B.C. LUMBER WORKER 2nd Issue, January -IWA DELEGATION AT 1954 CONVENTION UNIONS FIGHT QUEBEC QUEBEC CITY (CPA)—The Quebec Legislature this LAWS week passed two bills giving the Duplessis government stronger powers for taking action against trade unions in the province. The bills, both passed by a large majority, would decertify unions involved in public service strikes or those led by Communists. Premier Duplessis said that strikes in public services were anti-social acts which he likened to revolution or sabotage. They were, he said, “. . . like a soldier turning a gun against a general «+» equivalent to treason”. Du- plessis said the Quebec govern- ment recognized the right to strike so long as it was not a strike against the people. Teachers Target Opposition Leader Georges La- palme said that Liberal opposi- tion to both bills centered around the fact that they could be ap- plied retroactively. Several Lib- eral members charged that the bill giving authority to the Pro- vineial Labor Relations Board to decertify unions in public services which call, or threaten to call, strikes, was aimed at the Alliance of Montreal Catholic Teachers that called a strike of 2,000 teachers in 1949 and was later decertified by the QLRB. The courts, up to the Supreme Court of Canada, ruled the decertifica- tion illegal and the Quebec gov- ernment now has appealed to the Privy Council in London for a reversal. The opposition members also criticized the other bill charging that it hurt unions generally and not the communists at whom it was aimed. The bill allows QLRB to decertify unions which ‘toler- ate’ communists in their ranks, Labor Minister Barrette stated that the bill was introduced be- eause the people of the provinces wanted it and also to assist Unions in ridding themselves of communists. Premier Duplessis ‘said that under the new law only unions tolerating communists would be affected. TIMBER CONSERVED STOCKHOLM (CPA)— Swe- den’s forest industries need never fear a shortage of raw materials if the present stand- ards of conservation are main- tained. More new timber is growing every year than is be- ing cut by workers of one of the country’s major industries. Forests cover about two-thirds of the country’s total land area but in the north, over-cutting had brought about the danger of deforestation. Due to strict for- estry control, however, the 1952 inventory showed that the timber supply in south and central Swe- den was on the increase, while in the north the regrowth equals losses from cutting and decay. Quality Higher Spruce and pine make up the bulk of the coniferous tree timber volume. Growing period for Swe- dish spruce and pine is, on an average, twice that of the same trees in southern Europe and the southern part of the U.S. CREDIT: UNIONS GROW REGINA—As at September 30, 1953, the combined assets. of Saskatchewan credit unions totalled $27.2 million, an in- crease of more than $4 million in the six months prior to that date, according to a summary of financial and statistical re- ports of Saskatchewan credit unions, released by the provin- cial department of co-operation and co-operative development. Individual membership rose 4,048 to a total of 65,315. Share capital increased by nearly $3 million to $18.5 million while de- posits showed a gain of about $740,000 to a total of $6.5 million. Loans made during the six- month period totalled over $10 million, bringing the total amount loaned since the first Saskatch- ewan credit union was organized in 1937 to nearly $71 million, The report noted marked pro- gress in resources and operations among many of the older, well- established credit unions, with 57 credit unions having assets in ex- cess of $100,000. Three credit unions had assets of more than $1,000,000; six had over $500,000; 17 over $200,000; and thirty-one from $100,000 to $200,000. Compared with September 30, 1952, there were increases of three percent in the number of credit unions, 14 percent in total membership, 88 percent in total assets and 28 percent in total loans granted. HEADS Champion of All Lightweight @ Caulked Boots ~ © LIGHT CRUISER Featuring High Carbon Steel Oil Tempered Boot Caulks FOR SURE GRIP Another Favorite . .. HEAD’S famous “SAFETY TOE BOOTS” for Mill Workers / W. J. HEAD BOOT 21 East Hastings Se. (PA, 4844) “HEADS YOU WIN” FACTORY LIMITED Vancouver, B.C. “WE PAY TOO MUCH’ By MORDEN LAZARUS TORONTO (CPA) — When a big bank president makes statements that sound as though they came from a hard- pressed housewife, they are news—they may even be ac- cepted as fact. James Muir, president of the Royal Bank of Canada, never spoke truer words in his life when he said that in terms of what it will buy in Canada, the Canadian dollar is third-rate. Condensing Mr. Muir’s state- ment into a sentence, he said that Canadian consumers are being charged exorbitant prices, busi- ness in Canada is loading on all the traffic will bear and the aver- age Canadian buyer is getting a poor run for his earnings. Exorbitant Prices Mr. Muir said a lot more. He charged in effect that the pur- pose of expanding consumer cre- dit in 1952 was to encourage the +] average family to pay exorbitant prices by buying on credit when they would have balked at buy- ing for cash. Figures show that wholesale prices have dropped 8 percent since 1951 but prices have not followed. Wholesale farm prices are 20 percent lower but consum- ers are paying only 3 percent less for food. Finally Mr. Muir, sounding al- most like a “labor agitator” said that high wages are a good thing, provided industry is efficient and does not resort to restrictive practises to keep prices up. “Prices are kept down wages up through high and- efficient pro- duction... .” and he said that labor itself realizes that “it stands to benefit from any pro- gram that improves the efficiency of Canadian production.” STRIKE VOTE SCORED WASHINGTON. — A surprise proposal in President Hisen- hower’s Taft-Hartley recommendations—for a government-conducted strike vote in every strike—brought immediate and strong protests from organized labor. In general, labor agreed that the improve- ments offered in the President’s 14 proposals were slight, some of the provisions were more anti-union than the present. law, and no relief at all had been offered from the really objectionable feature of T-H. labor always gets a square deal... The Province The Vancouver Province is 100% Union Produced