4 5 B.C. LUMBER WORKER Personal To You ‘THESE words are meant for you—Joe Woodworker. Today the Union’s Negotiating Committee meets the Coast lumber operators. The committee members will tell the operators that you need exactly what you said you needed for decent living. The Union will say, what has already been said by you, on the job, in Local Union meetings, and at conven- tion-time. The demands before the operators look just as sound and reasonable now as they did then. _ You know that the operators have never handed any- thing to you on a silver platter. You’ve had to fight for everything you’ve won, through the Union. By: fighting, you’ve made important gains, but remember you had to fight for them, and will have to fight again. This does not mean that we now start shaking our fists under the employer’s nose. It does mean that we stand up to the employers like free men and speak emphatically and even forcefully for our rights. We know now that the operators don’t like any con- tract demands that cost money. They even dislike those that don’t cost money. , _ They'll try to talk the committee members into be- lieving that any change in.the contract is quite impos- sible. Because they know that the bargaining strength of the Committee is no greater than your determination, they'll also try to talk you out of your belief in the neces- sity of a better contract. The employers have the money to hire experts to do a job on you. They can use the press, and they have “stooges” in every community and in every operation. You'll be told the most alarming things about the state of the industry. It will be told so smoothly that you'll be tempted to believe it. If you don’t know the facts, you'll soon be talking yourself into the idea that it was all wrong to ask the poor ruined operators for your present wages. Maybe you should give them a refund and set them on their feet. If you want to keep your spine in the right position, get the facts before you start sobbing about the opera- tors going broke. « You already know the facts about your own affairs. Don’t let anyone kid you into believing that you’re so well off that you don’t need a better deal. The place to get the facts about the operators and the Union’s dealing with them is in your. Local Union. The Union’s membership has brains every bit as good as those in the front office. The Union has been digging into + the facts, to get the truth about the industry and its position, because the Union is working for you. The operators are not pulling for you. Get the facts from the Union, before you swallow all that the operators are trying to say to you, through their “stooges” and their hired press. Facts Count FOR months the lumber operators have been steadily conditioning the public to the idea that the plight of the industry is so perilous that increased labor costs cannot be entertained. . As disclosed in the financial journals, the employers have again reached an agreement to “hold the wage line”. Their public relations experts have therefore been or- dered to sell the idea to the public, that stability can be achieved only if wages are pegged. This policy is, of course, designed to protect already high profits, and weaken the growing strength of the trade unions. It disregards the lag in wages behind prices and profits, and the urgent need for increased purchasing power through the increased distribution of wage income. There are certain facts that the operators have not managed to suppress. It is a fact that’profits are still high, and that a large share of surplus earnings have been used to increase the net worth of the owners as the basis of greater profits in the future. It is a fact that shipments to the U.S. market in the first two months of this year have been almost thirty times greater than in the corresponding months the vious year. ice ct that the order files of the operators at the present time reveal a volume of business which promises to excel the excellent record of 1951. : Tt is not a fact that prices have dropped seriously, or that a further decline is in prospect. After adjustments necessary due to over-pricing, prices are becoming firmer. It is not a fact that the export market is disappearing. Reduction in the U.K. demand has been more than com- pensated for by the improvement in the most profitable market for B.C. lumber, the United States. _ In this battle of words and opinions now being waged over the revised contract, the IWA has the most reliable munition. é pees Hie should this ammunition be directed against the operators at the bargaining table, but it should also be used as persistently by the Union’s members in their daily associations with the public as do the operators. “Hurry! Cover These Up! The IWA Is Coming.” Geo. Mitchell Reports BAN RACE HATRED "THE developing crisis in South Africa has brought home to all thoughtful trade unionists the dreadful consequences which follow in the wake of public policies which give vent to race preju- dice. The shocking revelations appearing in the daily press give clear indication that the sister Dominion is in many respects a “| world, all smouldering volcano. At the same : time it is a mat- ter of satisfac- tion that the in- ternational trade union movement, represented by |” the ICFTU, has ¢. steadily opposed 9 all forms of race hatred, or race a segregation. The ‘trade union movement recognizes the prin- ciples of universal brotherhood as over-riding considerations of race, color, or creed. Economic Roots The stand made by the ICFTU, representing the free trade unions in the democracies is not merely idealistic. It represents hard-headed commonsense. Race hatreds are usually rooted in wrong and unjust economic con- ditions, and bring into being the wrong economic results. It must be admitted at once that the problems in Africa pre- sent a confused situation, in which it is not easy to propose an adequate solution. It origi- nated in the era of imperial con- quest. The point is that we should recognize the mistakes made, and avoid such mistakes in our own political and economic conduct. Hatred Bred The theory of race superiority is one that breeds hatreds and leads to world disorder and war. ‘The classic example is that which was presented by the Nazis with their arrogant attempt to estab- lish the rule of the Nordic type. When the theory of race super- iority is applied to hold any group in economic subjection, such rule can be maintained only by force and will eventually be challenged by force. In this we ~_|have one of the contributing causes of war. Canadian Ideals In Canada, our responsibility is to seek to establish ideals of equality in our relations one with the other, and with our world neighbors. In the trade union ranks, and in our citizenship we intend to wipe out all barriers of race or religious prejudice, We propose that all forms of dis- crimination, which linger in our customs, should be eradicated. Democratic Ideals In the pursuit of such a policy we find rewarding results. We protect ourselves against the destruction of the democratic ideal. If we permit barriers of preju- dice to separate our people, we deliberately invite into our com- munities the destructive force of hatred, and the consequent social] unrest, If we allow any group to be held in an inferior economic sta- tus because of outward racial characteristics, we immediately court the lowering of standards for the whole community. Lincoln made it plain to the world that a nation cannot exist “half slave and half free’, For the peace and security of the forms: of slavery, whether chattel or economic, must be eliminated. We make our stand against slavery for ourselves when we stand for the equality and freedom of all our fellows, of all creeds, races, and colors. Such is genuine trade unionism. CO-OP PRESS STARTS OTTAWA — A co-operative yenture in the newspaper busi- ness, probably the only one of its kind in the world, has been organized among a group of weekly newspapers in western Canada. Known as the Prairie Publlish- ers Co-operative Ltd., the co-op will supply a “readyprint” service to some 126 weekly newspapers in the west. “Readyprint” is a system of printing, in bulk, the inside pages of a newspaper that are then shipped to the individual weeklies for addition of their own local news. Formerly the “ready- print” service for this group of papers had been carried out by a private firm which handled the job for over 60 years. 67 Weeklies The co-operative, with head- quarters in Regina, is made up of the proprietors of 67 weeklies. A. W. Hanks, of St. James, Man., was elected first President of the organization. Company. 573 HOMER ST Co-Operative Fire & Casualty Co. Is Here To Serve You Formed to meet the demand for an Insurance Service on a Non-Profit Basis. Investigate the possibilites today of insuring your Pro- perty and -Auto with the Co-operative Fire & Casualty Phone or Write: PAcific 6858 VANCOUVER 3, B. Cy Joans On DIAMONDS, JEWELRY, SILVERWARE, FURS AND ALL VALUABLES immediate Cash? No Red Tape! Uncredeemed Diamonds for Sale 17 EAST HASTINGS, Cor. COLUMBIA B. C. COLLATERAL LOAN BROKERS L’