as a popular issue but one
that can easily be sidetracked,
down to Ottawa in this case, and
Bunco becomes a hero.
A labor lobby upsets this game.
Rank and filers from Bunco's
constituency interview him while
the House is in session. They
- come armed with copies of bills
and they know quite a bit about
the business of the House. They
congratulate Bunco on his
speech and then they ask, “Now
what do we do?” Bunco is» on
the spot and gets a bad taste in
his mouth.

Workers who go on labor lob-
bies have learned what happens
next. Bunco in desperation ap-
peals to his party. He is alarm-

ed at the thought of what may
‘happen to him when the truth
is known. The government
hadn’t intended backing down,
but in order to save Bunco, Jim
Pompous and a few more of its
stalwarts, it has to grant con-
cessions,
e

: know that they can
Y never have Utopia under
capitalism, but they do know
- that concessions can be won. A
comparison between the condi-

tions of today and those of 50

years ago provides ample proof
of this.
Workers know that every con-

- eession gained is a victory and >

_ that each victory paves the way
for the next one. Compulsory
education, the eight-hour day,
higher wages and labor legisla-
tion were all concessions that
‘make further yprogress possible.
_ Workers know too that they
eannot afford to sit back and
- wait for the election of a govern-

ment promising to implement all

their demands. They have
learned that an empty stomach
ig no asset when it comes to a
fight and that to “call off the
dogs” would sabotage the whole
struggle for labor’s program.
‘Labor’s brief to the provincial

_ FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1947

government contained demands
for:

@ A Trade Union Act to
guaranteed collective bargain-
ingt
‘'- @ Improvements to the
Workmen’s Compensation Act.

@ Old Age Pensions of $50
& month at age of 60. >.

e@ A Health. Insurance Act
to provide security and elimin-
ate racketeers, :

e@ A 40-hour week for more

@Two weeks’ vacation with
pay a year.

@A housing plan to” provide
homes for low-income, families.
Every one of these demands is
of extreme importance not only
to organized labor but to all
working people in this province.
The fight for these social se-
curity measures cannot be left
to the organized labor move-
ment alone. The labor move-
ment provides a center around
which a much broader movement
is being built.

Bill Bunco is interview-

ed by a labor representative

in the Parliament Buildings it
is not the individual he fears.
Nor is he too concerned about

the members of the particular

union the delegate may repre-
sent. What he fears most is the
fact that the trade union is a
vocal foree in his community.
A trade union can make its
voice heard and while the press
may do its utmost to subdue
or shut down the voice of labor,
it is never entirely successful.
Particularly is this so when the
voices of _ veterans, houewives,
farmers and even city councils
are added to al demand for ac-
tion. é
The Coalition government in
Victoria is vulnerable and suf-
ficient pressure can be applied
by organized labor to force some
important concessions from it,
despite the high-powered cam-
paign conducted by the Cana-
dian Manufacturers’ Association
and the millions of dollars being
spent on anti-labor propaganda.
In fact, the very viciousness of
the attacks against labor, the
red-baiting campaigns and the
desperate efforts to put labor in
a strait-jacket, all indicate fear.
Big business is afraid for its
profits and its privilege of ex-
-ploitation. It fears public opinion
and the effect of labor’s influ-
ence in directing public thought
towards a new conception’ of hu-

man dignity and human rights—
a conception held out during the
war as the aims and objects for

which we were fighting. It fears

for its power because it is aware
of its dependence on trickery,
confusion and the influence of a
paid press.

e

S LONG as Bill Bunco re-

mains just a name to the peo-
ple he represents, a big name
that appears in newspaper head-
lines or a voice that comes over
the radio reading a prepared
speech and -spreading confusion
and the propaganda of big
business, then monopoly capital
can reasonably hope that its
super-profits are secure. Inse-
curity, scarcity, low wages and
high prices will continue to be
the order of the day.

But when Bunco stands before

members of a labor delegation |

and his face gets red and he
blusters ‘and  squirms,
evasive answers, until finally he
gets mad and says, “Go to hell,”
the illusion he has carefully
built up is shattered. He knows
that word of his attitude will be
spread around among his con-
stituents. Next time he finds
it politically expedient to make a
demagogic speech in the House
his words will have lost their
plausible ring for many of his
erstwhile supporters. Perhaps he
will think twice befoe he says,
“Go to hell” and be prepared to
listen, ;

Labor has never won a conces-
sion without a show of strength
and labor's lobby this year can
make real gains, from which all
the people will gain, provided
labor rallies its full strength, re-
pudiates those who try to weak-
en and divide its ranks, and lets
the members of the Legislative
Assembly know that labor and
social legislation approved by the

‘big boys’ in hotel rooms will not
pass muster with the man on the -

job.

Bill Bunco is very annapey a
cause labor is’ coming to Vic-
tgria. He has just had a session
with the influential representa-

‘tives of the Canadian Manufac-

turers Association and he would
like to fulfill his commitments
with as little adverse publicity as
possible. Labor can force him to
change his stand. And, if it
means money in the workers’
pockets, food on their tables and
roofs over their heads, why
should labor worry if it leaves a
bad taste in his mouth.

@ Jack Greenall is executive

secretary of the British Colum- ©

hia Federation of Labor (CCL.)

giving |

, ask

The bold statetments made by
Tory members on the floor of
the House are outward proof
that the most reactionary anti-
Jabor forces within the Coalition
are now confident of their views
prevailing over those. of liberals
within the Liberal Party, whose
influence in shaping government
policies is becoming less and
less. Otherwise even an out-
spoken tory like A. J. McDonell
(Coalition-Conservative, Vancou-
ver Center) might have hesitat-
ed before launching into his
recent vicious—and factually in-
correct — attack upon the trade
unions.

There can be only one an-
Swer and that is mass mobiliza-
tion of workers, veterans, farm-
ers and pensioners to increase
pressure ‘upon the government
and force it to alter the anti-
popular policies dictated by the
tories in both wings of the gov-
ernment and their big business
mp ‘

In the face of the conicstted
attack upon labor, it is astound-
ing—or would be if the labor
movement unfortunately had not
had many such experiences—to
find labor leaders like Birt
Showler and Ald. R. K. Gervin
opposing the labor lobby they
helped to initiate and, until their
about-face at the beginning of
this month, generally supported.
The rank and file members of
their own organizations, who

can hardly be expected to share —

their changed sentiments,. will
themselves the question
raised in every union concerned
with wining labor’s united de-
mands: Why did they reverse
their stand when their action
could only serve to weaken and
confuse labor’s campaign?

Se
e

s Nas important factor for labor,

and for all the people, is that
the labor legislation enacted at
this session. will govern the
trade union movement for the
next three or four years.

Big business, the pawertul
monopolies which control the
economic life of this province
and of ‘this country, sense the

onset of the economic crisis

which their own policies are pre-
cipitating: The labor movement

constitutes the greatest obstacle
to their drive for super-profits

and the most potent threat to

their continued domination of.

government.

Their attack on aber, which
is an attack on’ the living stan-
dards of the nation, finds its
direct expression in proposed

legislation to cripple the trade

unions, hamper their efforts to
organize the unorganized and
rob them of their basic weapon
—the right to strike.

touch the

To drive home their attack
they are utilizing every trick
and strategem at their disposal
—red-baiting, smear campaigns,
divisions within the ranks of la-
bor itself and between labor
and the farmers and middle-
class elements, all played up and
spread throughout the country
through the medium of the daily
press, national magazines and
the radio.

ABOR cannot counter this

tremendous campaign with
any ordinary measures. It must,
because its future depends on it,
marsha] all its strength and call
upon all its supporting forces
among the working people to de-
monstrate that the people will
not go back to the miseries of
the thirties. The people have
come a long way since then, all
the way from Madrid and Mun-
ich through Berlin. Recognizing
that the present reactionary
trend in Canada and the United
States bears within it the seed
of fascism, they also know the
strength of their progressive
forces and what they can ao
complish provided they are.
united.

The outcome of labor's strug-
gle will shape our future and
individual lives of
every one of us. International
relations and living standards
alike will reflect labor’s success
in defeating the current highly
organized campaign directed, in
Canada as in the United States,
to crippling the trade unions,:
encroaching upon the hard-won
rights and ultimately to smash-
ing the labor movement and de-
livering the people’s standards
and liberties into the merciless
hands of big business. ©

This is the background to our
own campaign for labor legisla-
tion fully guaranteeing our
rights and what we achieve will,
in turn, ‘strengthen the hand of
labor throughout the country.
Far from minimizing the im-
portance of the forthcoming la-
bor lobby, we cannot exagger-
ate its significance.

If there were any doubt that
the labor legislation proposed by
the Coalition’ government bears
the stamp ot the employers’
organizations this paragraph,
from Leslie Fox’ dispatch in the
Vancouver Sun on March 10, *
should dispel it:

“Employers have Been? pressing
strongly for the secret strike
vote and have gained enough
Support | ry the caucus to ensure

oot BEE

To Bcore | she scent re-
strictions upon labor from the
government’s proposed legisla-
tion labor must demonstrate such
strength and such unity in’ Vie-
toria this coming week that the
government will be forced to

withdraw them.

@ Ernie Dalskog is interna-
tional board member in B.C.
for the International Woodwork-
ers of America.

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