B.C. LUMBER WORKE R - 2nd Issue, May Postal ~ Workers Rebel OTTAWA (CPA) — Labor- management relations between the Canadian Post Office and its employees continued under heavy fire from the opposition members in the House of Com- mons last week. The labor spokesman for the Conserva- tives (Mrs. Ellen Fairclough, Hamilton West) pointed out that “In the last few years there has grown up in all parts of this country a most deplor- able antagonism between the staff and management of the Post Office Department”. Chapter and verse backing up Mrs. Fairclough’s charge were cited by other M.P’s, Roy Knight (CCF, Saskatoon) gave several examples of the kind of legitim- ate grievances which have ang- ered postal employees. He told of grade I postal clerks in some areas receiving less pay than others doing precisely the same work in other centres simply be- cause they worked in smaller offices. “Equal pay for equal work should operate in this re- gard,” said Mr. Knight. He pointed out that in many areas the promised 40-hour week had not materialized. Seniority Rights Most annoying of all employees grievances, however, was the manner in which seniority rights had been discarded in an attempt to take on new employees for xe- lief duties. Efforts to secure em- ployees to take on the job of re- lieving carriers on regular routes had been made first of all by of- fering certain extra pay for the relief job. When the extra amount of- fered proved insufficient to se- eure the necessary number of relief men—termed Supervisory Letter Carriers—they were of- fered their choice of holiday periods over other employees re- gardless oY seniority. As Mr. Knight pointed out “For years the principle of seniority has been established for choice of work and for holidays; that precedent has now been broken.” Priority Lost “Does the Postmaster-General not realize” said Stanley Knowles (CCF, Winnipeg North Centre), “that in effect the senior men who did not want to undertake this more arduous work are be- ing penalized for failing to do it by losing the priority they had with respect to vacations?” “In a sense, yes,” replied Mr, Cote, “but we had to implement this 40-hour week and there was no other way to do it.” “You could have paid them more,” pointed out the CCF spokesman, Weekly earnings of salaried women employed in manufactur- ing in Canada averaged $41.26 last year, a little less than half the $82.60 average weekly earn- ings of salaried men. see Canada's 19 motor vehicle plants employed a record 31,102 in 1952 as compared with 30.479 in 1951. Auto Workers Define Issue Forty Canadians were Standards Maintained among the over 2,500 dele-| Employees given advance no- gates in attendance at the} tice of a layoff and who have Sixth International Educa-| seniority status would receive tion Conference of the Unit- | Suarantee payment for each full ed Automobile Workers held | ‘ek poeesonem See recently in Chicago at| Scent t xeep up the same living which the UAW revealed its| Sun’ eesiorca NY WO pumenteed auployment The 40-hour guarantee would in. gates also heard) ie effective for every week up to political reaction in both} 52, in which the employee is call- Canada and the U.S. scored|ed in to work and for which lie in speeches by top leaders. | has not received any advance The union has indicated it will notice of a layoff. strike, if necessary, to gain its} This part of the guarantee plan in 1955 negotiations. GRANTS AWARDED OTTAWA (CPA) — bill to provide payments, not ex- ceeding $40 a month, to dis- abled persons was formally moved in the Commons by Health Minister Martin this week, The government will share expenses on a 50-50 basis with the provinces up to a maximum of $40 per month. The Bill does riot cover any disabled persons below the age of 18 years. Mr. Martin announced that five provinces had already passed enabling legislation and now await action from the federal government. Tle did not specify which pro- Vinces were involved. Tangle Gets Righted WASHINGTON (CPA) — The U'S. Senate took action recently to sort out a tangle that its own government officials started, and which resulted in some 2,000 U.S. citizens losing their citizenship rights. During the period of American | military occupation of Japan | from September 2, 1945, to April 22, 1952, a number of Japanese- ‘Americans who hapened to be in the country were urged by the military authorities to vote in political elections and plebiscites in order to keep’ communists would be like call-in pay. Goal For 1955 A great deal of the guaranteed annual wage parallels. the struc- ture of the pension drive of 1950. There will again be joint adminis- tration, funding, etc. The plan, of course, will be non-contributory by the employees. Jack Conway, administrative assistant to UAW President Wal- ter Reuther, said “certain areas” of the plan are “still fluid” and will remain that way between now and the international ‘Eco- nomic Conference’ that is to be called next fall. At that time, the union will prepare to take its plan to the bargaining table. PAC UAW President Walter Reu- ther also pointed to the dang ous trend in American politics and warned the delegates that attempts are made by the reac- tionary forces of the U.S. and Canada to further restrict labor legislation in both countries, He scored the inactivities of both governments towards the problems of unemployment. George Burt, Canadian UAW director and CCL Vice-president, pledged the UAW to greater par ticipation in political action par ticularly with the possibility of an Ontario election. |. from being elected to office. Survey Reveals Alarming Facts OTTAWA (CPA) — An investigation into seasonal unemployment by the National Employment Committee has shown that in one Canadian industry there is a fluc- tuation of 234% between the high and low peaks of em- ployment. The NEC, an advisory body to the Unemploy- ment Insurance Commission, reported on 18 seasonal industries after receiving information from 600 employers and a number of local employment committees. The report offers no radical suggestions for cutting heavy unemploy- FARMER-LAB UNITY SHOWN First meeting of the Canadian Farmer-Labor Economic Council, held recently in Winnipeg, elected J. L. Phelps, president of the Saskatchewan Farmers’ Union, as chair- man, with A. R. Mosher, CCL president, and the TLC president as co-chairmen. A joint resolution on unemploy- ment strongly urged federal aid to assist both farm and industrial workers, Finally, the Council urged a federal-provineial conference on : unemployment and falling farm The CFLEC unemployment re-| income, under federal sponsor- solution described it as “inhum-| Ship, at an early date. = isti: I 0 . . a an, un-christian and dangerous to Immigration Policy The results of the survey have been published in a booklet called Seasonal Unemployment in -Can- ada which deals with the extent and causes of unemployment in the industries surveyed. The in- dustries covered in the investiga- tion were canned and preserved fruits and vegetables, logging, canned and cured fish, construc- tion, water transportation, cai bonated beverages, dairy pro- ducts, non-metal mining, saw and planing mills, meat products, shipbuilding and repairing, hotels and restaurants, grain elevators, women’s clothing, retail trade, pulp and paper mills, electric light and power, and agricultural implements. Causes Vary Fluctuations in levels of em- ment such as is felt in Canada every winter. dustry in Eastern Canada, 156 percent and in Western Canada, 58 percent. There was consider- able variation in the employment level fluctuation in the construc- tion industry, but in building construction the difference was 28 percent while in the public works section it was as high as 92 percent. Suggested Remedies Some remedies suggested by employers to minimise the flu tuations in employment wer: better organization of work sche- dules; stockpiling of raw mater- ials and finished products; off- season vacations; diversification of products; lower wage rates in winter,’ particularly in construc- the very existence of democracy and a “common threat to both farmer and labour”. Layoffs re- duce buying power, “contributing further to farm Public Works Program The meeting urged the federal government to speed action on a “comprehensive public works plan”, increase unemployment in- surance benefits, and extend full benefits to those now excluded or on partial UIA benefits. More- oyer, farmers should be guaran- teed fair prices for their products and measures taken to increase farm exports. On immigration, the CFLEC requested the federal government to establish an Advisory Commit- tee on Immigration, composed of representatives of labor, farmers, employers and other interested organizations. The meeting ob- jected to the fact that Canadian immigration authorities appear to set their own laws. The pro- posed Advisory Committee would provide the government with a new viewpoint on the question. “How's your wife’s driving coming along?” “She took a turn for the worse last week.” SANDWICH WHITE BREAD Sliced aie. WHITE BREAD NOW ENRICHED ‘tion, so that more attractive estimates could be given for win- ter work. ployment in the canning industry during the period 1952-1953 were 234 percent, in the logging in- A Bicycle Built for Tuo Geet! Our New No. 980 Black Elk Bicycle Pattern Safety Toe Boot is Tops in Safety and Comfort. Laced To Toe Style Makes Easier Fitting On Nai id Feet. Comfortable — Extra Flexible — Light Weight. 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