Page 4

B.C, LUMBER WORKER

No Discrimination

Ow the real fight of the year for the IWA is on. Bar-
gaining for the Interior contracts formally begins
July 6. The IWA is in the ring to get contract terms for
the Interior lumber workers equal to those already secured
at the Coast.

_ In preliminary discussions the operators have been
given every opportunity to work out voluntarily an early
settlement, and assure themselves uninterrupted produc-
tion. Their tentative proposals were meaningless and
were never intended to be taken seriously. ‘Iney were
shadow-boxing, to probe the Union’s weaknesses 1f they
could. Bargaining Starts now from scratch.

Discussions to date have served one useful purpose for
the IWA. ‘The Union negotiators got contirmation of their
suspicions. ‘lhe operators in the interior stubbornly cung
to only one business code—cheap labor, high protits.

: Collective bargaining must now follow the course pre-
Seribed by law. ‘ne 1WA has put its cards on the table—
coast contract terms for the Interior.

There’s no time to waste. I'he operators know now
what they intend to do, and they can say so without any
stalling. If no deal can be made at the pargaining table,
both parties must again argue the matter out under con-
ciliation procedures. If reason does not prevail, then comes
the showdown. If it is a showdown that the operators
want, the IWA is ready.

F the Interior operators are as smart about labor rela-

tions as they are about profit making, they will accept
the IWA proposals without delay. They are in a position
to treat their employees as well as do the coast lumber
operators. Better wages and conditions would enable them
to maintain efficient production for markets in which they
would be assured high profits. Any deliberate provocation
of industrial unrest will only: prove damaging to their in-
terests in the end.

If the IWA is forced into conciliation this year, the
operators will not enjoy the resulting public exposure of
their record. They have imposed sub-standard wages on

their employees without justification.

They have by-passed the bargaining procedures re-
quired by the law. They have failed to observe contracts
when made. They have not bargained in good faith nor
kept their bargains in good faith. Their flagrant disregard
of accident prevention regulations and health laws is a
public scandal. Their false propaganda in support of a
lower wage differential for the Interior will not bear pub-
lic inspection.

IWA members in the Interior have not only declared
their intention to fight, but they are organizing for the
fight. Through bitter experience they have learned that
strength of organization on the job is the best bargaining
card.

Ruthless and unscrupulous employers who use their
economic strength to force sub-standard conditions on
their workers can be brought to time in only one way.
They must’be made to realize that the workers have the
will and organization to use their own economic strength
to gain fair wages and working conditions. Industry can’t
operate without labor power.

That is why the Coast Local Unions say to the Interior
workers, “Organize. We will help you organize. Solidarity
of organization will win, and we will fight side by side with
you until you do win.”

BCHIS Must A\nswer

UNLESS the pending investigation reveals facts not yet

disclosed, IWA members in New Westminster may
properly censure the Royal Columbian Hospital and the
B. C. Hospital Insurance Commission, for the tragic plight
of one of their number. -

Attention is directed to a report which appears else-
where in this issue, describing the circumstances under
which IWA parents were presented with an additional bill
for $571, five months after the death of their infant
daughter. The tragedy of death was followed by a threat
of financial disaster, for such is an unexpected hospital bill
of this amount.

Questions which at present remain unanswered, and
which demand satisfactory answers are:

Why was the entire bill not paid by the Commission,
when the Hospital Insurance premiums had been fully
paid? Co-insurance was not then in force. i

When the baby’s ailment was declared chronic by medi-
cal men, why were the parents not advised, that other and
less expensive arrangements. might be considered? Why
was a baby of a few months of age considered to be suffer-
ing from a chronic ailment?

Why was the hospital bill paid from September 27 to
October 4, not paid from that date to November 27, and
then paid to December 31, and payments then omitted
until the date of the baby’s death, January 17?

Once more it has been made evident that Hospital In-
surance is not being administered for its original purposes
—to protect families against financial disaster when ill-

ness strikes. a

2

MASTER FAKER>

qe OLD MASTER PAINTER,

FROM THE FAR? AWAY MILLS 4,

The Editor:

Recently we have been inform-
ed, that an acute labor shortage
developing, requires the importa-
tion of labor from Europe, skilled
and unskilled. Very important,
this labor, although not to be
confused with the importance of
those who need its use, and who,
of course, wish to keep its use
value obscure and down to the
minimum.

When these new and potential
citizens arrive, no doubt, they
will be handed’ an axe and saw,
and told to go out in the bush,
and build themselves a shack to
live in, before they commence on
the use value program outlined
for them by the propagandists.

Housing Needed

In your issue of May 17 the
item on the accumulated house
shortage does not mean a thing
to these labor importers, Labor is
simply a commodity, the vehicle
of which, can be stored like ‘a
tractor, or any other machine,
where ‘most convenient, and at
the least expense.

Evidently, there are at present
in Canada, ‘some 740, 500 fami-
lies, which stupidly enough be-
lieve they need decent homes to
live in, but as they have a limited
use value, and merely a commo-
dity in the plans of a favored
few, their aspirations can be left
to the juggling of the politicos,
who have been carefully chosen

$301 An Hour.

Last year General Motors paid
its head, Charles E. Wilson,
$626,300, at the rate of $2,408
each working eight-hour day. It
would take an average GM em-
ployee about 160% years to earn
that much.

In all GM paid its 38 directors
and officers $8,104,500 in bonuses
and $8,643,672 in salaries. In
1950 GM earned, after all taxes,
$834,044,089; more than any
other corporation in the history
of the world.

The company has more than
500,000 employees. Attending the
annual meeting were 573 share-
holders and 148 guests.

for that purpose and other mat-|

ters.

House New Citizens Adequately

doubt, for while attention may be
drawn to the Queen Ann front,

Smug editors bewail the mod-| the Mary Ann back is too promi-
esty in proclaiming to the world, | nent for comfort.

Canadian achievement. No doubt
this modesty arises out of some

Yours truly,
Wm. S. White,

Neme..

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