B.C. LUMBER WORKER KEY CEREMONY kere, Brae Road, Duncan, which was financed from the Local’: front row: Ed Linder, Jean Hamar, Tony Poje, Adele Horren, A. NEW IWA HOME OPENED row, Ernest Boulet, Herbert Hammond, Architect. officially opens the newly--constructed Office Building of Local 1-80, IWA, 's Building Fund. Group from left to right, V. Richardson, Contractor. Back LOCAL 1-80 District President Joe Morris, reporting on the Interior situa- tion to Local 1-80 members, praised the determination and ;, Militant spirit of the strikers. :| At the conclusion of his address a motion was passed urging ful! =| gupport to the proposed District assessment raise. The Building Committee, in their report, covered details re- garding finances and construc- tion, which was adopted by the meeting. The following is an excerpt from the report: “We believe that the members will take justifiable pride and agree with your Officers that the construction of the Office Build- ing was wise, and represents a milestone in the continued prog- ress of our Local Union. It firm- ly establishes our organization ' Elections Held In New [TWA Hall Election of delegates to both the IWA District and B.C. Federation of Labor Conventions was held December 14th, at a Membership Meeting of Local 1-80, IWA in their newly completed building, on Brae Road, Duncan. as a permanent institution in the communities embraced by the area of Local 1-80.” Delegates elected to the IWA District Convention were: Tony Poje, Joe Morris, Ed Lin- der, Gilbert Schofield, James M. Milmore, Knute Holmstrom, Alis- tair MacLeod, Paddy Cox, Max Salter, Ken Parsons, Gordon Don- aldson, Bruce Sanderson, Albert L, Smith, Peter MacDonald, An- drew Aitken, Frank Telford, W. Cox, George Smythe, Lorne John- ston. Delegates elected to the B.C. Federation of Labor Convention were: Percy Clements, Ernest: Boulet, Frank Irwin, Peter Wilkes, Arthur E. Briggs, James Baiiey, Roy Bewick, Ross Davis, Peter Helin. “They Need A Strong Union “Union security is a paramount issue” in the Northern Interior, declared IWA District President Joe Morris, when he presented the brief for s e fore His Honor, Judge Lord, Commissioner of Enquiry for the strike situation, the IWA strikers be- at the Prince George sittings. “These workers need a strong union in this area more now than ever before,” he In dealing with the question, the IWA officials stated the argu- ment for the maintenance of compulsory check-off in the fol- lowing terms: “The ICA Act recognizes and provides specifically for Union Shop agreements. Opposing Arguments A great deal has been written and said on the principles of the union shop. Those opposing a form of effective union security pase their opposition on the ground that it interferes with the liberty of the employees to join! said. or not as they wish. They point to the fact that such freedom is not only basic to our democratic system but is also safeguarded in the statutes gov- erning labor relations. Philosophical discussions of principles on issues of this sort are always difficult, and recon- ciliation of differences is even more difficult. The premises on which the protagonists proceed are much more in the nature of beliefs than of logical conclu- sions. ‘They are dictated more by HANEY NEY BUSINESS GUIDE “ESQUIRE” MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” BRITISH COLUMBIA DUNCAN BUSINESS GUIDE VOGUE CLEANERS ; J. LINDSAY LOUTET Truck Calls at Mesachie Lake, Cowichan Lake, Crofton & south to Shawnigan Hats Cleaned and Blocked Press While U Wait Phone 360 DUNCAN, B.C. (C. Bradshaw & Co.) INSURANCE and REAL ESTATE DUNCAN _—_131 Jubilee St. LAKE COWICHAN BRANCH: Old Post Office Building MacGREGOR’S MEN’S WEAR For Everything a Man Wears WORK, SPORT or DRESS We Can Afford to Sell the BEST for LESS! PORT ALBERNI BUSINESS GUIDE MacDONALD’S PHARMACY Prescriptions, Drug Sundries, First Aid Supplies Registered Optometrist Argyle Street Port Alberni Phone 1600 WOODWARD STORES (PORT ALBERNI) LTD. “Your Family Shopping Centre” “Closed Wednesdays All Day” + Hours: 9-5:30 experience and motives than by intellectual analysis. 2 Appeals to the principles o! liberty and freedom have, in in- dustrial history, frequently been used to oppose necessary social progress. It is a’ historical fact that the introduction of laws against child and female labor, laws to establish minimum wages or maximum hours, those relat- ing to safety measures in indus- trial undertaking, or laws gov- erning combines, to give only a few examples, were in their day opposed because they were al- leged to interfere with the lib- erty of the individual. Undoubtedly they did so inter- fere, but in the interests of a higher-and more universal form of liberty. Today it is universally recognized that all such laws of protection have been milestones on the road of humanity’s prog- ress. We have a strong conviction A Service For IWA (New Westminster) CREDIT UNION MEMBERS * DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS MAY BE OPENED FOR ISSUING OF CHEQUES. * Save By Mail For Information Write or See Manager _ IWA (New Westminster) CREDIT UNION 537 Clarkson St. NW. As Never that the propositions about lib- erty and freedom voiced against union security will in time be shown to be as mis- applied as in the examples given. There is, after all, no interference with any citizen’s liberty when, on seeking em- ployment, he is informed that there is a. recognized trade union in the industry, that such union acts by law on behalf of all the employees and that, consequently, he is required to take his place and to play his part as a member of that union. Nor is there any loss of lib- erty in informing an employee that there has been a trade union bargaining collectively on behalf of all employees for a long time, that he, as well as the others, has benefited from that collective bargaining and that, by decision of the vast majority of the employees, it is now proposed to require every employee to take his place and play his part in the union and to contribute to its upkeep and administration. No Loss of Liberty Surely it is not possible to deny that in most cases the inter- ference is not with the liberty of the employee, but rather with his greed and indifference. The rea- son why an employee fails to join his appropriate union in an industry which has enjoyed a long history of collective bargain- ing is, in the vast majority of cases, disinterest and, in some cases, sheer selfishness and para- sitism. In our opinion, it is a mistake regarding liberty in matters such |.as the union shop. It is of much greater relevance to consider two other basic principles of demo- cratic behavior, namely, that every right involves an obligation and that every member of a com- munity should contribute to its upkeep and to its necessary ser- Before” vices from which he benefits. The principle of liberty in a modern democracy must be given positive application through the widest possible participation by all citizens in the instruments of democracy. The Democratic Way The workers in this industry have enjoyed collective bargain- ing for many years. As a result of that collective bargaining all of the employees, whether mem- bers of the unions or not, have gained many rights and numer- ous benefits. Surely, it is neither fair nor democratic that a proportion of the employees should enjoy the rights gained for them by their fellow employees without them- selves carrying out their corres- ponding obligation to be active and participating citizens in their industrial community. And similarly, it is neither fair mor democratic that some em- ployees should enjoy the benefits gained for them by the Union without making any financial contribution to the servicing of the collective agreements from which they benefit, and of carry- ing on the necessary and costly activities of the agency which serves them. There are other and more practical considerations which the Union draws to the Board’s attention. The wider the mem- bership in the Unions, the more do they reflect the wishes of the employees and the more difficult does it become for a small group of demagogues to gain control. There is also the effect of the to be impressed with arguments | resentment which union members justly feel against ‘free riders’, The resentment is entirely justi- fied and understandable and it results in ill-feeling among em- ployees which cannot but be harmful to efficiency. The above and similar considerations more than outweigh, in our opinion, the alleged loss of freedom.” Nanaimo Phone 1515 IRA BECKER & SON Vancouyer Island Distributors LE.L. POWER CHAIN SAWS PARTS SERVICE