—Photo by Sunday. ‘MERGER PLANS APPROVED Vol. XXII, No, 22 > * 2nd ISSUE, NOV. 1955 - VANCOUVER, B.C. Sc PER COPY 1-217 BANQUET PROVES SUCCESS Annual Shop Stewards’ and Committee Men’s Banquet and Dance, under the auspices of Local 1-217 IWA, held Saturday, November 19 in Happyland, attracted a bumper crowd of IWA men and their wives, and furnished them with an evening of rare and enjoyable entertain- ment. President Lloyd Whalen acted as Master of Ceremonies, and at the outset welcomed the guests with the assurance that their work during the past year had won the admiration and respect of the general membership. The purpose of the affair, he explained, was to mark this ap- preciation and to do honor to the wives, whose loyal support had in a large degree been responsible for the excellent spirit. which had built union solidarity into a most efficient performance. The homes of the workers had gained by this service, he assured them. Claude Ballard IWA International 2nd Vice- President Claude Ballard, as first guest speaker, received con- gratulations upon his recent re- election. He complimented the Union on its outstanding pro- gress, and on the size of the gath- ering, all indicating efficient ad- ministration, he said. See “BANQUET” Page 3 Ballard Alerts Unions That the increasing re- sponsibilities of the trade union movement will be more ably discharged by vir- tue of the unification of ef- fort to be made possible by the merger was the theme of an address by IWA Inter- national 2nd Vice-President Claude Ballard before the delegates of the annual con- vention of the B.C. Federa- pice of Labor November 19- The featured guest speaker, who carried fraternal greetings from his Union to the Conven- tion, was optimistic as regards the future possibilities of the merged trade union movement. He indicated that the IWA was making no reservations ‘in seek- ing genuine unity to serve the welfare of the workers. The International Vice-Presi- See “BALLARD” Page 3 Housing Scandal Exposed Sweeping condemnation of iniquitous housing condi- tions at Kitimat was made by Frank Howard, President Local 1-71 IWA, and Pen Baskin, United Steelworkers during the discussion of a resolution introduced by Local 1-71 IWA at the re- cent Federation of Labor Convention in Vancouver. The general tenor of the criti- cism was that the regulations under the Federal Housing Act had been relaxed to accommod- ate the Aluminum Corporation and the favored contractors, to the very great loss of the pur- chasers. The resolution adopted by the convention stated. WHEREAS Workers in Kiti- mat haye raised many complaints lately about the housing situation in Kitimat, and WHEREAS Houses in Kitimat are being sold to these workers for prices ranging upwards from _| $14,000 when their actual value, as determined by building ex- pects is no more than $10,000, an WHEREAS the workmanship being put into these houses is not of the best quality with the re- sult that many deficiencies have arisen, such as: leaky basements, (in the few houses that have basements), flooding of hot air duets, warped plywood, insuffi- cient heating facilities, and a See “SCANDAL” Page 3 wwe & ww wk w British Columbia Plans Given Green Light kw w ww & ww w Record assembly of delegates attending the 12th An- nual Convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor readied the CCL provincial organization for a merger with the B.C. Trade Union Congress, and re-elected its officers at the head of a “caretaker” Executive Committee. Returned to office for his 7th term as President was the CCL Regional Director, Dan Radford. George Home, the Secretary - Treasurer of the Federation, was again re-elect- ed for the 8th time. Both were unopposed. Executive Elected Other officers and members of the Executive Committee, now in- structed to unite with the cor- responding TLC body in the pro- vince are: 1st Vice-President, Joe Morris, IWA; 2nd Vice-President, William Symington, United Packinghouse Workers (re-elect- ed); 3rd Vice-President, Robert Smeal, Can. Brotherhood of Rail- way Employees (re-elected) ; Ex- ecutive members are Warren Lowery, Local 1-367 IWA (re- elected); Lawrence Vandale, Lo- cal 1-357 IWA (re-elected); Vic Mauro, Local 1-217 IWA; Pen Baskin, United Steelworkers (re- elected); Gerry Emary, Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, (re-elected); Stewart Ir- ving, Longshoremen’s Union; and George Droneck, Amalgam- ated Clothing Workers, (re- elected). . In the event that undue delays should occur in the finalization of the TLC-CCL merger in the province, the incoming Executive Committee was empowered to call another convention to report on developments. The resolution which approved the provincial merger stated: “WHEREAS at the Execu- tive meeting of May 24, 1955, the Table Officers were in- structed to approach the offic- ers of the B.C. Trade Union Congress to arrange meetings to discuss the possibility and terms of the merger of the Provincial groups in B.C., and, WHEREAS correspondence was exchanged in early June, but no meetings were held, and, WHEREAS under date of November 7, 1955, a joint let- eter from the Trades and Labor Congress and the Canadian Congress of Labor to all pro- vincial Federations of Labor, Trades and Labor Councils, and Central Labor Councils, outlines clearly the directives and suggestions for the merg- ing of Councils and Federa- tions, and suggests that the first merged convention could be held in the Fall of 1956, THEREFORE BE IT RE- SOLVED that this convention endorse the action of the Ex- ecutive, and instruct them to proceed in line with the direc- tive issued by the joint labor bodies.” Proposed Plan The directive issued jointly by the national labor bodies dealt comprehensively with all the pro- bleins to be anticipated in pro- vineial mergers and suggested that the principles followed na- tionally be adapted to provincial > See “MERGED” Page 3 > e ss Strike Settled Immediately after a con- ference between the Inter- national Union of Operating Engineers, and Forest In- dustrial Relations Ltd. on November 21, under Chief Conciliation Officer Wm. Fraser, a settlement of the strike in 16 sawmills was announced by both parties. The strikers agreed to re- turn to work on exactly the same contract terms already negotiated for them by the IWA. Prevailing sentiment throughout the IWA ranks was that events had amply vindicated the position taken by the IWA. LISTEN TO 7.00 p.m, 4 CKNW 7:5 pm. Sat, CJAV630 pm. Thur, Thursday ! CKPG - Ist and 3rd Thursday- 6 p.m.