and CCFers throughout the area

MINE-MILL “f

the splinter group.

Kimberley CCF club has passed
& resolution denouncing the raid

are supporting the stand of the
Kimberley mine union.

More than 200 members attended
a Mine-Mill meeting in Rossland
and unanimously condemned the
traitors who went over to Steel.”

Failure of the Steel raid is indi-
cated by the fact that not only are
Some of the deserters attempting
to rejoin Mine-Mill, but many new
members are joining the union,

CCL organizers, concentrated at
Trail to put across the raid, are
filling daily papers with their
Claims, but they are obviously dis-
mayed by the workers’ resistance
to their union-busting move. They
include such well-known CCL brass-
hats as Murray Cotterill, William

ahoney, Herbert Gargrave, ’ for-
ae CCF whip in the provincial
€gislature, Jack Williams, and
half a dozen top Stee] “organizers”.

Harvey Murphy, Dave McGhee,
John Gordon and local Mine-Mill
officers are leading the battle
against the union-raiders. Leading
Mine-Mill officials from eastern
Canada and the United States will
be in Trail this weekend for the
S€cond annual conference of Ca-
Nadian locals. International pre-
Sident John Clark, Chase Powers
and other leading Mine-Mill offi-
Clals will be present. :

Commenting on the expulsion this
Week of Mine-Mill from the CIO,
Chase Powers, District 7 board re-
representative, said:
_ This expulsion will mean noth-
ig to the membership of this
Union, In our 57 years of experi-
€nce we have been in and out of
the AFT, three times. We were one
Of the eight unions which founded
the CIO, yet in the last three years
Some of our greatest energy has

4d to be directed against raids
from other CIO unions.
fa hese raids have, by and large,
tailed. So they are forced today
™ the U.S., as in Canada, to set up
&% Mock trial, expel us, and thus
urn the membership over to some
other Organization without giving
he Membership any opportunity to
express their views.

: rdless of this expufsion
and any raids engineered by the
Murrays, Careys and Reuthers,
NO Ohe is going to take over this
membership. They're going to
fail in the U.S. just as they’re

failing now in Trail and all across
ada.”

4 CcL ethics hit a new low in Van-
Cuver Labor Council this week
When the IWA-USW dominated
ody rammed through a resolution
Supporting Steel’s raiding actions
at Trail,
Mine-Mill started action in Su-
me Court in Vancouver to se-
s re an injunction barring the
teel raiders from using the name
of the Trail local or the district
“nion in their union-wrecking
Vive,
Wires of support are pouring
nto Mine-Mill headquarters in
il. The union local in Blub-
r Bay sent this message, sign-
ed by J. C. Billingsley, brother of
R. C. Billingsley, Local 480’s for-
mer president who led the abor-
ve Trail revolt: “Assuring you
of solidarity of our local condem-
ning action taken by officers of
"al 480. See you at conference.”
Members of. Local 687, Port Col-
orne, wired this message under
he signature of business agent G.
480 Owper: “We urge brothers of
to repudiate sellout executive
sy Wwe members of Loc@l 637 did
va year. Mine-Mill has made un-
clievable gains for you as it has
or us. Urge we remain united as
we did in past years for further
8ains for the workers of the rich
Se metal industry. We can ill
“ford to be without protection of

Union contract as was the case in].

Alen. instances because of raiding,
Sruption and sellouts by once-
ed officers.”

er messages of support for
Mine-Mily and weaannaion of
5 ’s tactics came from Local
78, New Westminster; Local 694,
tewart; Tulsequah local; Daw-
Son Local; Alberta Nitrogen
Workers, 690; Calgary

Reports on Europe

Sam Lipshitz of Toronto, well-
known writer and lecturer, has
recently returned from an exten-
sive tour of Europe and Israel
and will speak on the subject,
“‘Israe] and the Cold) War”, at
Pender Auditorium, Monday, Feb-
ruary 27, 8 p.m. Lipshitz is natio-
nal secretary of the Council of
Progressive Jewish Organizaticns.
His tour inchided visits to Eng-
land, France, Poland, Rumanta,
Czechoslovakia and Israel,

“Sirs:
ployed families and single men and
the situation of employable unem-
women.

“We formed a committee which
met under the chairmanship of Mr.
Fred Smelts, and which was com-
| posed of representatives of both
|public and private social agencies.

“At the last meeting of the com-

mittee a formal resolution was pas-
sed asking that the Dominion, pro-
vincial, and city authorities set up
a special committee with power to
dea] with the problem.
] “The city representatives were
appointed but as far as we know
action was not taken by the senior
bodies.

‘It is no exaggeration to say
that the situation is extremely
acute at the present time. Men,
women and children are not only
hungry, they are destitute, and

TREATY

(South Manchurian) railway, now
jointly controlled by the USSR‘ and
China.

3.—A commercial agreement
whereby the USSR°* will lend the
Chinese People’s
000,000 over a_ five-year
at one percent interest,
chase of railway. and
equipment.

period,
for pur-
industrial

in helping the new Chinese Peo-
ple’s government to restore rail-

roads wrecked in the past year’s
military campaigns on the main-
land against the now-destroyed
Kuomintang armies.)

Canadian daily papers, which
professed to see in Mao Tse-tung’s
two-month visit to Moscow “Chin-
ese resistance to Soviet demands,”
and assiduously cultivated the
idea born of their own wishful
thinking, that Mao might become
“another Tito”, were caught off
base by announcement of the
treaty. .

The Vancouver News-Herald on
February 15 was forced to concede
that “if the agreement he (Mao)
has concluded has even half the
points in China’s favor it boasts,
he should return home highly her-
alded by his formerly failing fol-
lowers.” The reference to “former-
ly failing followers” was made to
cover the News-Herald’s line of
propaganda retreat from specula-
tion that Mao “was being held in
Russia until forces which kow-
towed more to the Kremlin could
take over his power at home.”

The Vancouver Sun, through a
United Press dispatch by Victor
Kendrick, Hong Kong correspond-
ent, quoted the usual anonymous
observers as opining “that by join-
ing in a military pact with Russia
the Chinese Communists surrend-
ered their highly important right
to act independently in foreign
policy”—an opinion the Vancouver
Sun heatedly denies when it is
correctly applied to Canada’s
signing of the North Atlantic pact.

This attempt to devise a new
propaganda line from discredited
speculation completely ignores the
new Sino-Soviet treaty as a pact
between equal nations, both of
which see the greatest threat to
their reconstruction and develop-
ment as coming from a Japan
which, under General MacArthur,
is being systematically prepared
as a base for a third world war.
The pact, therefore, by aligning
the USSR and People’s China
against any threat of aggression
from, Japan, will act as a deter-
rent to war-minded U.S. militarists
and constitute a major contribu-

Meta} Workers, Local 800.

tion to world : peace.

Republic $300,- |

(Soviet assistance has.
already ‘been an important factor

| there are no adequate resources
| to help them.

| “These are not isolated cases
i but present a picture which is all
,too common and is sapping the
{morale not only of the families
|but of those social workers who
| struggle conscientiously to find an
/answer to the problem.

“The time is long past when
‘federal assistance should have been
|provided to meet the emergency
‘which is quite beyond the scope
|and resources of private agencies.
“This letter is written in the
hope that every member of Par-
| liament and every member of the
legislative assembly will press to
the uttermost for immediate ac-
tion.”

- HOUSE
Coalition’s policy statements since
it first took office.

There was, for instance, no men-
tion of the Industrial Conciliation
and Arbitration Act whose inter-
pretation and application in the
past year were bitterly denounced
last month by the International
Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter
Workers.

The Mine-Mill union and the en-
tire progressive section of the
trade union movement in this pro-
vince has been campaigning to
have the ICA Act amended to de-
fine and safeguard these _ prin-
ciples: right of a union.and its
membership to determine who
shall join and remain a member;
and, right’ of a worker to join
the union of his choice and, where
jurisdiction is disputed, for that
dispute to be determined by the
unions and memberships involved.

If this government is deluding
itself with the thought that it can
dispose of these issues of unem-
ployment and trade union rights
simply by ignoring them, then the
injection of these issues into its
deliberations by citizens who have
no intention of being ignored
should stir the capital in a fashion
not anticipated by Premier Byron
Johnson in preparing the dull rou-
tine throne speech.

Joint Labor Council
backs Alberni jobless

PORT ALBERNI, B.C.

An Alberni Valley Unemployed
Association, launched at a meet-
ing here Friday last week, adop-
ted a program calling for increas-
ed benefits, continuation of all
unemployed on UE payments, and
public works, -

Runar Nase, meeting chairman,
presented the program to the
Joint Labor Council, which unani-
mously endorsed it on motion of
George Lund, seconded by Alex
McDonald.

issued an “open letter to MP’s and MLA’s”
Text of the letter, issued under the signatu
For the last two years we have been makin

Community Chest scores
gov't failure to act In
‘acute’ jobless crisis

Realizing that ability to cope with the unemployment crisis in Vancouver is
private welfare agencies,” officials of the Community Chest and Council of Greater Vancouver this week
urging immediate action to aid destitute families.
re of Hugh Allen, executive director of the Chest, reads:
g representations to all levels of government concerning

“quite beyond the scope of

Victoria jobless spike
MP's ‘weather’ plea

VICTORIA, B.C.

_ Unemployed Action Association of Greater Victoria secured in-
terviews with city council and Fisheries Minister R. W. Mayhew dunng
the past week, and pressed their demands for a program of work and

wages.

Mayhew, just back from a junket to India and Ceylon, complacently

told the unemployed that he had
played a part in securing a new
post office in Victoria, and re-

marked that “bad weather’ had
caused considerable unemploy-
ment.

4

“Other factors than the weath-
er enter into the picture,” shot
back John Wainscott, president
of the unemployed association.
“We want works projects started
at once to provide jobs for 4,000
unemployed in Victoria. Let’s
open up tirade with the Far
East as another change in policy
that will create jobs.”

A brief containing the proposals
of the Unemployed Action Asso-
ciation was presented to the city
council, which passed the buck by
referring it to the legislative com-
mittee.

Council was asked to press the
federal government to extend un-

instate those whose benefits have
already expired, and boost pay-
ments by at-least 50 percent.

Wainscott urged an early start
on the Postwar Rehabilitation
Council program to relieve unem-
ployment.

A recent “split” in the unem-
ployed organization, provoked by
three members of the organiza-
tion’s first executive board, proved
to be a complete dud. A mass
meeting of the membership elected
a new set of officers and accepted
the resignations of’ the three for-
mer officers.

The new executive consists of
John Wainscott, president; H. As-
seh, secretary; J. Blakey, C. Borge,
E. Neish and G. McLaren, execu-
tive members. A publicity commit-
tee of five was set up: Miss Jackie
Robson, chairman; S, Caldwell, A.
Lehman, A. Fraser and G. Tag-

employment insurance benefits, re-

gart.

NES office

sought by

Campbell River jobless

CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C.

A Campbell River Unemployed Association was set up at a meeting
here attended by 50 jobless workers, and plans were made to campaign

for a public works program.

Elected to the executive were A. F. Stanfield, chairman; J. Perkins,

Cliff Rangrin, A. McCall and J.

in an unemployment insurance of-
fice,

Need for an unemployment in-
surance office in Campbell River
was discussed, and it was reported
that following presentation of a pe-
tition advocating this action, sign-
ed by 959 people locally, to J. L.
Gibson, MP for Comox Alberni,
there are indications that such an
office may soon be opened on a
two-days-a-week basis.

“The unemployed today don’t in-
tend to be forced into boxcars, as
in the Hungry Thirties,” said Andy
Hogarth. “We must rally support
from all sections of the community
and force the governments to start
public works projects.

“Where’s the money to comé
from? Well, we all know that if
war was to start tomorrow, there
would be’ plenty of money in circu-
lation, But dropping of A-bombs
and H-bembs will only lead to mass
destruction of innocent people. We
need to spend less on war prepa-
rations and more on peacetime con-
struction needs.”

It was emphasized that the fede-
ral goverment, which only pays out
$1,000,000 a month to B.C. unem-
ployed who draw insurance bene-
fits, spends $2,000,000 a day for war
preparations,

“A pulp mill is needed here. We
have ore, we have coal amd elec-
tric power — why not erect a steel
mill?” said one speaker.

The Campbell River Unemployed
Association plans to contact the
Vancouver Unemployed Action As-
sociation and take part in the mass
lobby of jobless workers to Vic-
toria.

Tanche. Stanfield formerly worked

Four B.C. delegates
for women’s congress

Canadian Congress of Women
hag issued a call to all women’s
organizations to send delegates to
its first All-Canadian Women’s
Conference in Toronto, March §-
ll, as part of the celebration of
the 40th Anniversary of Interna-—
tional Women’s Day.

Four delegates from labor and
women’s groups will be going
from B.C. and a send-off affair
for them will be held on March
5, 2 p.m. Lower Hall, Pender
Auditorium, Vancouver.

The Congress of Canadian Wo-
men is affiliated with the Women’s
International Democratic Federa-
tion.

LPP only party to
gain in campus vote

This week’s election on the cam-
pus for UBC's model parliament
showed the following results: |

Liberals, 604 votes, 20 seats;

Progressive - Conservatives, 421 _

votes, 14 seats; CCF, 334 votes,

liseats; LPP, 109 votes, 3 seats.

Total vote as against 1949 drop-
ped 27 percent, the CCF taking the
heaviest loss with a 41 percent drop —
over a year ago. The LPP was the
enly group to register a gain of ten —
percent over last year and to win
an additional seat. Libéral and

Tory votes fell 23 and 25 percent
respectively.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 17, 1950—PAGE 7

*