BIC. LUMBER WORKER The Taft-Hartley Law has been invoked against the International Longshoremen’s Association, yet history show: that it seldom settles strikes. The Act, used by a U.S. y dent 16 times in the past 11 years, merely pospones or inter- rupts strikes for 80 days. : The US. steel strike erick With the threat of a Taft-Hartley injunction hanging in the air. both sides got down to negotiations, Be eee “offer” of 734 cents was firmly rejected by the union’s wage policy committee’as “completely unacceptable.” A bright spot in the U.K. election results for Labor sup- porters was the defeat of fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley in the London suburb of North Kensington. i Sir Oswald campaigned on the slogan, “Send the Ne- groes back to the West Indies.” He was soundly beaten. Disputes within the AFL-CIO will be settled by compulsory arbitration, the AFL-CIO convention decided here. The executive was directed by the convention to establish ar tration procedures and report back to a special convention. Jurisdic- tional disputes of affiliates are not affected by the decision. ‘ Strontium 90 levels have continued to rise, Health Min- ister Montieth reported recently. May and June, particularly, saw big jumps in Strontium 90 levels across Canada. Corporation profits are running 23 per cent ahead of 1958, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics reports. Labor income is only 8 per cent ahead of last year, despite higher employment and higher pro- duction. Weekly wages have actually dropped in recent weeks. Canada’s consumer price index reached a new high in August, according to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. The index climber to 127.1, nearly 1% per cent higher than a year CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS Regional gress’ Union Label display at the B.C, Federation of Labour Convention. ish Columbia, Tom Gooderham ago. Non-food items accounted for the increase, the bureau said, rising two per cent above last year’s figure. Hon. I. C. Rand, who gave his name to the “Rant-formula,” has been*appointed a one-man commission to investigate Canada’s | } body in B.C. dwindling coal industry. : Canada is not recognizing cause the United States wouldn’t like it, CCF House leader | n Hazen Argue charged here recently. p This policy is “sheer nonsence”, he declared. The Peking regime meets all the tests required for recognition. He urged “the quarantine of China,” for the federal government to end the good of world peace. Communist China, simply be- “Set Heather Afire Now!" — — Black Political philosophy of Samual Gompers, (reward friends punish enemies), which so long dominated the labour move- ment on this continent, is now to be given a fresh application, declared retiring-President Bill Black, addressing the 4th Annual Convention of the B.C. Federation of Labour. In Gomper’s day, the speaker stated, governments took little part in regulating industrial relations. “To-day, we are living in a different era.” “We have government participation and interference, compelling labour ‘to fight on two fronts:” Reversal Of Policy These remarks from the lips of a former AFL-TLC leader served notice on the labour movement in British Columbia, that the political isolationism of 1886 was out- moded, as anti-union employers acting in league with governments now used political power to attack trade union rights. If Gompers Store your valuables in a ... SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX This way you know where your important papers are. Why not call in and arrange for one were alive to-day, said Black, he would be the first to urge direct political action, conducted ind pendently of the employers to protect labour. Black’s Last Term Bill Black informed the con- vention that this was his final term in the President’s chair. He stated that he would not be a contender for office at this year’s conyention. As the reason for re- tirement, he gave the increased de- mands of his own organization, the Hospital Employees’ Associ- ation and the National Union -of Public Employees, At the con- clusion of his address, the fiery at CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE 800 Branches in British Columbia labour ovation appreciation of “rough” Federation ranked with the best of the central Canada. “We have sponsibilities without any evasion er procrastination”, he declared. reminded the convention of warning given by previous that time he had pointed to ruthless attack was accorded an revealed a warm his qualities as head of the merged central labour leader which In his review of the achieve- ment of the Federation during the past year, described by him as a ear, he said the B.C. President Bill Black labour bodies in met our re- The retiring Federation official the the At the the him at year’s convention. mounted by . now! organized employers. He left the inference that the employers’ at- tack had succeeded in a degree because of apathy in the ranks of organized labour. The attempts of the em- ployers’ organizations to “smear” labour was bitterly de- nounced by the speaker as hypocritical. He cited the crimes of which big business interests had been found guilty, none of which could be charged to labour, to show that manage- ment could not come before the public with clean hands, Organ- ized labour in Canada could be proud of its clean record, he asserted. With dramatic forcefulness, President Black adjured the dele- gates to carry their resolutions in- to action. In part, he said, — “You Tell Me” “During the course of the next five days we will debate most vigorously the various resolutions and proposals. We will hammer out a legislative program. Once the program is hammered out, would you please tell me what you are going to do with it? Would you please tell me how many of our previous proposals have been implemented or given any favourable consideration?” “We permit ourselves to be di- vided over trivial things. Some- times I wonder if we only have the one. choice — that is to sup- port the lawyers, the professional groups, the representatives of man- agement—the type of people who advocate anti-labour and anti- working class legislation. Then we butt our heads up against a wall trying to circumvent it or trying to live with it.” Or do we creat a vehicle and support a vehicle which is truly representative of the common people of this province and of this country? Labour Creates Wealth I was always taught, in fact I had it hammered into me from my early youth, that the workers create all the wealth. Capital would be useless without the he- wers of wood and the drawers of water. Do we not have faith in our own abilities, in our own people? We trust our own kind to look after our economic interests at the bargaining table. Why tie their hands behind their backs in the legislative field, which eventually governs the type of economic action we will take? It is no longer good enough to say “Let’s wait for Congress; let’s wait until’ 1961 or 1962.” This Federation represents 120 thous- and people, not counting wives, offspring and other relatives. Our influence is great if it is exercised. Let us have a meeting of minds. Let us not just say a party warrants our support and then do nothing about it. Let me use a phrase peculiar to the land of my birth. “The time has ar- rived to set the heather on fire.” The time has arrived to do a job. If we unanimously agree to support the policies already laid down by this Federaation,; then that job will be done. By the time the Sth or 6th convention of the Federation takes place, then we will no longer be talking about legislation restricting our civil liberties, legislation that is directed against the common people of this country. Percy Bengough