4 B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Unmasked

‘HE Interior lumber operators now appear in their true
light. They have removed the mask of geniality worn
during negotiations and have issued an arrogant ultima-
tum to their employees.
The ultimatum is to the effect that the lumber workers
sign a contract on last year’s terms or suffer a lock-out.

This action was taken only after they had discovered
that the employees were prepared to take strike action in
sUDDOFE of the contract terms approved by two conciliation

joards,

The action of the employers makes a complete mockery
of the legal processes of negotiation and conciliation. As
now exposed they were never prepared to bargain in good
faith, or discuss any compromises even on contract items
involying no expenditure whatever.

The action of the operators smacks of the methods
employed by Hitler’s associates in the heyday of Nazi
Germany, when labor was crushed under the “iron heel”.
It is the conception of the employers that their slaves must
accept the terms of employment as dictated or starve.

_ Whether the action of the employers is within the law
is a moot point, that will no doubt be threshed out before
the Labor Relations Board.

It cannot be gainsaid, however, that their action is a
blow to any confidence the workers may be expected to
place in either the good faith of the employers, or the
procedures provided in the law.

When a group of employers, who style themselves as
leading lights in their communities and adherents of the
democratic principle, take such action, what criticism can
be levelled at workers who take job action to anticipate
such treachery.

Get Busy!

ONCE more it is convention time. ‘The season is ap-

proaching when conventions in British Columbia will
crystallize the views of the workers on problems of pro-
vincial scope.

Convention time is not to be hailed as a festive time.
It is the period when the rank and file members of the
trade union movement should prepare for decisions of
vital interest to their welfare.

It is the time when discussions in the Local Unions
should be geared to these decisions that trade union democ-
racy may function in the way intended.

The Convention of the B. C. Federation of Labor will
face decisions on both the economic and political fronts.
While the trade unions must meet conflict on both fronts,
the objectives are exactly the same in each instance—the
protection of living standards. f

Major questions before the Federation are (1) what
shall be the degree of co-ordination possible to protect and
advance wage standards, and (2) what shall be the meth-
ods and objectives of political action in defence of economic
interests?

IWA members will do well to think now of their own
District Convention scheduled for the month of February.
They will do well to think of it in terms of constructive
endeavour leading to the betterment of the circumstances
of the lumber workers in this province.

“Where all-men think alike, no one thinks at all.”
Differences of opinions on many matters may be expected
in an active and militant trade union. The point to re-
member is that those things upon which the Union’s
members agree are vastly more important than those
matters upon which they may disagree.

The one certain remedy for any clash of opinion is to
focus attention on the main purpose of the Union, and the
traditions which it has so proudly maintained. These
traditions are those of democracy, rule by the majority,
and the greater one of brotherhood, mutuality and good
will in action for the common good.

The over-riding consideration is the promotion of unity
with strength to gain a better contract next year.

“So Say We All"

WHEN you become ill you want relief, right then, not a

few years hence. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians
are sick and they are not getting adequate relief because
this country, one of the richest in the world, lacks the
kind of a national health plan that Canadians need.

There are few, if any, subjects on which there is such
unanimous thought among the Canadian people as a whole.
Public opinion polls have shown that 80 percent of the
people think we should have a national health insurance
plan. The strength of this feeling was sensed by beagle-
nosed politicians years ago and they climbed on the band-
wagon in an effort to win election support.

Now the time has come when everyone can do some-
thing about health insurance, Petitions are being circu-
Jated throughout the country by the CCF, though the
matter is of concern beyond the bounds of any single
political party. The Canadian Congress of Labor has given
full support to this campaign. In the interests of proper
protection for yourself and your family make sure your
name is on the petition, but don’t stop there, get your
friends to sign too. This is something that affects us all.

. —Canadian Labor.

THIS BEFORE

Appeal of Tony Poje before the Supreme Court of
Canada was expected to be heard on or about the 24th
inst., according to information at the time of going to
press. The issues involved have revived interest in the
proposal made by Murray Cotterill, President of the To-
ronto Labor Council, before last September’s convention
of the CCL. ‘

ELIMINATE INJUNCTIONS

The following is a verbatim
report of the speech in part as
recorded at the time by Financial
Secretary S. M. Hodgson, Local
1-217, IWA:

“While I support this resolu-
tion, I think the time has actually
come, when we must begin to
stop taking the negative attitude
alone towards this matter of in-
junctions. The reason why we
are constantly confronted with
this problem on picket lines is
because of a failure in the Labor
Relations Act to follow through
to a logical conclusion in Union-
Management relations.

“Our Labor Relations Board
Acts in every Province carry the
Labor - Management relation up
to a point of the strike and then
stop. ‘ x

Authority Continues

“Nowhere in legislation is it
recognized that a stoppage of
work by organized employees,
come to an agreement with their
organized employees — is also
the failure of management to
part of Labor Relations, and just
as logically a matter to be cover-
ed by law ‘as the negotiations
which take place up to the strike.

“T feel that we should begin to
seriously put forward to the pub-
lic of Canada not only opposition
to this unfair use of an injunc-
tion, but a demand that when a
legal strike takes place the em-
ployer shall be prohibited from
trying to operate his plant by law
until he has reached an agree-
ment with the certified union of
his employees,

“Tf Labor legislation, certify-
ing unions is to mean anything,
surely it means that a qualified
government board has been set
up to determine the bargaining
agency for employees and that
the employer and the employees
are-to come to mutually satisfac-
tory working conditions,

Where Futility Begins

“What is the use of passing
such legislation, what is the use
of having certification, what is
the use of having conciliation, if
once all these things break down,
the law no longer applies? It’s
ridieulous.

“What is the virtue in having
a legal strike in Canada today,
if you go through conciliation, if
you get certified, it still doesn’t
mean anything, because once the
strike takes place, an Employer
can go get an injunction, stop
you from picketing, and as a mat-
ter of actual fact, sometimes they
don’t have to bother to get an
injunction, they just have to
bring in the local police force,
and if the plant is small enough,
and the police force big enough,
you are not picketing, the em-
ployer can reopen the plant, and
all the expensive machinery for
certification and conciliation has
gone by the board,

New Proposal

“So while I rise in support of
a motion, condemning the use of
injunctions, I seriously urge that
the incoming officers of this or-
ganization, should consider bring-
ing before some future conven-
tion of this movement, positive
legislative suggestions, which will
make it illegal for any employer,
who has failed to reach a collec-
tive agreement with a certified
union, after the proper procedure
has been gone through by both
the employer and the Union, for
that employer to then attempt to
circumvent the laws of collective
bargaining by trying to operate
his plant improperly without the
first approval of that certified
union.

“When it becomes illegal for an
Employer to operate without a

Alex B. Macdonald

| Barrister & Solicitor
Notary Public

751 Granville Street
VANCOUVER, B.C.

Telephone TAtlow 6641

} SOLICITOR TO THE

-- COTTERILL

collective bargaining agreement,
just as it is now illegal for us to
strike without going through eon-
ciliation and certification pro-
ceedings, at that time, the whole
question of picketing may no
longer confront ind therefore
the problem of injunctions on
picket lines will not be with us,
I feel that that should he seri-
ously considered, and this positive
attitude taken as soon as pos-
sible, because obviously, the pas-
sage of resolutions condemning
injunctions year after year, is
just not getting us anywhere,
and it might be a good idea to
reverse the record and make
these injunctions unnecessary.”
(Applause.)

Sweden Has

Labor Press

STOCKHOLM (CPA)— The
Swedish trade unions have
built up a strong press of their
own and today every union
publishes a journal of its own.
In two cases three allied unions:
bring out a joint publication.

Every union member receives
a copy of the publication of his
particular organization and
together the circulation of these
journals totals 1,300,000.

Four of the journals are week-
lies, three are published every
second week, there are twenty
monthlies and the rest appear
every second month.

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