SEs

By Ni
Manh

MD
Wy Mb,
Way)

Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, September 10, 1948

Price Five Cents

| Vol. 7, No. 37

60,000 WORKERS CALL

| Tiabesne:

In the fifth annual “Paul Bunyan” loggers’ sports at Port Alberni during Labor Day weekend,
the boys from the ‘big timbers’ drew a record crowd, and demonstrated once again their prowess
in climbing, bucking and birling the big ones.

Nigel Morgan (right), provincial leader of the LPP present the Pacific Tribune challenge cup
trophy to George Voight (centre), and Eric Sundberg (left), both of Ladysmith, and winners of
the world championship in heavy power-saw bucking. Said George Voight, “I am proud to win such
a cup from the best labor paper in Canada.”

conditions.

This Was announced to the
Vancouver Trades and Labor
; Council] Tuesday night by Jimmy

Thompson, vice-president of the
; (Canadian Seamen’s Union, in re-
porting on ‘opening of negotia-

tions to replace the present na-

tional deepsea contract which op-
erators are terminating October
15.
: The move was the result of in-
citement by Transport Minister
Lionel Chevrier, who seven weeks
ago charged the CSU was try-
ing to “destroy” Canada’s ship-
Ping industry and publicly hint-
ed Ottawa’s willingness to back
deepsea attempts to break the
CSU with the same lawless vio-
lence tried by Great Lakes op-
erators.

It was also the first fruits of

the action of Frank Hall in de-
fying the Trades and Labor Con-
gress to hang a scab charter of
the Seafarers’ International Un-
ion on Sullivan’s Great Lakes
scabherding agency. (See page
9).

It was a move that fitted the
pattern of American shipowners’
attempts to Taft-Hartleyize the
Pacific waterfront — attempts
that are being answered with
a 5-union strike that is tying up
550 American ships and may well
mark the turn of the tide against
the Taft-Hartley slave law.

Labor circles see the operator
demands as spelling “PROVOCA-
TION” with a capital “P” since
no self-respecting union men will
take a pay cut, and seamen have

Shipowners get set
to extend war on CSU

Canadian shipowners on the Pacific coast have laid on the table demands for the
seamen to swallow a $20 monthly Wage cut, give up the union hiring hall, take a 10-cent
cut in hourly overtime rights, and accept a series of changes’ for the worse in working

sailed in the teeth of Nazi tor-
pedoes for the democracy that
to them is symbolized by the
union hiring hall.

In the face of *the revolt of
the Frank Hall group of road-
men against the Trades Congress
leadership and policies, the local
Trades Council unanimously re-
iterated its support of the CSU
strikers on the Great Lakes.

Secretary R. K. Gervin, refer-
ring to Hall’s actions, stated, “We
all agree. a very poor taste has
been left in our mouths. ... We
may have to go into this situa-
tion much more deeply than
usual. The whole matter will be
before the Congress convention.
I have never seen Brother Ben-

(Continued on back page)

SEE SEAMEN

FOR COALITION OUSTER

Brands Govt. for
‘Double-dealing...

Double-talk...

Double-cross... ./

A parliament of British Columbia‘s industrial
workers assembled in Vancouver last weekend and
unanimously resolved that the present Coalition
government, after three years of sowing the anti-
labor wind, shall now reap at the polls the whirlwind
of labor’s political wrath.

Delegates to the fifth annual convention of the
B.C. Federation of Labor adopted an officers’ report
branding the government as ‘‘distinguished in a
policy of three ‘D's’, double-talk, double-dealing and
double-cross.”” '

They passed a resolution from loggers’ local
1-71. of the IWA committing the Federation to go all-out
for the election of a CCF government, with incoming officers
instructed to call an all-labor political action conference as
soon as provincial. elections are announced.

Every delegate voted agreement with the report of
president Danny O’Brien, retiring second vice-president Alex
Mackenzie and retiring secretary-treasurer Harold Pritchett,
indicting the government point by point as follows:

“The Liberal-Tory Coalition government is entitled to
nothing but condemnation from this convention; a govern-
ment, representative of big business (that has): hamstrung
organized labor by amending Bill 39 through the enactment
of Bill 87, over the most vigorous protests of organized labor
and the opposition. :

“It forced upon the people a 3 percent sales tax and
increase in the price of gasoline. It permitted an increase in
street car fares, allowed an increase in the price of milk
to the extent that the people of this province are using
over a million quarts less per month and the income from
fluid milk sales. to the farmer has been reduced by over
sixty. thousand dollars. The Automobile Insurance Act
benefits only big business companies.”

The report claimed that the government’s “complete
disregard of official warnings of flood possibilities and their
bungling of rehabilitation and flood control” shows “that
this government is more interested in Serving big industrial
interests” than in “promoting the welfare of the people.”

In passing the resolution “to do all in our power to
unite all labor” to elect the CCF, delegates reaffirmed the
B.C. Federation of Labor position that “as an organization
we are not tied to any one political party, that we do not
interfere in the rights of affiliates. or membership in full
freedom of choice of the candidates they desire to vote or,
but. we urge plane be formulated by Federation affiliates
in each constituency to institute the most effective means
of defeating the Coalition.”

Political observers see this resolution as the writing
on the wall for the Coalition. In 1945 the Coalition polled
-219,450 votes as against a total progressive anti-Coalition

(Continued: on back page)

SEE OUSTER

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