B.C. LUMBER’ WORKER i 1st Issue, March From Page 9 “DEMANDS' employment situation, Any at- tempt to gloss over this situation will bring for them a day of reckoning. Reason For Production A very fundamental belief of the trade unions is that we should, as far as possible, divert our pro- ductive effort to the satisfaction of existing needs among our peo- ple. Workers take the very com- monsense view that the most prac- tical reason for the production of goods and services is that they be placed in use by those who need them. The most elementary conception of economics is that without effec- tive consumers’ demand, produc- tion collapses. For this reason, the trade unions propose that govern- ments accept a larger measure of responsibility for measures «that will stimulate demand, and thereby create more employment and bet- ter distribution of income. Indisputable Facts Action by governments to plan adequate housing accommodation for the Canadian people is one such instance. No one can dispute two facts. (1) We desperately need housing for our people. (2) If we build the houses needed, it will do more than anything else to revive “business activities.~When I speak of home building, I am not putting the emphasis on the building of more luxury homes. Up to the present, by far the greatest pro- portion of the funds made avail- able for this purpose have gone into luxury homes, far beyond the reach of th® average worker. The trade unions are asking the poli- tical parties this question; What’s wrong with planning on a large scale the building of homes to accommodate every family in 2 roomy and fully modern home, placed in an attractive and healthy setting? Actually, only the grasp- . ing “eal estate speculators are opposed. They are mainly inter- ested in marketing bad housing. When we think of the health of our families, we know that it is just as bad to market bad housing it is to market bad meat. Housing Pays Its Way + The point has been made, over and. over again, in the experi* WATSON’S No. 326 LUMBER MITT Cut from new soft Tan Pearl Cowhide split leather. with double-sewn thumb These mitts are reinforced _strap and wrist patch for added strength. A B.C. Product Union Made by JOHN WATSON LIMITED 127 EAST SECOND AVE. if Vancouyer, B.C. \. a AED ence of other countries that such a housing program is self-liqui- dating. We want people to re- member this, Housing projects made possible bY joint action of the Federal, Provincial, and Mu- nicipal ‘authorities, directed to the construction of well-designed and well-built houses can pay for themselves over the period that the houses are occupied. So, instead of forcing our con- struction workers and our lumber workers to line up at the Unem- ployment Insurance Offices, why not start building good homes. We have the materials in abundance. We have a large army of skilled workers who want the work. We have the physical means and re- sources, We,can soon find the finances on this basis. We are get- ting wise to the fact that it is the high cost of money that is the chief handicap to the successful promotion of home building. Modernize Homes T’ll take this matter a step fur- ther, because many of our uném- ployed workers are from manu- facturing . industries. Why not make it possible to modernize every home, as they may now be modernized. Here again we can take a leaf from the experience of other countries. The best known illustration is that of the experi- ence in backward sections of the States served by TVA. When these areas secured under public auspices, low-cost electric service, low-cost and standard _ in: tions, and low-cost credit faci those same regions were ,almost miraculously transformed. Business interests in the re- gion which originally opposed the development were delighted at the results as their statements show, In one year they realized a billion dollars’ worth of new ‘business from the sale. of-appli- ances placed in use in. newly modernized homes under the practical policy of serving need instead of immediate extortion- ate profit. Again we -propose projects that can be made fully self-liquidating, if some of our monopolists take their sticky fingers off the controls, At this time, I remind all my fellow members of the IWA that a full scale development of tinent would provide an expan- sion of the market for forest products that would astonish us. When we ask for better housing, we speak for our own employ- ment. Printers of The B.C. LUMBER WORKER LIMITED PRINTERS AND. LITHOGRAPHERS An Employee Owned Co. 944 RICHARDS STREET PAcific 6338-9 housing programs on this.con- |. c be ; DELEGATES representing IWA Locals 1-206 and 1-207, Alberta, at the 21st Annual District Convention, held February 3rd to 8th, in Vancouver. Institute Health Services Over and over again, the trade unions have urged the initiation of a comprehensive national health services plan.’ We have been prom- ised such a plan since 1919. We see such plans in successful oper- ation in other countries. The only objections we hear are from well entrenched and highly privileged interests much more interested in profiting out of our ill-health than to raise health standards, for at the present time the bill we pay for ill-health that could be avoided is vastly greater than the estimated cost of national full-scale health services. We lose much more time through preventable illness than strikes, Every official enquiry into, this subject has produced the same answer. Incidentally, if we started im- mediately to build the accom- tion. We are definitely opposed to the vicious exploitation of people from other countries to furnish some of our employers with cheap labour, We are opposed to un- planned immigration that, results in the most distressing deprivation for people who are not entitled to participate in our -s6cial welfare provisions, and who can’t find decent living accommodation for their children. DELEGATES represent February 3rd to 8th, in Vancouver. 1g Local 1-424, IWA., Pri ce George, at the 21st Annual District Convention, ~held in raising our standards of health. “Here again, in a more indirect fashion, we see that such a scheme would in the end be self-liqui- dating. Certainly it would pay our nation to take every possible step DENTAL PLATES WHY Yo) PAY MORE? The Dental Association has for- bidden Dr. R. Llewellyn Douglas (Old Doc) from announcing publicly that he is willing and able to provide top quality, guaranteed dental plates at only $40 per plate. Dr. R. Llewellyn Douglas 712 Robson St. Vancouver 1, B.C, (Corner of Granville) Phone: PAcific 4022 | Kingdom modation, fabricate the equip- ment, and train the personnel required for proper health ser- vices, we would immediately place thousands of our people bacle into production, instead of keeping them in’ the crowded Unemployment Insurance Of- fices. Plan Immigration Now is the time to take a close look at aur immigration policies as directed by past Governments and insist,on saner planning. In every community we meet familjes awho have been brought to Canada, under what may be termed false pretences, and who are now bor- rowing from relatives in the United to return. They like Canada, but théy simply can’t live here, because they can’t get work and can’t rent reasonably. Many of them are highly skilled’tradesmen. ‘The trade unions recognize that Canada needs a larger population. We are not opposed to immigra- Local 1-118 - Elects Delegates - Delegates elected at the mem- bership meeting of Local 1-118, IWA, Victoria, to attend the IWA International Convention, Port- land, and the Canadian Congress of Labour Convention, Winnipeg, are as follows: i Jack MacKenzie, Dennis Hall, Ed. Haw, Charlie Underwood, Signe Stevens, Charlie Madigan. The following were elected as alternates: jAl. Carle,! Duke Shepard, Cliff Michael, Cy Smith. Delegates to the Canadian La~ bour Congress Convention: Jack MacKenzie, Ed. Haw. Al- ternate: Frank Hilton. INSTRUCTION IN INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID avallable through. Correspondence Courses leading to Industrial First Ald Certificates approved b: Board of B.C. Also ‘Correspondence Gon “Basic Accident Prevention. THE INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID 180 West Hastings Street Workmen's Compensation nse In Timekeeping and ATTENDANTS ASSN. OF B.C. Vancouver 8, B.C.