B.

Cc. LUMBER WORKER

War Declared

ALL pretence that the lumber operators in the coastal
area of British Columbia desire stable labor-manage- |
ment relations was torn to shreds when Forest Industrial |
Relations Ltd. produced their proposed contract revisions. !
That the employers had planned a full-scale attack upon
IWA was made abundantly clear when the first document
was followed by their proposition to slash wages.

When both moves were considered in combination, the |
IWA negotiators were forced to the conclusion that the
operators had virtually declared war.

The employers’ first move was to so limit the contract
provisions as to make the enforcement of contract provi-
sions impossible by any local committee or Local Union. |
Their next move was to threaten disastrously low living |
standards for the workers in the industry. No other inter- |
pretation could be reached by thé IWA than that the em-:
ployers’ designs were to smash the IWA while profits are
at their highest.

IWA members who have placed any confidence in the
ntention of the employers to develop mutually satisfac- |
tory contract relations should note the revelations made:
at the bargaining table. |

One proposal made, if accepted, would have the effect |
of eliminating from all future discussions matters which |
are not now defined as being within the scope of the con-}{
tract. The desire was evidently to prevent the introduction |
of any new demands in future negotiations.

The proposed requirement that plant or camp commit-
tee members should have at least two years’ continuous
service with the company was designed to wipe out such
committees entirely in operations, where due to conditions
imposed, the crew members seldom remain for a two-year
period.

The attempt to introduce a sixty day probationary
period, and to otherwise restrict the operation of the estab- |
lished seniority rules was a deliberate betrayal of all |

eated the extent to which the employers are prepared to |
disregard the continuous and faithful service of any em-|
ployee. Their views on seniority flatly contradict the prin- |
ciples now established in industry generally as a desirable
incentive for loyalty to the company’s interests.

On all points raised by the employers with respect to |
a revised contract they sought to turn back the clock. |

The prolonged enjoyment of excessive profits have fed |
she arrogance and dulled the perceptions of money-mad |
»mployers, who might otherwise realize that the workers
nave a vitally important role in the production of wealth.

Their antiquated mid-Victorian conceptions of indus-
trial relations sadly need modernization under IWA
pressure.

They're Not Broke

NYONE who examines the statistics ably compiled for

the current IWA negotiations by International Repre-
sentative Joe Miyazawa will find good reason to scoff at the
alarmist propaganda of the lumber operators claiming
near-bankruptcy. |

Quite obviously the worry of the employers is not: so,
much that they are likely to go “broke” but that there}
might be any interference with present plans to pyramid
their millions in profits.

The profits of the leading lumber corporations in 1951
ranged from $2 million up to $15 million, climaxing ten
years of steadily accumulating profits in the six-figure
columns, after payment of taxes and depreciation. The
most reliable estimate available of the latest total profits
of the industry approx®mates $60 million.

In 1950 the total payroll for 48,000 men was $114,216 |
million, according to official statistics. The operators there- |
fore desire to maintain a situation in which 1800 owners
may claim more than half of the amount of income now
divided among 48,000 workers. i

The operators can expect little sympathy from the
general public. The monetary value of production in 1951 ,
was $525 million. The revenue derived by the public treas-!
ury of the province from this production seldom exceeds
$10 million, but out of this amount more than $6 million is ;
spent yearly for the protection of the forests to maintain;
their productivity.

The net annual revenue to the province from the |
largest industry in the province, with an annual production |
of $525 million is therefore only slightly over $4 million. |

The wholesale price index also reveals another interest- |
ing side of the picture. In the period 1945-51, the whole- |
sale price index for all commodities rose from 132.4 to}
237.6. In the same period the wholesale price index for |
lumber and timber rose from 185.2 to-445.4, an increase of

87.5%.
Checking these figures from any angle, the same result

is obtained—the workers have been exploited unmercifully.

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former understandings reached on this matter. It indi-| the door through which the union

DONT BOTHER ME WITH THAT
CAN'T YOU SEE I'M LOSING MONE

Open Shop Destroys A Union

The Editor:

We cannot be secure with the
open shop, The open shop means

by the union, benefits they re-
ceive without danger, without
labor, and without cost.
To prevent trade unionism
from being conquered in detail,
to keep its members from being
thrown out through the open
door, to maintain the best condi-
tions in the industry, and strive
for others better still, all these
need the effort of every union
man,

Without the right to protect

his business, who are ever agitat-
ing for higher wages, better con-
ditions and shorter hours. He
naturally employs those who are
most complaisant, those who can-
not afford to lose their jobs, those
whom he can bring to be depend-
ent on his will.
The open shops mean uncer-
tainties, anxieties; it is a con-
stant menace to union men’s in-
2 terests. He realizes that his job
tection for the trade agreements, | js dependent on his having an
and the defence of the individual. | interest in the union. themselves in a union shop by
The Boss naturally discharges | Men who belong to unions and| refusing to work with those
those who have been most active | accept their responsibilities, can-| whose weakness or stup
in the union, who interfere with | not be persuaded to pay dues and| make them unfaithful to their
make sacrifices for the benefit of | cause, trade unionism cannot
the non-union men who work by hold that which it has won, still
their sides, and who are always less go forward to a better life.
the first to claim and receive the | JAMES BE. RAY,
benefits of every struggle made! Woss Camp Sub-Local.

man goes out, and the non-union
man comes in to take his place.

The open shop furnishes, and
always has furnished, the best
possible means of destroying the
organization of the men, The
union shop is the only sure pro-

KNOWLES
ATTACKS
ABBOT

OTTAWA (CPA)—Liberal Fi-
nance Minister Abbott was ac-
cused of hiding behind a techni-
cality and of “defiance of Par-
liament” by CCF MP. Stanley
Knowles in a slashing attack on
his failure to incorporate in his.
budget abolition of the 4% rule
in deduction of medical expenses
from taxable income.

Earlier, on March 26, members
of all parties had joined in unani-
mous endorsation of Knowles’
request for abolition of a law
forcing Canadians to pay income
tax on their medical expenses up
to 4% of their taxable income.

Government excuse for drop-
ping the tax change, refusing to
ease doctor bill burdens, was that
the resolution passed earlier
recommended only that they
“consider the advisability” of the
new provision. “The Minister of
Finance never refuses to consider
any suggestion, whether it is
from the House of Commons or
from any other place,” said Ab-
bott, and his Parliamentary As-
sistant, B.C. Liberal James Sin-
clair, echoed him at length.

Answered

Knowles had_a simple answer
to the Abbott-Sinclair claim: all
private members’ regolutions
must be worded as requests for
consideration.

Said Knowles: “. . . though my
motion asked for the only thing
a private member can request,
consideration, nevertheless the
fact that it passed unanimously
means that this house expressed
its view not only that considera-
tion should be given to my pro-
posal but expressed its thought
on the substance of that motion.”

The CCF social security expert
spoke on favor of a CCF budget
sub-amendment of non-confidence
in the government for its back-
tracking on the medical deduc-
tions proposal.

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