. B.C. LUMBER WORKER 2nd Issue, August LADYSMITH 1-80 Membership Meetings Discuss S CHEMAINUS ettlement Bury Tells ORIT Story (In the belief that the following article has special interest for trade unionists in British Columbia, the B.C. Lumber Worker commences in this issue its publication in installment form. The writer is well and favorably known for his trade union and political activity in the province, first as the Secre- tary of the Vancouver Labour Council (CCL), and later as a member of the B.C. Legislature for Vancouver Centre. He served the ICFTU with distinction in Africa, and was later nominated by the Canadian Labour Congress to his present post. He is exceptionally well qualified to give Canadian trade unionists an accurate appraisal of trade union development under the auspices of ORIT. Further installments will appear in later issues as space permits—EDITOR.) By JIM BURY 3 Assistant Secretary ORIT ORIT is the popular, abbreviated name given to the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (in Span- ish, Organizacion Regional Inter-americana de Trabaja- dores), which is in effect the Western Hemisphere branch of the ICFTU. ORIT is the standard-bearer in the Americas for the principles and objectives of free and democratic trade unionism. At the moment ORIT represents some 26 million trade unionists, in 17 countries and 18 non-autonomous ter- ritories. The development of this organ- ization has not been without dif- ficulties. Political parties of the right and of the left have desper- ately tried — and on several oc- casions succeeded — in determin- ing the policies of the union cen- ters that make up ORIT. This has made the work of the central body extremely difficult. Lack of financial resources has also been a factor in the rather slow development of a strong Western Hemisphere labour cen- Printers of The B.C. LUMBER WORKER AUN 0 LIMITED PRINTERS AND LITHOGRAPHERS An Employee Owned Co. 944 RICHARDS STREET ‘MUtual 1-6338 - 6339 ter. Language difficulties between north and south, differences in culture, etc., have also been fac- tors that have slowed down the formation of our Western Hemi- sphere labour body. Labour Confederation Actually, as far back as 1918, under the sponsorship of the Am- erican Federation of Labor, the Pan-American Labour Congress was held in Texas. Out of this grew the Pan-American Labor Confederation (Confederacion Ob- rera Panamericana), with repre- sentation from trade unions and mutual aid societies of Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guate- mala, Mexico and the United States. The COPA disappeared in 1930. In 1938, in Mexico City, the Latin American Workers’ Confed- eration (Confederacion de Traba- jadores de la America Latina) was formed. This, however, proved to be merely another front organization of international Com- munism, and the willing servant of the World Federation of Trade Unions. Today, primarily because of ORIT, the CTAL has lost al- most all its strength and influ- ence. Workers’ Confederation The Inter-American Workers’ Confederation (Confederacion In- teramericana de Trabajadores) was established in Lima, Peru, in 1948, made up of delegates from Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, the United States, Dutch Guiana, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela; and organizations in Argentina, Haiti, Panama and Uraguay. At. its second Congress in Havana, the CIT called upon all non-Com- munist trade unions in the West- ern Hemisphere to set up their own organization. When the ICFTU was formed in December, 1949, the CIT helped effectively. In 1951 in Mexico City the CIT dissolved to make possible the formation, on a wider basis, of ORIT and became the official Western Hemisphere branch of the ICFTU. ORIT’s Structure The ORIT’s structure is demo- cratic, based on membership con- trol through constitutional pro- visions requiring a congress at least once every three years and the election of an Executive Board to act in between the con- gresses to carry out ORIT’s pol- icy. A Secretariat with offices in Mexico City carries on the day-to- day functions of the organization. (To Be Continued) 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! * In All Your Expenditures, It’s Your BEST BUY! * THE V Wey Calgary Brewing Co. Plans B.C. Expansion ‘The general management of Calgary Brewing & Malting Co. Ltd. announced today a plan of cautious development for the brewing concerns it has recently acquired in British Columbia. In outlining the plans for the immediate future James Kerr, General Manager of the parent company, emphasized that the shareholders should look forward to a program of sound market development and gradual expan- sion as the best security for their investment. “We feel,” Mr. Kerr stated, “that the shareholders will fully support the new organization’s schedule of steady growth and firm entrenchment in the B.C, market, rather than in seeking a quick gain.” Large Success Adding a note of confident as- surance he said: “There can be no doubt that the B.C. operation will be a very large success, We must see to it that its earnings are em- ployed to guarantee the full de- velopment of its great potential.” Climaxing nearly seventy years of leadership in Western Canadian brewing, the familiar horseshoe- and-buffalo insignias loom behind recent announcements of a change of control of both Caribou Brew- ing and Princeton Brewing to this large Western Company, In addition to it’s heavy cash commitment in the transaction, Calgary's entire brewing resources and key personnel have been at work for some weeks in both plants preparing for the change- over. Council Prepares For Winter Crisis Organized and special at- tention to the interests of the unemployed will be under- taken under the auspices of the existing trade union or- ganization of the Canadian Labour Congress, it was an- nounced at a recent meeting of the Vancouver Labour Council. This announcement was made by President Lloyd Whalen, when he presented the Council with the report of a special committee rep- resentative of the Congress, the B.C. Federation of Labour and the Labour Council. Delegates attending the Coun- cil meeting gave sanction to the appointment of a special com- mittee which has recommended the following activities: 1. Obtain all the facts on un- employment and Social Assist- ance cases and circularize the affiliates in a questionnaire sim- ilar to that of the Victoria La- bour Council, 2. Obtain all available in- formation as to how the Muni- cipal Assistance Act could be applied to the unemployed "Alex B. Macdonald Barrister & Solicitor Notary Public 204 Holden Bldg. 16 East Hastings St. VANCOUVER 4, B.C. MU 4-6641 - 4621 - 4939 people, 3. Obtain a list of work pro- jects to lay before the City and Municipal Councils, 4. Obtain a list of work pro- jects in conjunction with the B.C. Federation of Labour for presentation to the Provincial Government. 5. That the Committee meet with the building trades repre- sentatives. From this meeting it is hoped that a suitable list of recommended projects can be compiled and submitted to the Municipal and Provincial Governments as early as pos- sible in September. 6. That the Labour Council sponsor a conference of munici- palities and church groups on the subject of the unemployed at an appropriate time. 7. That the matter of a mass meeting of the unemployed be left in abeyance until the fall for the reason that it is felt there is more chance of a full attend- ance at that time than if it were held during the hot weather. Philippines Get Aid OTTAWA (CPA)—Canadian Labor Congress education direc- tor Max Swerdlow will help to organize and participate in a labor education seminar to be held in the Philippines October 17 to 21. The seminar is being organized by the Labor Education Centre of the University of the Philippines. UNESCO, the ICFTU and the International Labor Organization are collaborating. SOLICITOR TO THE 1. W. A.