Ist Issue, April

B.C. LUMBER WORKER

3

Merger Meets Approval

Decision to merge the Trades and Labour Congress of
Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour into one com-
pletely autonomous labour centre was reached by the top
officers of both bodies as they recently drafted a set of
principles to pave the way for labour unity in Canada.

“This new Congress shall em-
brace as equals all affiliated and
chartered unions and organiza-
tions which are presently in
¢ither the Trades and Labor
Congress of Canada or the Can-
adian Congress of Labour who
wish to join and will accept the
policies and principles that will
govern its affairs and activities,

All other legitimate labour or-
ganizations within Canada,
whether local, provincial, nation-
al, or international, shall be elig-
ible for membership.” a

Basis Outlined

On that basis top officers of
Canada’s two largest central la=
bour organizations have reached
agreement on a set of principles
which pave the way for a united

labour movement.

Once these principles are ap-
proved by the Executive Councils
of the two organizations, work will
immediately proceed on the draft-
ing of a constitution for the new
united body. While there have
been some informal discussions on
a name no decision has yet been
reached,

No target date has been set for
the amalgamation but the com-
mittee is very conscious of the
TLC .convention to be held in
Windsor starting May 30 and there
is hope that it may prove possible
to reach a point by that date which
will enable the’ delegates to take
concrete action.

Unity talks have been continu-
ing over a period of a year with
monthly meetings held latterly.

On March 9 the eight members of
the committee sat down in an Ot-
tawa hotel room and after a con-
tinuous six-hour session were able
to report they had made “excep-
tional progress in reaching agree-|
ment on many matters of basic
and fundamental principle.”

Arrangements: were made for
the table officers to confer on a
number of matters, including:

Treasurers; Donald MacDonald
and Gordon Cushing; and two
vice-presidents from each body,
C. H. Millard and George Burt
from the CCL and William Jen-
oves and George Schollie from the
TLC.

At the original unity discussions
a three-step program was adopted
—-co-operation on matters of mut-
ual concern; a no-raiding pact;
and finally merger. The program
is now in its final stage.

The progress made at the March
Ottawa meeting obviously sur-
prised even the members of the

committee, and is regarded as re-

Hartung
IWA Uni

‘A. F. Hartung, President

States
ty Views

of the International Wood-

workers of America, CIO, announced today that the Inter-
national Executive Board of the Union, had endorsed the
action of the National CIO Executive Board in their okay
of the AFL-CIO merger agreement signed by Presidents

Meany and Reuther.

The LWA Executive Board is-
sued the following statement:

“The Executive Board of the
International Woodworkers of
America, CLO-CCL concurs in
the merger agreement, as adopt-
ed by the Executive Board of the
Clo.

“This agreement establishes the
framework for labor unity, based
on the principles of a sound, hon-
orable, principled and effective
merger.

Equal Status
IWA Executive

“The Board

JOINT TLC-CCL C

LABOUR UNITY COMMITTEE, adopted a set of pri
ig at the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa,

March m
CCL president; George Burt,
president; Gordon Cus!

‘at which this photograph was taken. From le!

es on which organic unity of the two major Canadian labour bodies was based at their
jeorge Schollie, TLC vice-president; A. R. Mosher,
CCL vice-president; William Jenoves, TLC vice-president; C. H. Millard, CCL vice-president; Claude Jodoin, TLC
9, TLC secretary-treasurer, and Donald MacDonald, CCL secretary-treasurer.

OMMITTEE

ee

a challenging
statement!

ne

Province.

Tt caged

_ The Vancouver Province

*

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Labour affairs,
in good standing of a

flecting the sincere determination
of the officers of both bodies to
provide an organization which can
speak with one voice for Canadian
labour.

New Applications

While the new organization will
be founded primarily on the mem-
bership of the CCL and TLC
unions it will be open to all bona
fide organizations and thus on the
basis of present strength of Can-
adian unions, could have a mem-
bership of about 1,250,000. At a

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press conference following the
Ottawa meeting the officers made
it clear that they do not regard
the splinter “independent” com-
munist-dominated organizations as
bona fide labour organizations.
Such groups would become eligi-
ble for membership if they clean-
ed their houses,

CCL Convention

The 1955 CCL convention is
now scheduled to be held in
Toronto commencing October
10. Adoption of the merger plan
by the two national conventions
would, it is anticipated, lead to a
founding convention of the new
body by early 1956,

IN FRANCE, % of the farm
population do not have piped
water in their homes. Of 38,000
French’ rural communities, only
300 have a good sewage system.

NEARLY A QUARTER of the
working hours of an Indian house-
wife are spent in finding and

bringing drinking water.

commends CIO President Walter
Reuther for his leadership in re-
taining in the merger agreement
the integrity of ‘each affiliated
union; equal status for industrial
unionism; providing constitution-
al guarantees and internal mach-
inery to insure the elimination of
such evils as raiding,. racial dis-
crimination, Communist infiltra-
tion, racketeering and other cor-
rupting influences, and also pro-
vides for effective, democratic
union organization regardless of
race, color, creed’ or national ori-
gin.

“These are the principles upon
which our Union, the [WA was
founded 18 years ago.

“In the friendly atmosphere of
the CIO-AFL merger agreement,
the IWA Executive Board pro-
poses the establishment of a new
autonomous International indus-
trial union in the logging, manu-
facturing and processing of all
wood products. This new union
will take in all workers from the
stump to the finished product, es-
tablished on the sound foundation
of industrial unionism, but does
not propose to enter the legitimate
jurisdictional field of the Building
Trade Crafts.

Eliminate Strife

“This new organization will el-
iminate jurisdictional strife and
create an atmosphere for better
labor relations.”

Hartung said, “This statement
of policy by the IWA was prepar-
ed by representatives of the work-
ers in the lumber industry from
all parts of the United States and
Canada, who are well aware of
the need for one Union of wood-
workers to deal with the employ-
ers in this industry who are strong-
ly organized in their associations
throughout the continent.

“Also”, Hartung said, “it is our
belief that the public is entitled to
any reduction in the needless cost
of jurisdictional differences be-
tween labor groups. We are there-
fore concerned with the need for
one organization in the lumber
and wood products industry, which
will do away with jurisdictional
differences and at the same time
smooth out labor management re-
lations to the benefit of the work-
ers and the public.”

URW GET
FOUR CENTS

HAMILTON (CPA)—More
than 1,000’workers employed
by the Firestone Tire and
Rubber Co. here will receive
a four cent wage increase as
a result of a new contract
negotiated between the com-
pany and Local 113 of the
United Rubber Workers
(CIO-CCL). The contract
also provides for an increase
in afternoon shift premiums
from three to five cents and
in night shift premiums from
five to eight cents.

INSTRUCTION IN INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID

respondence Courses leading to Industrial
approved by the Workmen's n
orrespondence Course in Timekeeping and

available through
First Aid ifieal
Board of
Basic Acci

Also C
Prevention.

THE INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID ATTENDANTS ASSN. OF B.C.

130 West Hastings Street

Comper

Vancotiver 3, B.C. |

—— See

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