4 B.C. LUMBER WORKER In place of the editorial comment for which this column is usually reserved, The B.C. Lumber Worker features the keynote address of District President Joe Morris, ivered at the opening of the District Convention. It Is obvious that his re- marks have greater significance for our readers than the customary ediforial. From Page 1A DV ANCE” year, but if we harness our resources, to our purposes as rational men and women, we'll get there much sooner if we do not waste our energies in merely staging fireworks. We will be all the firmer in our purposes if we are not too frightened to change our ways, to get results. I remind you that in trade union progress, the end does not always justify the means, but rather the means often determine the end. When we get down to the bedrock of our problems, what are We required to do? We have to face three or four main questions. When we work out the answers to these few questions in relation to each other, we will be able to devise our tactics of action. Let’s give these questions a fresh working-over early in this convention. Workers’ Position The first question: What is the present position of the lumber workers in British Columbia? T'll tell you something that you already know. Some of our brothers may seem to be doing all right. But, we know very well that the great majority are not. Their circumstances are not good enough from the standpoint of annual earnings. They do not have enough job security. Employment for them is broken too often. They do not get the full protection required in regard to working conditions. They are a long way from getting the kind of deal that is justified by their skills and the risks they must take. So what is our only answer? In the light of these facts, we must do all that is possible to better their circumstances. This union cannot take a holiday, until all the men so affected, are placed in a position where they can enjoy life to the full. Union’s Position Our next question: What is the position of the union, in rela- tion to the job to be done? I have already said that the union is in first class health. I now say something more. This union is poised and ready to map out and occupy new ground, which will place the lumber workers of this province in a position of much greater social and economic security. We have not only mobilized, but we have wisely con- served the strength that can be brought into play successfully if we develop a sane and skillful strategy. Industry’s Position Another question for this convention: What is the state of the economy, and what does it show in the way of possibilities for gains by this Union? I suggest a few leads fo the answer. The economy is showing some soft spots. Here and there, in some industries, we see the evidence of needless and serious unemployment. Unemployment anywhere is the immediate concern of the lumber workers, because such symptoms are danger signals for the stability of our own industry. Take a good look at our section of the economy, the section that is owned by our millionaire employers. Putting it in the language of the industry, they never had it better, apart from the war years. Remember the doleful tales told us during last year’s negotiations? Take a look at what’s happened. Production is run- ning almost constantly at top speed. Never was there better reason to be optimistic about the prospects int the lumber market in peace time. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m simply trying to suggest that we face the facts. I’m not trying to urge you to start a raid on the industry, with completely exorbitant demands, although what this union demands is entirely the business of this convention. Realism Urged I think we now have the right to suggest to the employers that they be more realistic. This pretence of disaster which they keep repeating year after year with such unfailing and tiresome monotony, does nothing to stabilize the labor-management rela- tions of the industry. All it does is to create the impression in the minds’ of the lumber workers that the men who own the industry are the most persistent and the most accomplished liars known, since the big steals which founded the lumber industr: I suggest they should wake up, go modern, instead of Vi torian, and decide to give us a reasonable share of what-they are getting. If they do so, the whole economic life of the province will pick up. If they show some confidence in the prospects of lumber production, the whole province will show greater confi- dence, and this will be reflected in a firmer tone of business activity. Contract negotiations in the lumber industry would run much more smoothly, if the employers would join us in some honest- to-God fact-finding and fact-facing. However,-if they should fail to mend their ways, I suppose we will have to use still more con- vincing methods at the bargaining table, while we keep in reserve our less polite manners. If they persist in running the industry on a modernized version of the law of the jungle, in regard to “employee relations ,well, we can do a little research work on the tactics of jungle warfare, too. I know that the Union will make up its own mind, both here and at the International Convention. It may be premature to make any pronouncements in the nanie of the union. However, I take the liberty of reciting some cautions that we dare not overlook in this union. Organic Unity We must not grasp the shadow and let go the substance. Unity is imperative, but it must be the genuine article. Unity to be real, must be organized with sincerity around the principles for which the trade unions have fought and sacrificed. It must be for a purpose that is real in terms of service, and not for the aggrandizement of any person or any special group. It won't work, if it is carried out in an atmosphere of horse-trading or secret reservations. All the cards must be on the table, and we must start with a new and a clean deal. You all know very well what I mean. I think I know the mind of my fellow-members in the IWA when I say that there is one thing we will never give up—and that Hover Geoeaia EA, CONVENTION “UNDERSTAND Y is the preservation of the right now vested in the membership to determine the policies to be pursued by the union. This is not a policy of isolation. This union has never with- held cooperation from any other union, whether AFL or CIO. I speak for a policy of equality, of membership control, as opposed to bureaucratic control. I say this because I believe in unity, and because I believe that unity will bring great good to the workers. if it is forged out of the will and best aspirations of the rank and file. Genuine unity, for genuine trade union purposes, is a deal that the rank and file members want and will get, but it is a deal on which they must have the right to settle the terms to ensure a new era for themselves.” ICFTU Aids Korea BRUSSELS (CPA) — The months, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, in collabor- ation with its Asian Regional Organization, has sent a Nor- wegian trade unionist, Sigurd Kvilekval, on a mission to as- sist and advise the ICFTU- affiliated organization in South Korea. After consultations in Brussels, Geneva, Calcutta and Tokyo, he was due to arrive in Seoul on January 29, He will remain in Korea .for several The ICFTU has been pledged +| to assist in the democratic recon- |struction of the Korean trade union movement since the inva- sion of June 1950, but was unable to take any active steps due to hostilities in that country. In spite of considerable difficulties, the Korean Federation of Trade Unions, which has been affiliated to the ICFTU since the inaugural | Congress in London of 1949, has |been able to reconstitute itself. It has 320,000 members, among whom the textile, mining and railway industries are well re- presented. Working Railwayman Mr. Kvilekval is a. working railwayman—a guard—who has been granted leave of absence to undertake this mission, Although he is only thirty-one, he has for three years been secretary of his union branch in Bergen. He has taken an active part in the educational and other activi- ties of his union and has visited Sweden, Denmark and England to stuudy railwaymen’s working conditions. His organization, the Norwegian Union of Railway- men, forms part of the Norwe- gian trade union federation which is affiliated to the ICFTU. Mr. Kvilekval’s mission to Korea is one of a number of acti- vities made possible through the ICFTU’s Regional Activities Fund. This Fund has been built up since 1951 with voluntary con- tributions from ICFTU affiliates and the international trade secre- tariats. | Lenguins are born ina Dress Sulf- Men Arent £ AND TO ACHIEVE THAT SAME NATURALLY “DRESSY” LOOK MOST MEN WILL GO A LONG WAY — UNLESS THEY ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE REGULAR CUSTOMERS OF > UNITED BRITISH WOOLLENS 549 GRANVILLE STREET . WHOSE “CHARCOAL GREY” “COGNAC BROWN” HAVE EVEN THE PENGUINS GREEN WITH ENVY *** CONVENTION DELIVERY TO I.W.A. MEMBERS ONLY 24 HOURS — UNITED TAILORS TAILORS IF DESIRED! VANCOUVER, B.C. 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