be Re ns oe we

Issue, November

PAGE 1

“FIGHT”

amount. Reports indicate

eal IWA members ve
sharing their Christmas prepara-
tions with the strikers to make
certain that the IWA goes into

Partnership with Santa Claus in
this obligation.

New Assessment in
Prospect

Jn discussion of returns from
the present one dollar a month
per member assessment, the
Council delegates canvassed the
advisability of increasing the as-

FROM PAGE 1

“BLOCKADE”

public, as this Union has made
a sincere endeavor to settle the
dispute .in an amicable and
democratic manner. The Jum-
ber operators have before them
a formula of settlement which
demands no more from them
than has been considered neces-
sary and feasible by Concili
tion Boards during the last two
years.”

sessment to ensure satisfactory
financing of the strike, without
the depletion “of existing strike
funds, :

The District Officers were auth-
orized to set in motion the neces-
sary plans to secure approval
from the membership, should a
more urgent necessity arise.

It became evident that the
Union as a whole was able and
willing to meet an additional fi-
nancial burden, and would prefer
to do so rather than suffer defeat
in the Interior.

eruited by the employers. i
As the issue in the strike is |
now the right of workers to |
organize and bargain collec-
tively, I am confident of full
support from all workers
throughout the Canadian West.

Only Alternative

I appeal for the sympathetic
understanding of the general

- FROM PAGE 1

“MEDIATION”

factory. The IWA representa-
tives kept faith with the Prem-
ier, and deplore this further
obstacle placed by the employ-
ers in the way of a settlement.

No proof exists upon which
the employers may base their
charges of lawlessness and
violence. When they sought
permission to prosecute the
Union, their application was
dismissed because of lack of
evidence.

The Evidence

The Union is in possession of
evidence which proves that the
use of ‘threats, intimidation,
and strong-arm tactics’ was
directed by the employers
against the Union from the
outset, and exposed the union-
ized employees to extreme
provocation.

The employers posted
threats of lock-outs, when a
government - supervised strike
yote was in contemplation.
They haye since planned the
importation of strike-breakers,
under conditions which threat-
en the strikers with black-list-
ing to deprive them of employ-
ment opportunities in their own
communities.

In the past, mediation, with-
out any element of compulsion,
has achieved the settlement of
industrial disputes. The IWA
xegards the statement of the

employers on this point as a
further and deliberate evasion
of responsibility toward the
public, as the Union has con-
sented to mediation.”

Employers’ Front
Crumbling

An informed observer, who has
spent some time with the strik-
ers, made the following comment
on the situation:

“Chief factor in this reversal
of attitude was the pressure of
public opinion, which developed
when the strikers’ determination
to fight to a finish became gen-
erally known.

The most surprised men in
British Columbia are the opera-
tors, who have been forced to
the conclusion that they are deal-
ing with men and women who
know their rights and will fight
for them.

Industry cannot operate with-
out labor, and the disconcerted
operators see now that they will
suffer severe financial losses, un-
less they come to reasonable
terms.

More than one member of the
employers’ organization has inti-
mated to the Union that they
would gladly ditch the Associa.
tion and resume operations with
a sensible contract.

The employers’ front is
crumbling. The workers’ front
remains more solid than ever.”

COUNCIL
CHEERS
STRIKERS

Appearance of Interior IWA.
strikers before the last meet-
ing of the Vancouver Labor
Council brought a striking
demonstration of appreciation
and support from the “dele-
gates. - nescence
Affiliated. Local Unions an-

nounced .that fund-raising for
the strikers would be pushed
with vigor. A special committee
xepresenting all affiliated unions
and the B.C. Federation of La-
bor reported on plans to work in
close cooperation with the IWA
in well-organized appeals for
contributions from the workers
throughout B; C. industry.

The resolution passed on the
occasion was as follows:
WHEREAS: The Interior Lum-

ber Operators have this day
advised the Premier of the Prov-
ince that they will not consent
to mediation of the strike issues
in the Interior lumber industry,
and
WHEREAS: This action confirms

the Union’s statement that the
Employers are committed to a
policy of smashing trade union-
ism in the Interior lumber in-
dustry, and
WHEREAS: The attempt to

break the strike by intimida-
tion and the importation of
strike- breakers is intended to
blacklist the strikers and thus
deprive them of further employ-
ment opportunities in their com-
munities, and
WHEREAS: Trade Unionists in

the Coast area have cause for
alarm in the threat of the or-
ganized employers to establish a
low-wage area in the Interior,
offering unfair competition to
Coast production, and
WHEREAS: Two Conciliation

Boards have recommended
contract improvements as neces-
sary and feasible,

BE IT RESOLVED: That the

Greater Vancouver and Lower
Mainland Labor Council does
hereby reaffirm its former deci-
sions to extend all possible sup-
port to the strikers in the In-
terior lumber industry, with
warm appreciation of their mili-
tant and self-sacrificing defence
of Trade Unionism in the In-
terior,

AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED: That this Council

request the Premier to require
the Interior lumber operators to
submit the strike issues to media-
tion in the public interest.

ATTEND YOUR UNION
MEETINGS

‘Rumours Debunked -°

No self-respecting worker rel-
ishes the idea of working for
$1.52 a day less than a man do-
ing the same work at the Coast.

IWA officials have always
worked without salary when their
Locals are on strike.

At first the operators peddled
the yarn that the strike funds
had been spent, and would not
maintain-a lengthy strike. This
has been answered by the in-
crease in strike relief and the
Union’s financial plans to finance
the picket lines till the fight is
‘won.

The rumor was started that
the Coast operators had con-

Interior strikers haye had
many a laugh during the strike
over the fantastic rumors
placed in circulation by the op-
erators’ agents for the purpose
of undermining confidence in
the organization.

One such rumor was that rep-
yesentatives of the central strike
committee have been paid $1000
‘2 month, to keep the strike go-

ing.

This story was based on two
jies. The Interior strike is not
yun by any official group, and has

peen sparked solely by the revolt
of the workers themselves
intolerable conditions,

strike fund, as a means of ruin-|,

ing the Interior operators.

Coast workers have had the
laugh of the season over this
one, knowing, as they do, the
Coast operators’ views on trade
unionism and the IWA in par-
ticular.

The strike funds of the IWA
come from no other sources than
the regular contributions made
by the lumber workers over the
years. These are being aug-
mented at the present time by a
special assessment of employed
members of the Union, and sub-
stantial contributions from af-

and the dictatorship of the| tributed $95,000 to the IWA’

filiated unions,

CLOTHING
NEEDED

IWA strikers and their families in the Interior are
in urgent need of warm winter clothing, it is disclosed in
reports from the picket lines. .

An appeal is made to Coast workers to donate suit-
able articles of clothing to aid distressed families, facing
cold weather conditions in the strike. -

Donations already made through the IWA Local
Unions indicate that many Coast families can spare such
articles of clothing which for various reasons are not in
use, and are in good condition. '

The children especially require winter underwear,
heavy coats or mackinaws, stockings, shoes and rubbers
in a good state of repair.

Men on picket duty require winter coats, sweaters,
heavy underwear, sox, and footwear. Many of their wives
can use, winter coats, dresses, etc., required in severe
winter weather.

The strikers’ wives are prepared to make over articles
of clothing for use of the children, that they may con-
tinue attendance at school.

Persons making donations are requested to contact’
the IWA Local Unions in their own communities regard-
ing methods of collection. Care should be exercised that
only usable articles are forwarded, to avoid needless
shipping costs.

Strike relief which formerly provided $12.00 a week
for each married couple, $2.00 for each dependent, and
$7.00 a week for'single men will be increased by $3.00 a
week for married couples and single men, effective No-
vember 29th.

A special winter clothing allowance of $8.00 for each
child in the Northern Interior is now being: issued.

It is realized by the IWA that the strike relief provides
only the most urgent necessities, but available strike
funds must be conserved in anticipation of a long
struggle.

The strikers are facing the hardships of winter strike,
action with courageous determination to defend trade ..
unionism in the Interior. They deserve the generous
support of Coast workers.

In every
quarter of Canada

Banx or MonvTReEAL
Canadas First Bank

‘WORKING WITH CANADIANS IN EVERY WALK OF LIFE SINCE 1817