n

B.C. LUMBER WORKER

9

SAFEWAY: -

uarpits

UNFAIR. ~
“AYLMER &
PRooUCTS

anian tanneries ox 3 ¢

ON STRIKE

RISTMAS HAMPERS being prepared here were paid

en Aylmer Products canneries, in British Columbia.

for by donations received from sympathiz-
in aid of the striking members of the United Packinghouse Workers of America, on strike at

UTLOOK FOR 1955

* By A. R. MOSHER
President, Canadian Congress of Labor

Every thoughtful person is aware that the relation-
Ships between the free and democratic nations of the
world, on the one hand, and those which belong to the
Communist group, on the other, are far from encouraging.

Almost every day some new|————_
evidence of animosity appears on| ordination of their armed forces.
the horizon, and the gains that Definite Progress

have been made recently in the
strengthening of the North At-
lantic Treaty Organization have
been offset by efforts to bring the
_. Communist countries closer to-

gether with respect to the co-

<< ete

MEET THE

Pre- Sessional

|| DINNER

Nevertheless, some definite pro-
gress has been made by the
United Nations in the direction
of disarmament, and, in spite of
a mutual lack of confidence in
the good faith of the two groups

CCF MLA’s

Friday, Jan. 21st, 6.30 p.m.
Rio Hall, Joyce and Kingsway

Stug-Soug aud Eutertatument
Tickets $1.50 at Door or CCF Members

of nations, some slackening of
international tension has oc-
curred. We may, therefore, go
into the New Year with a rather
more optiniistic attitude, so far
as world peace is concerned, than
was possible even a year ago.

We welcome even the slightest
improvement in international af-
fairs, and, even in the face of
military preparedness, which lays
an enormous burden on the work-
ers of every nation, there ap-
pears some ground for hope that
it will ultimately be possible for
men to live together on a basis of
peace and goodwill.

Unemployed Workers

A Real Unicn Shop
And No Mistake!

No less than TEN unions work in harmonious

sociation with the management of The Van-
_ eouver Sun to produce the daily issues of Western
_ Canada’s leading newspaper that go inte two out
of three British Columbia homes. The Sun is happy
be real Union Shop throughout, with agreeable
with all its orgenized crafts and personnel.

In domestic affairs, one of the
most disturbing factors, as we
enter the New Year, is the army
of unemployed workers. A slight
improvement in employment took
place during the summer months,
but the situation is again becom-
ing extremely serious, and there
is little, if any, prospect of ade-
quate action by various levels of
government to bring about an
improvement.

The need for a clearly defined
and planned program of economic
activity, under which the skill
and energies of the workers
would be utilized to produce the
goods and services necessary to
provide a high standard of liv-
ing, seems to be recognized by
almost everyone except those who

1-30 LAUNCHES

PROSECUTION

By TONY POJE
President, Local 1-80

Local 1-80, IWA, has obtained from the Labor Rela-
tions Board. leave to prosecute Gordon River camp, owned
by Western Forest Industries Ltd., a subsidiary of Alaska
Pine Ltd., on the following points:

1. That the company did, on June 16,.1954, reduce the
earnings of its employees at Gordon River Camp while
negotiations were in progress, in direct violation of Sub-

section B, Section 19 of the

This violation of the Labor Re-
lations Act results from the
Company’s refusal to abide by
the Coast Settlement as agreed
upon between District Council
IWA, and the Company's repre-
sentative, Forest Industrial Re-
lations Ltd. It will be recalled
that the 1954 Coast Settlement
was in the form of a “package”
which included an increase in
board and a base rate for fallers
to be set at the lowest price
paid on a quarter in the preced-
ing 11 months (June 15).

The Company did not waste
any time in inereasing the cost
of board from $2.25 per day to
$2.50, but refused the “package”
stating that they wished to fur-
ther negotiate the base rate
which was $1.20 per thousand,
thus attempting to chisel on the
Coast Settlement as accepted by
the other companies, and destroy-
ing the spirit and intent of nego-
tiations on a Master Agreement
basis.

New Point

The Local Union has requested
from the Conciliation Officer that
a Conciliation Board be recom-
mended in an endeavor to settle
the point in dispute. It should
be noted, at this time, that dur-
ing conciliation, the Company
apparently not being satisfied
with only one issue (base rate
for fallers and buckers), decided
at a very late date to enter a

Labor Relations Act.

new point for bargaining, that
being one agreement to cover
Meade Creek and Gordon River,
whereas at the present time two
certifications and two agree-
ments are in effect.

The Local Union feels certain
that if the Company pursues its
present attitude, that it will lead
to strike action as neither the
employees of the Company nor
the Union will sit idly by and-
allow an agreement separate and
apart from that accepted by the
other companies.

Past Experience

The Union, through past ex-
perience, has found Western For-
est Industries a very un-coopera-
tive. company in dealing with
matters pertaining to labor. The
Union regards this particular
company as having the worst
labor management relations in
its jurisdiction. It not only has
a complete disregard for its em-
ployees and adamantly refuses
to bargain grievances in good
faith, 5 :

It is with this bad labor record
that this Local Union finds itself
in no other position than to pub-
licly state that the Company
and particularly local manage-
ment, with its present attitude
and past .actions, is attemptin
through devious means to make
the Union ineffective on the job.

have the authority and the ability
to put such a program into effect.
The tendency of governments has
been to drift along, in the hope
that the situation would improve,
and to make optimistic forecasts
as to what the future will bring,
but no amount of this can justify
a “do-nothing” policy on their
part.

However desirable it may be to
maintain an attitude of faith and
hope, we know that “faith with-
out works availeth nothing.” In
this instance, the works required
are obviously public works. In
addition, however, our govern-
ments should give leadership to
industry by their own initiative
and enterprise, and thus strength-
en and stimulate the economic
development of the nation.

Static Economy
It is important that the people

optometrist.

A Luchy Break

Broken glasses are often a lucky break for eyes
handicapped -by an obsolete lens prescription.
Since human eyes change with use, abuse and age
+... periodic eye examinations are necessary to
detect any need for lens correction.
for broken glasses to give your eyes the break they
deserve. Schedule regular check-ups by your

Abramson & Hollenberg
OPTOMETRISTS

734 GRANVILLE STREET

Don’t wait

of Canada realize that ours can-
not be a static economy. To hold
the line is simply not good
enough, because our population
is increasing, as well as our
ability to produce, and there must
be a steady increase in available
employment and in national in-
come, if serious economic set-
backs are to be avoided. There
ean be no excuse in Canada for
unemployment of serious propor-
tions, and, while there are a
number of factors responsible for
unemployment in any particular
industry, it should be evident that
part of the blame must be laid —
upon our haphazard methods of
production.

We certainly have no right to
adopt an attitude of complac-
ency in the face of conditions
which can be remedied, if we
have the willingness and the cour-
age to,make the effort involved.
The lot of many thousands of
Canadian workers and their fam-
ilies, and of vast numbers of peo-
ple in other countries throughout
the world, could be greatly im-
proved, and the New Year made
happier for them, if we accepted
our responsibility~to use the pro-
ductive capacity of the nation in
the service of mankind.

A young clergyman who had
just completed reading his first
funeral service decided to invite
the mourners to view the depart-
ed. Becoming confused,,he said:
“We will now pass around the
bier.”

i
4