Higher Standards

We cannot allow ourselves to
become impatient with the
clashes of opinion, which are
bound to occur in our discussions,
for “when all men think alike,
no one thinks at all”. Every

te has the right to feel
intensely about the matters to be
discussed here, but this intensity
_ of feeling should not be allowed
to mushroom into destructive
antagonisms.

Our job here is to pool our
best contributions of wisdom and
experience, and think our way
through to a program of action
that will command unity and
loyalty.

This is not idle moralizing.
"That we should be certain of the
integrity of our motives, is one
of the most urgent requirements
of this convention. Furthermore,
that we should be ready to sub-

merge our personal, and minor }

differences, in the good of the
whole, is essential for our com-
mon welfare.
Conditions Growing Difficult
The reason I speak this way,
is that we are called here to do a
job under conditions which are
rapidly becoming more difficult
and complex. We are not engag-
ed in strengthening our Union
merely for the satisfaction of
having a strong union. We are
engaged in strengthening our
Union as an instrument to batter
down barriers which are being
erected to defeat our purposes.
Make no mistake about this.
The barriers are being built
higher and thicker. These greater
obstacles are being placed in the
way of our progress only because
of the growing strength of the
IWA. We can match this intensi-
fied and more highly organized
opposition only as we muster the
utmost in unified strength from

Rights

Imowledge of the facts, that
wages and working conditions
in the lumber industry have
not yet been raised to stand-
ards made possible by the re-
sources and profits of the in-
dustry.

A strategy, now popular with
the employers, is to picture the
trade union movement as the
“big bad wolf", seeking to des-
troy all possibilities of expand-
ing prosperity. They have been
so bold as to warn the public
that our union, among others, is
dominated by lawless elements,
and is prone to pursue irrespons-
ible policies.

The record of this Union, when
fairly stated, gives, the lie direct
to all such gross misrepresenta-
tion. On your behalf, I state
facts regarding this Union which
cannot be disputed.

The Union’s Record

The Union is democratic to the
core. The policies of our Union
are shaped through democratic
processes, which are not excelled
by any other organization in this
country.

Our Union is dedicated to the
well-being of the lumber work-
ers. In all our activities of or-
ganization and collective bar-
gaining, we serve no other pur-
pose. We will not, and should
not, abandon our determination
to safeguard the welfare of those
we represent, and to do so in the
manner they may desire.

Our Union is formed of law-
abiding citizens, who respect the
law of the land, and prize the

within our ranks. However, for-
midable these barriers may be,
our continued progress is assur-
ed, if we maintain the unity of
purpose displayed by the pio-

neers of the trade union move-

ment.

The opposition of the organiz-
ed employers is based ‘on their
fear that a fair and equitable
distribution in wage income to
the workers will compel the own-
ers to relinquish a portion of the
lush profits made in the post-war
years. They are fiercely deter-
mined not merely to make a
legitimate profit—a right which
we concede—but rather to con-
tinue extracting from industry
the extortionate profits to which
they have grown accustomed. In
defence of this claim, they have
developed a fixation, that what is
| good for them is good for the
country. It is our job to enforce
the counter-claim, which is much
closer to the truth. The workers
form the bulk of the population,
and as they prosper in terms of
better living, so the country
prospers.

Employers Challenged
The employers in the lumber
industry are well aware of our
intentions. All the signs point to
a stiffening of their determina-
tion to defeat our purposes. Let
no one be fooled on this score.
They will this year again employ
their economic strength to stop

us in our tracks if they can.
Our fundamental strategy
must be to match their use of
economic power, with our own
resources of organized strength
and unity, developed to a high-
er pitch of efficiency and thrust.
We will seat ourselves at the
bargaining table this year with
the conviction, based on a

Upheld _

privileges of democracy. In proof
of this, it may be demonstrated
that we have sought the fulfill-
ment of our aims through the
legally prescribed procedures of
association, negotiation, and con-
ciliation.

It has only been when the em-
ployers have utilized their eco-
nomic power to black-out all
democracy in industrial relations,
that we haye exercised our un-
deniable right to withold our la-
bor from the productive machine.

As free men we have the
right to refuse to work, when
denied justice in the conditions
of our employment. Let no~
one be persuaded that such
action is lawless. If it be law-
less, then all the social action
of protest, characteristic of the
deyelopment of British institu-
tions and which brought us our
present measure of liberty, was
likewise lawless. Despite the
distorted-propaganda, intended
to disguise the more sinister
designs of the profit-makers,
we have done no more and no
less than make a stand for our
freedom, within the framework
of the constitutional liberties
guaranteed by the law.

Community Considered

The members of this Union
are not unmindful of the inter-
ests of the community at large,
for we form an important part
of that community. We know
that as a group we must seek
our welfare in that of all the peo-

very reason that we oppose the

INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID CERTIFICATES

Approved by The Workmen's Compensation Board of B.C.
Classes and Deeper Coase for Beginners and for

Pac oe

First Ald Attendants Are Invited to Membership.

For Further Informatio

‘Write
* asfclation 3 First Ald Attendants
ss of B.C.
‘Street, Vancouver, B.C.

ple of the province. It is for this |

“The Resolutions Committee I believe has NOW reached a unanimous decision.”
“At least I think the committee has a UNANIMOUS report.”

economic dictatorship of a mi-
nority, which seeks to fatten it-
self at the expense of the ma-
jority. The public has no
cause to fear the trade union
movement, for the trade unions
are more closely allied with the
public interest than any other
organized section. As a matter
of fact, the public is in the debt
of the trade unions for the pres-
ent-day betterment of social con-
ditions, resulting from labor's
years of struggle and sacrifice
for social and economic justice.
No Apologies

As your President, I have
never been required to apolo-
gize for the policies of the B.C.
District Council. I know that
I never will, notwithstanding
the prejudiced and distorted
statements, originating in the
more exclusive Vancouver
Clubs. Our course is clear, and
during this Convention we will
set our course, as we have in
the past, without fear, and
with complete confidence that
our aims and objects as here
declared, will serve the best
interests of the B.C. Lumber
Workers, to whose well-being
we dedicate ourselves in these
deliberations.”

‘IWA CRITICIZES
WCB CHANGES

Warning note was sounded ‘by the IWA District Offi-

cers in their report to the

Annual District Convention

that the employers’ interests should not be allowed undue
influence in the affairs of the Workmen’s Compensation

Board.

In reference to the recent ap-
pointment of a pro tem Chair-
man, ‘and the prediction that
other changes are pending, they
said:

“Your Officers view with alarm
the appointment of a represen-
tative of one of the largest em-
ployer groups in British Colum-
bia to the post of temporary
chairman of the Workmen’s Com-
pensation Board, replacing the
public member, at present on
sick leave.

It is our opinion that if this
appointment was necessary, then
in order to keep a proper balance
and serve the purposes of the
Act, which states that the Board
of Commissioners shall consist
of one representative each of
management, labor and the pub-
lic, then the government should
have appointed some member of

the public free from any ties
with either labor or management.

At the same time we are very
much concerned with the appar-
ent attempts of the government
to take the Accident Prevention
Department from. the direction
of the Workmen’s Compensation
Board, and place it under the
direct control of the Labor De-
partment.

We believe that the function
of the Accident Prevention De-
partment is the concern of all
people in the province and would
be best administered under the
direction of the Workmen’s Com-
pensation Board, as in the past
for if this Department is admin-
istered by the Labor Department,
it may be subject to political
pressure and accident prevention
has no place in the political

573 HOMER ST.

VANCOUVER 3, B.C.

",..Get smart, Mac, put your WATSON’S on!”

Co-op Fire & Automobile Insurance ||| maz
AVAILABLE ON A Z Printers of
NON-PROFIT BASIS So ThedBe
FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS [Al LUMBER WORKER
“PHONE PA, 6858 _ oR WRITE TO H
Co-Operative Fire & Casualty Co. A
a

NON 0

LIMITED

PRINTERS AND
LITHOGRAPHERS

An Employee Owned Co.

944 RICHARDS STREET
PAcific 6338-9