B.€ LUMBER WORKER Entitlement Established NY impartial observer attending the hear- ings of the Conciliation Board now dealing with the IWA dispute with employers in the B.C. coastal region would be compelled to agree that.the Union’s case was skillfully and intelligently presented. We ask those critics of the Union who are so prone to describe its offi- cials as irresponsible to make a careful examin- ation of the Union’s brief: Each demand was carefully supported by facts and rational argument. The negotiators were fully prepared to submit their case to exam- ination. It would be impossible to dispute the fact that they were motivated solely by the desire to serve their fellow members. They spoke with the conviction of men who believe that to better the circumstances of the lumber workers will help to lift the province out of its present busi- ness doldrums. Let it be said to all public-spirited citizens, that if conciliation procedures fail to work in this instance, it is because the employers have closed their minds to everything that might improve contract conditions. Their one impelling motive, as was readily seen, is to protect their profits. Should conciliation fail an intensified strug- gle will centre around the advisability of a wage increase. This obviously is now the major bone of contention. ‘When the wage pattern of the province was examined, it became apparent that denial of a wage increase to lumber workers would consti- tute a grave injustice. Why should the group of workers producing the bulk of the wealth in the province accept wage rates that are rapidly be- coming sub-standard? Official reports of. cost of living statistics in- dicate that prices which enter into the upkeep of a home have risen with accelerating speed since the last wage settlement and are still rising. It would require a wage increase of at least 5 per cent to keep lumber workers abreast of this de- velopment and enable them to maintain the liv- ing standards which they have established for their homes. Productivity has continued to increase, as was pointed out to the Board. Not all the profit- able advantages of this expanded productive capacity should accrue to the owners. Much of this increased productivity stems from the in- creased skills of the workers. If increased pro- ductivity is not taken into consideration, as in- dustry moves into the age of automation, a de- pressed purchasing power will destroy the mar- kets which would otherwise absorb the increased _ output. After all, the one practical reason for operating the productive machine, is to supply goods and services for use. Many of those same corporations which have opposed a wage increase for lumber workers will be paying a base rate of $1.90 to pulp and sul- _phite workers by midsummer. For this incon- sistency, no reasonable defence can be made. Wage settlements negotiated across the prov- ince this year make it impossible to ignore the largest group of workers in the major basic in- dustry. 4 These wage increases now being paid range from 10 to 24 cents an hour. Would anyone dare claim that the work performed in the lumber in- dustry requires less skill, or stamina? The Union effectually dealt with the impres- sion, which the employers sought to establish, that all trends in the industry are now function- ing in reverse. : : Waterborne shipments to the United King- dom have increased. Also waterborne shipments Standing Together to the Atlantic seaboard show the impressive increase of 184.2 per cent, all of which is aided by a drop in ocean freight rates. One source of new orders, now made certain by both Canadian and American governments is the financial pump-priming for the housing pro- grams in both countries. Even the prejudiced observer must agree that the IWA case has great merit. He must also agree that only by increased wages in the lumber industry can all the families in the province benefit equitably under the Federal Govern- ment’s program to stimulate business. There can be no true stimulus to business, until the wage and salary earners are better able to go to the retail stores and pay for those goods and services we are now able to produce. It is well to remember that the lumber workers in this province in the aggregate, do the bulk of the kind of spending that greases the wheels of B.C. industry. Owners Take Biggest Hike “Oshaworker”, UAW pi-monthly, Oshawa) (From Loeal 2: While General Motors man- the Senate Judiciary Committee’s anti- Monopoly sub - committee agement finds profit sharing wrong for its workers, it is in no way averse to sharing the take at the higher levels. Under a complex “bonus” plan, GM, executives have shared as much as $95 million in a single year in addition to regu- lar salaries. Now the “bonus” plan is being further modified to give management additional “in- centives”. Company Plan The new plan is very complex, involving a “contingent credit” in GM stock and an alternate stock option which can be exer- cised at retirement. The objective of the involved plan is to permit GM executives to take a hand- some profit on stock they never bought when they retire and then to avoid regular income taxes by paying on stock profits at much lower gain rates. In 1956, Harlowe Curtice, GM president, received stock bonuses of $69,737 and cash bonuses of $425,236 in addition to salary. DuPont President C. H. Greene- walt received a total of $510,000 in stock and cash bonuses under a management plan of that com- pany. DuPont also has amended its plan to make it easier to beat taxes, stock market fluctuations and inflation. Another Development In another development, GM President Harlowe Curtice told that his company would never consider ability to pay a basis for negotiations. Curtice said that the cost of living escalators and the productivity improve- ment factor now in GM contracts are a “practical” method of set- ting wages. GM, it may be re- called was not enthusiastic about this method only a few years NEGRO HEADS C. S. UNION OTTAWA (CPA) — The first president of the new 27,- sociation of Canada is a Cana- dian-born Negro, J. Calbert Best. Son of a Nova Scotia coal min- er, Mr. Best, only 31 years of age, was a Labor Department expert in collective bargaining who started in that department in 1949, A four-day convention merged the 14,000-member Civil Service Association of Ottawa with the 12,000-member Amalgamated Ci il Servants of Canada, “Thi one of the greatest things that ever happened to government em- ployees,” exclaimed _ president- elect Best, whose salary was set at $10,000 a year, Administrative Officer Mr. Best attended King’s Col- lege at Dalhousie University in the Maritimes, receiving a B.A. degree and a diploma in journal- ism in 1948, Next year he took his M.A. in political science, then took a job as administrative offi- cer with the Department of Labor, He worked for two years with the Labor Gazette, then moved into the Industrial Relations branch. He was assistant to the chief of the di n, before leay- ing to take on his new post. The Civil Service still has two other organizations representing: its members, the 80,000-member Civil Service Federation of Can- ad and the 4,000-member Profes- ago. sional Institute of Canada. Less Than S° a DAY... ALL THE NEWS of all the world. . . all the news of Canada, B.C., your home town, PLUS all the features to entertain every member of your family . . . all these The Vancouver Sun brings to your home every day! And for LESS than 8 cents a day, delivered . . . LESS than the price of a cup of coffee or five cigarettes. There are still a few bargains around in these days of inflation and your big, metropolitan newspaper, The Sun, is one of them! 7* In All Your Expenditures, It’s Your BEST BUY! * 000-member Civil Service As- —