4 ; B.C. LUMBER WORKER EDITORIAL Our Day In Court "THE IWA has been seen at its best in the all-out effort to present a convincing case before the Conciliation Board now considering the issues in dispute with the Coast lumber operators. — The Significance of all that has happened during the proceedings would not be lost upon IWA members had they been given the opportunity to follow the sessions of the Board by means of television. As it is, they should accept the testimony of observers that all the resources of the Union were brought into focus to gain full advan- tage of conciliation. If conciliation fails in this instance to produce a satis- factory settlement, the blame does not rest on the Union, If the results are unsatisfactory, the critics of concilia- tion procedures will have additional justification for their - claim that conciliation can be nothing more than a formal prelude to a strike vote. The Union has gone to all lengths to prepare a well- reasoned and well-documented case. When faced with the employers’ contention that the resources of the indus- try would not permit any increased wage costs, the Union’s research men produced carefully compiled data, which left the employers’ statisticians gasping. This approach caught the employers’ representatives off base, as they had never been required on previous occasions to produce factual evidence, which would stand critical analysis. All credit is due the International Research Director, and his assistants, who wove the practical experience of the members of the Negotiating Committee into an iron- clad case, supported by a wealth of tabulated facts based on the records of the lumber industry. The skill of the International. Secretary-Treasurer in his dignified and deliberate exposure of the vulnerable spots in the employers’ case, won the admiration of all those privileged to attend the hearings, The significance of this approach is that the best talent and all-the resources of the Union, as assembled from the Local Union, District and International levels were pooled with well-directed strategy. The qualities of practical experience on the job, experience in negotiation, and knowledge of economic facts were all in play to make a touchdown for the Union. Most effective feature of the Union’s presentation was the devastating exposure of the false arguments arrayed against the Union in the 1952 contract battle. On every point made by the IWA in 1952, as was demon- strated, the Union had been proved right by events and the employers wrong. This exposure should have the effect of convincing the Conciliation Board that the repetition of similar pre- dictions for 1953-54 by the employers with still flimsier evidence than before should be given no weight. The only deduction to be drawn from the employers’ tactics before the Board is that they are prepared to be thoroughly unscrupulous in concealment of the facts in order to cloak their overweening anti-union bias. The brief prepared by the IWA for the Conciliation Board will stand as a classic exposition of the workers’ - rights in the employ of wealthy and powerful corpora- tions. The IWA has been successful in forcing the employers back onto new fighting ground. The issue now is not whether the employers are able to provide better wages and working conditions, but as to whether they are pre- pared to enter into a fair and mutually satisfactory con- tractual relationship. ss The employers are making their last stand in defence of their economic dictatorship in the industry. They are faced with the necessity of admitting the modern trend toward economic democracy. Camouflage ROCODILE tears shed by the employers’ representa- tives before the Conciliation Board in their heart- rending anxiety for the “small” operators, should not fool those who are familiar with trends in the B. C. lum- ber ‘industry. The fact is that negotiations are dominated almost exclusively by the large corporations. Actually it is the. protection-of their interests and their profits that has inspired the highly-organized opposition to the IWA claims. , = The introduction of arguments regarding the small operators is a bare-faced subterfuge to conceal the de- signs of the monopoly control, directing the “hold the line” wage policy. Bee : Whatever the outcome may be in this year’s negotia- tions, the result will have little bearing on the future prosperity of the small owner. His fate now rests entirely. on the policies laid down by the dominating interests, The vast areas of timberland which are controlled by the large corporations under the government’s forest - management licensing policy has resulted in monopoly control of the province’s forest wealth. The small operator maintains himself in business only as he conforms to the price and marketing policies laid down by the controlling clique. He is in effect a sub- contractor, wholly dependent on the tolerance exercised by the privileged monopolists. It follows, therefore, that if there is any stern eco- nomic necessity for the preservation of the small opera- tor, this cannot be done by sub-standard wages. It requires better planning of production in the interests of the whole. The large corporations have it within their power to pay higher wages, and at the same time set the policies which will protect the profit margin of the small operator. The large corporations cannot have it both ways. They have no right to depress wages of the workers, while at the same time they put the squeeze on their dependent suppliers. In the exposure of this long-standing hypocrisy, dur- ing the proceedings of the Conciliation Board, the IWA has done the province a notable service. GRO MANCHESTER, England — Retail trade in Britain’s eleven million member consumer co- operatives topped $2 billion last year,- and members shared about $109,000,000 in dividends, co-op researchers stated re- cently, More than one in five of Brit- ain’s population is now a mem- ber of one of the co-op societies. Membership increased by about 8,000,000 since the beginning of World War Hf and is growing by about 200,000 every year. The London Co-operative Society alone now has more than 1 mil- lion members, INSURANCE NEEDS MET REGINA — Government in- surance coverage in Saskatche- wan is rapidly increasing and business written by the Govy- ernment Insurance Office and Guarantee and Fidelity Com- pany during the first four months of 1953 was well over $2 million, up 834% over the 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. 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