B.C. LUMBE

Sa

R WORKER

Items of Interest To
- Labor In Capsule Form

_ WASHINGTON.—Both the AFL and CIO have called on the
government to take prompt action to halt the spread of unemploy-
- ment. Both emphasized that official figures do not even begin to
tell the full story of the growing recession and assailed the phony
optimism about prospects for 1954. 4
_ OTTAWA.—Canadian farm prices dropped during the month
of November from the index figures of 235.8 the previous month to
228.9 (1935-39 equals 100). Lower -prices for livestock and eggs
were held responsible. The B.C. farm price index dropped from
270.0 to 265.844.

REGINA.—Saskatchewan has set up a seven-man committee
composed of labor and management representatives to consider
changes or improvements int the provincial Workmen’s Compensa-
tion Act. One representative of the CCL has been seated ‘on the
committee.

TORONTO.—Nearly all of the 41 applications for de-certifica-
tion considered by the Ontario Labor Relations Board during 1953
were engineered by management, it was charged by the Ontario
Federation of Labor. This wave of de-certification has been fol-

lowed by an increase in the number of employer-dominated com-

pany unions, which are now being protested by the Federation.

P4 TORONTO.—New strike-breaking weapon devised by Noranda
Mines Ltd. at Noranda has been the threat to evict 200 strikers from
company-owned houses by legal action to collect arrears of rent.
Average over-due rent is now $80, and 200 of the 300 company-
owned houses are occupied by strikers.

LABOR PLEDGES FREE PLAN

. LONDON. — Charges imposed for services under the British

National Health Plan were “forcing people with small incomes to do
without treatment they urgently need,” the Labor Party charged
here. Labor has pledged itself to restore the principle of completely
free treatment under the plan when it is returned to power.

ROUYN, P.Q.—Striking Steelworkers at Noranda Mines did not
turn out to yote in a “Citizen’s Committee”-organized back to work
poll. The following day a union-sponsored vote resulted in a large
majority rejecting company 74% hourly wage increase offer. y

MELBOURNE.—A bill passed in the Australian state of New
South Wales makes union membership compulsory. The majority
Labor Party said the bill would make it impossible for Communists
to gain control of unions in the future because 95% of the new mem-
bers would be anti-Communist.

WASHINGTON. — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has
started a probe of the $2 billion health and accident insurance busi-
ness. In particular FTC will investigate false and misleading adver-
tising. In 1925, only 50 U.S. companies sold accident and health
insurance. Today there are 800 which took premiums of* nearly
$2 billion in 1952,

STRIKE BREAKING DENIED

TORONTO—Ontario’s Premier Frost denied that top officials
of the government-owned Ontario Northland Railway were guilty
of strikebreaking following shipment of a trainload of material into
strike-bound Noranda Mines in Northwestern Quebec. ONR general
manager Freeman said that he and two other ONR officials took
the rail cars through after the regular crew had refused because the
company was bound by law to deliver shipments. Union officials had
been highly critical of what they called the government’s strike-
breaking activities.

OTTAWA.—DBS reported that Canadian farmers had received
an all-time high income of $1,901,500,000 from the sale of farm pro-
duce and payments on previous years’ crops for the nine-month
period to September 1953. This was 4% above the comparable 1952
period and 2% above 1951.

OTTAWA.—Canadian workmen will build 120 locomotives for
use on Indian railroads. The locos, costing $20 million, will be part
of Canada’s Colombo Plan contribution. The contract is expected to
take two years to complete. :

ROUYN, P.Q.—Noranda Mine Manager Anderson announced
that his company would not increase its offer of a 744% wage
increase to striking Steelworkers members. In a letter to Noranda
President Murdoch, Canadian USWA Director C. H. Millard pointed
out that the miners had overwhelmingly rejected the offer, but the
union was still prepared to negotiate a settlement with the company.

CCL CONSOLIDATES

OTTAWA.—The CCL announced that its organizing districts of
Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba would be consolidated into one
“Prairie Provinces” region. Regional Director will be R. E. Hale.
‘The new regional headquarters will be in Regina and sub-regional
offices in Winnipeg and Calgary will be maintained.

TORONTO.—Negotiations between Steelworkers’ Union officials
and the management of five of the seven*struck gold mines in
Northern Ontario were reported under way following a settlement
at the Hollinger Mine at Timmins, Negotiations with Preston East
Dome and Broulan Reef Mine officials have not yet been opened.....

OTTAWA (CPA) — Can-
ada’s population climbed to

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UNEMPLOYMENT GRAVE
WARNS LABOR BODIES

Doubling of Jobless Count Points To
Urgent Need of National Work Plan

OTTAWA (CPA) — Unem-
ployment at December 10th hit
the highest total for any Dec-
ember since the end of the war
according to a report from the
National Employment Service
that 338,100 Canadians were
looking for work. In other
words, just more than one in
every 14. members of the total
labor force was seeking a job.

Applications on file at NES

CCL-PAC

TORONTO (CPA) — Unem-
sployment is rapidly approach-
ing a critical stage, the Nation-
al Political Action Committee
of the Canadian Congress of
Labor said here in a statement
issued at the conclusion of a
two-day conference. Represent-
atives from all provinces ex-
pressed concern at the number
of people out of work, far ex-
ceeding the usual seasonal
trend.

Critical Situation
“Our committee is urging the
Canadian Congress of Labor to
take immediate action to protect
the interests of the unemployed,”

Henry Weisbach, Toronto, Execu-

offices increased by 72,000 from
the figure for November 19, and
were 100,900 more than the total
recorded at December 11, 1952.

The federal Labor Department
admits that not all the unemploy-
ment is seasonal and explains
that during the last few months,
“the expansionary trend in out-
put and employment in the Cana-
dian economy has lost some of
its momentum.

Figures for December unem-
ployment in the years since the
war have been as follows: 1945,
180,000; 1946, 156,000; 1947, 117,-
000; 1948, 130,000; 1949, 221,000;
1950, 186,000; 1951, 208,000; 1952,
195,000; 1958, 338,000.

Regional unemployment totals
at December 10, 1958 were: Que-
bee, 107,300; Ontario, 94,600;
Pacific, 46,800; Atlantic, 44,900
and Prairie, 44,500.

CHARGES NO PLAN

tive Secretary of the CCL Politi-
eal Action Department said. “It
is obvious that with almost 300,-
000 unplaced applicants on record
in government employment of-
fices we are face-to-face with the
most serious unemployment con-
dition the country has experi-
enced since before the war. The
present scale of unemployment
benefits and welfare payments
are quite inadequate to meet
these conditions. There has been
a complete lack of adequate plan-
ning on the part of the govern-
ment.”

Sidney Oram, President of the
Nova Scotia Federation of Labor,
said that an acute situation had

developed in the Maritimes. “Lay-
offs from coal mines have been
severe and many  steelworkers
are walking the streets in Syd-
ney,” he said.

S. F. Cooke, Representative of
the United Steelworkers in Ham-
ilton, said there were more than
12,000 unemployed in that city,
an increase of 5,000 over last
January.

The meetings, which were held
under the chairmanship of Ar-
thur Shultz, Toronto, reviewed
the CCL’s political action pro-
gram and completed plans for a
series of regional conferences to
intensify political education.

INCREASED BENEFITS PROPOSED

OTTAWA—On the ground that a “recession” has
arrived in Canada, the CCF this week called on the
Federal Government to alleviate the serious situation im-
mediately by stepping up economic activity.

“Unemployment in Canada,”
the party’s national executive
said in a statement after a week-
end meeting, “now has reached
such proportions that the Federal
Government can no longer gloss
over it...

“Further discussion as to
whether an economic recession
will take place is academic. The
recession is already here.

“In spite of this, the govern-
ment has done absolutely noth-

ing to alleviate the situation.

Let us not have a repetition of
the kind of government apathy
towards unemployment that
was responsible for untold suf-
fering in Canada in the 1930s.”

General Planning
The CCF proposed these fed-
eral measures:
General economic planning to
take up the slack in industrial
and business activity.

Joint action with industry to
|deal with seasonal unemploy-
ment, including the spreading of
production schedules over the
year.

New Industry

A special commission to ex-
plore ways of setting up addi-
tional industry in areas hit by
regional unemployment.

Increases in the benefit rates
of unemployment insurance.

Assumption of responsibility
by the Federal Government for
those not eligible for insurance
or whose benefit payments have
been exhausted.

Britain
Doubles
U.N. Aid

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.
(CPA)—Britain has announced
that her contribution to ‘the
United Nations Children’s
Fund will be doubled for the
second consecutive year. The
1954 contribution will total
$560,000, UNICEF headquar-
ters reports.

The organization, which was
nearly discontinued in 1953 due
to lack of funds, has provided
food and drugs for millions of
children throughout the world. It
has established child and national
health welfare centres, protected
more than 14 million children
against tuberculosis and millions
more against malaria and other
diseases.

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