. ist Issue, November B.C. LUMBER WORKER ZONE BASIS REJECTED _ Constitutional proposal recommended by the unity com- mittee at the recent merger convention of the B. C. Feder- ation of Labour to elect executive council members on a zone basis, failed to win majority approval by a narrow margin. A secret ballot became necessary to break the deadlock caused by a tie vote on the issue. The draft constitution, - pre- sented by the unity committee, provided that the province should be divided into seven zones, and that representation on the coun- cil should be distributed accord- ingly. The proposed zone repre- sentation was: Greater Vancou- ver, 3 members; Vancouver Is- land, 2.members; New Westmin- ster and Fraser Valley, 1 mem- ber; West Coast of Mainland, 1 member; Cariboo, 1 member; Ok- anagan, 1 member, and Koote- nays, 1 member. ~ Ability Paramount Those who opposed zone repre- sentation, principal among whom was President Lloyd Whalen, urged that members be elected to the-council solely on the basis of ability to serve the Federation. The difficulties of administra- tion were also pointed out, as in several instances it would be vir- tually impossible for the trade unions in any given area to ar- range for a thoroughly repre- sentative and democratic selec- tion, Members urged that the bulk of the trade union population was centred in and around the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and that virtually all trade union activities necessarily centred in Vancouver and Victoria. Balkanization Feared It was also argued that zone representation would Balkanize the Federation with a series of small groupings, clinging persist- ently to a parochial view of their own local problems. It was felt that the council should be so con- stituted that it would be capable of executing a policy in the light of the over-all needs of all affili- ates within the Federation. Those who advocated zone rep- resentation were. obviously actu- ated by the fear that the council would be over-weighted with Vancouver and Victoria members and that the metropolitan view- point would prevail. Their opponents pointed out that a mutually satisfactory un- derstanding could be reached at the time of elections, without fix- ing a rigid pattern of representa- tion. Tie Vote Resulted First vote taken by a count of hands resulted in a tie, 170-170. The chairman, Dan Radford, readily acceded to the suggestion that a secret ballot be taken. The results of the count were 179 for, and 172 against. When the elections were later held under the constitution as ap- proved, four residents outside Vancouver were chosen: George Smythe, IWA, Duncan; Pat O”- Neal, Pulp & Sulphite Workers, Prince Rupert; Bob Smeal, Vic- toria, and Vie Midgley, Victoria. -- mee, say you are an excellent host... B- “Ltlmien u- FOR FREE DELIVERY PHONE + TA 1121 * YO 2696 ° WEST 2118 VANCOUVER advertisement is n ae Board or by the BREWERIES LIMITED ublished or displayed by the Liquor Control I rahe Goverment of British Col lumbia, VICTORIA LABOUR INSTITUTE attracted more than 125 i successful on record, Here the opening assembly is seen during opening remarks by Tom Gooder- ham and Fred Bevis. IWA District President Joe Morris was instructor and guest speaker at the closing banquet. students and proved one of the most CLC LABOUR INSTITUTES ENTHUSE STUDENTS | More than 125 trade union students who attended the Victoria Labour Institute, in the Central Junior High School, Victoria, gave enthusiastic approval of the value of the courses for their trade union activities. Organization of the Institute held Oct. 19-20-21, was in the hands of Tom Gooderham, CLC Regional Director and Director of Education, who addressed the assembly at the opening of the Institute. Chairman Fred Bevis, of the Victoria Labour Council, officially opened the Institute ses- sions, IWA District President Joe Morris was an instructor on the subject of “Automation” and was also the guest speaker at the closing banquet. Films shown included: “The Shop Steward”, “Parliamentary Procedure”, “The Search”, and “Automation”. The banquet held in the Crys- tal Gardens Ballroom attended by more than 200 students, with their wives and friends, proved an outstanding success. Pr. Rupert Makes Bow First Labour Institute held in Prince Rupert met with ex- ceptional response from trade unions in the area, it was re- ported recently by Director Tom Gooderham, Regional CLC Director. Keynote speaker during the proceedings was Tom Gooderham, while Pat O’Neal, president of the Prince Rupert Labour Coun- cil presided and acted as master of ceremonies at the closing ban- quet. Courses taught included those on parliamentary procedure, grievance procedure, and shop steward’s duties, with Pat O’Neal, Tom Gooderham and Dave Wade respectively, officiating as in- structors. We PRINCE erham was Institute director. toe RUPERT Labour Institute banquet proved a great success, and made evident the desire of trade unionists in that area to follow through on this first venture, CLC Regional Director Tom Good- eae PASSMORE CREW BY-PASSES BOARD Settlement of long-standing grievances in the recently- certified operation of the Passmore Lumber Co. Ltd., was gained recently by IWA District Secretary-Treasurer George Mitchell and Ernest Boulet, after arbitration pro- ceedings had proved futile. Statutory holiday pay was gained for 14 employees, who had previously been denied pay for Christmas Day, 1955. Retroactive adjustment was made for the wages owing cookhouse employees, in one in- stance amounting to $76.00. Decision was made to pay 4th class engineers, working on a 3rd class permit at the rate established for 3rd class engin- eers, effective as from Sept. Ist, 1956. . Permit engineers were al- lowed retroactive adjustment at the rate of 10c per hour for the period Jan. 1 to Aug. 1, 1956, 5 Medical plan will be given effect as from April 1, 1957, on a 50-50 basis with the em- ployer. In view of this settlement, arbitration proceedings sched- uled to resume later in the present month were abandoned. UNIONS MERGE Two of Canada’s large civil service organizations have agreed to merge within the next two years following ex- tensive negotiations here. The 20,000-member “Civil Service Association of Ottawa and mated Civil Servants of Can- ada (CLC) reached the merger arrangement following unsuc- cessful attempts to bring the Federation of Canada into a three-group unity move. Strong moves by some mem- bers of the civil service associa- tions could, however, mean that brought within the ranks of or- ganized labor in the near future if the associations affiliate with the Canadian Labor Congress. “gual 7th AVE, & MAIN STREET _ SPECIAL FINANCE PLANS ARRANGED FOR IWA MEMBERS JOHNSTON MOTOR CO. LTD. (Right next door to B.C, District Council No. 1) IWA DISTRICT OFFICERS Dive PLYMOUTH’S From JOHNSTON MOTORS THE STYLE-PACING CAR OF 1956 WITH PUSH-BUTTON “TOUCH & GO” VANCOUVER 10, B.C.