Out in front” of other provinces in the percentage of workers
He cited this as indicating that
legislation had not seriously hampered organized labor.

WHEREAS: It interprets the
1. C. & A. Act to suit its whims
and fancies of the moment, and

WHEREAS: It is becoming more
difficult to organize and ad-
minister unions, now

THEREFORE BE IT RE-
SOLVED: That this 7th Con-
vention of the B. C, Federation
of Labor protest to the Minis-
ter of Labor, outlining the
‘unethical practices of the Labor
Relations Board, and that we
instruct the Federation officers
to compile the necessary infor-

-mation regarding changes de-
sired in the I. C. & A. Act.

WHEREAS: Since our last con-
vention there has been no
visible signs of improvement in
the actions of the Labor Rela-
tions Board (B. C.) with regard
to its dealings with Congress
unions, and

WHEREAS: Its members are
usurping powers which no
other Labor Board in Canada
has attempted, far beyond
what was intended in the Act,

THEREFORE BE iT RE-
SOLVED: That this 7th Con-
vention of the B.C. Federation
of Labor instruct its officers to
continue the task of restoring
to the trade unions the basic
-rights which this Board has so
indifferently attempted to de-
stroy, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That we continue in our re-
quest for the replacement pf
the Canadian Congress of
Labor representative to the
Board.

upsets the whole process of col- ||

As far as can be ascertained,
the Federal Government intends
only to apply a
patchwork system
of price controls,
while at the same
time it is toying
with the idea of a
general wage
. freeze under pres-

+ ysure from the em-
{Ployers.
rea » Such a policy

“would work eco-
nomic disaster for the workers.
The profit makers would still

MORE PROGRESS
IN LOCAL 1-80

Three new certifications have
been secured by Local 1-80,
IWA, and include those for
Harry Worth Logging Co.,
Nanoose Bay; W. Malpass Log-
ging Co., Northwest Bay, and
Dugan and Donovan Ltd.
Northwest Bay.

Business Agent E. Boulet re-
ported to the Local Union on his
return from an organizational
through the Port Renfrew camps,
that, due to the energetic activity
of the shop stewards, member-
ship is showing steady gains.

Similar reports were made by
the Business Agent following his
visits to Camp 8, Youbou.

Snow conditions continue to
hamper operations in various sec-
tions of the Local Union’s juris-
diction, and camp crews are at
partial strength. Recent rainfall
is expected to remove this handi-
cap.

24;
nde

have the opportunity to divert
materials to the more profitable
lines of production, than those on
which ceilings may be imposed.

Canadian workers may well
take a leaf out of the book of
American workers, who appar-
ently in the large industries are
forcing a temporary thaw of the
wage freeze across the line.

Coal miners were allowed their
recently negotiated increase of
$1.60 a day. Government workers
were also taken out from under
the freeze.

About 1.5 million workers in
the United States are covered by
agreements which provide for
cost-of-living adjustments. If
allowed these increases, nego-
tiated some time ago, other
workers must be treated on a
parity.

The sixth round of wage in-
creases is already under way in
the United States with the proba-
bility that a general wage in-
crease averaging approximately
10 percent will be allowed. The
logic employed by the large
unions is such that the American
administration has been com-
pelled to admit the justice of
bringing wages into fairer ratio
to recent price increases.

There is little difference in the
situation in Canada, We must
press for wage adjustments
which will make wage levels com-
mensurate with boosted price
levels. We must retain the right
to negotiate wage increases
under the processes of collective
bargaining.

No hysteria about a menacing
international situation should
cheat us out of the right to pro-
tect our living standards.

A rnp, sees
ZA”),

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