ttles --. and the IW.A. was Born

he

Racial prejudice raised its ugly head. Orientals were barred
from union membership but a Japanese Camp and Mill
Workers’ Union was affiliated to the AFL but not to any in-
ternational organization. Chinese ‘‘auxiliary” locals were
sometimes formed. Under the ‘‘Tyee” system, Orientals worked
for less than the minimum wage.

The extent of organization is indicated by the revenue of the
LSWU District Council in 1935: $5477.43.

The strikes that punctuated the year 1936-37 will be dealt
with elsewhere. Here we are concerned with the early
developments of organization.

July 1936 saw the first convention of the Loggers’ Local, No.
2783, LSWU, when the assembled members authorized the
purchase of a gas-boat to establish contact with remote camps.
A little later the famous “Laura Wayne,” sometimes called the
flagship of the Loggers’ Navy, made many cruises from the
Queen Charlotte Islands to camps on Harrison Lake.

A District Convention of the LSWU, held in Vancouver in
1936 was attended by delegates from the Victoria, Lake
Cowichan, Port Alberni, New Westminster, North Vancouver
and Vancouver Locals. The discussion centered around the
need for united organization to improve wages and working
conditions.

In August, 1936, came the news that the Committee for
Industrial Organization had been suspended by the AFL
Executive Council. The relations between the Lumber and
Sawmill Workers and the Carpenters and Joiners in B.C. from
that point onward spelled friction. Too many workers in the
industry were opposed to leadership from the top. As they were
strong believers in rank-and-file control, they were inclined to
ignore the Brotherhood. Without obtaining its sanction, the
representatives of all the locals in ten District Councils met in
Portland, September, 1936, under chairmanship of A. F. Har-
tung and formed the Federation of Woodworkers, the largest
union group on the West Coast. Harold Fritchett, tren president

of the B.C. District Council, was elected president of the
Federation.

The Federation of Woodworkers bluntly requested the AFL
to withdraw suspension of the Committee for Industrial
Organization. Subsequently, the Carpenters requested the
representatives of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers to attend
the December convention of the Brotherhood as ‘“non-
beneficial’ delegates. This decision was based on the fact that
LSWU members paid only 25 cents a month dues, while the
carpenters paid 75 cents.

1937

The B.C. delegates made a vehement protest against what
they termed second class membership, and demanded a
hearing. Nevertheless, the B.C. District Council exerted its
utmost influence to preserve unity of organization.

The issue before the July 1937 convention of the
Federation, held in Tacoma, was affiliation with the ClO. A
referendum vote taken prior to the convention was ‘“‘for af-
filiation, 16,754,” and “against affiliation, 5,306." A long and
bitter debate ensued. The Puget Sound District Council was
opposed to the immediate shift to affiliation under Pritchett’s
leadership. The Columbia District Council preferred to take its
chances in the new organization rather than to remain with the
Carpenters. Pritchett, speaking for the B.C. District Council,
took the position that the vote was decisively for affiliation. On a
roll call vote 365 favored affiliation, 75 were opposed, 26 were
absent, and 59 uninstructed.

Pritchett immediately declared that the organization had
become a CIO affiliate. Very quickly the name International
Wood Workers of America was decided upon, but one delegate
suggested that this would be the IWW of America. It was then
ruled that the words ‘“‘Wood Workers” appear as one word, and
the official name became the International Woodworkers of
America. The CIO made a contribution of $5,000 as a first in-
stallment to help immediate organization to fight the Industrial
Employees’ Union, a company union which replaced the 4L in
the Pacific Northwest States.

On July 20, 1937, the IWA called its first Constitutional
Convention, and the new CIO affiliate embarked on stormy
waters, for the Carpenters threatened to boycott all ClO lumber.

It was quite as stormy for a period in British Columbia. The
operators attempted to prevent the ClO invasion by shut-downs
and wage cuts. The vote for affiliation in British Columbia had
been: Union vote, Yes, 1220; Union vote, No, 46. Non-union
vote, Yes, 454; Non-union vote, No, 23.

Delegates from the newly-named CIO Locals were unseated
in the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. A Citizens’
League, headed by Col. C. E. Edgett, attacked the CIO as an
“Organization of trouble-makers.”’

Notwithstanding attacks from all sides, delegates from both
IWA and LSWU Locals attended a convention in Victoria,
November 1, 1937, the first convention of the B.C. District
Council of the International Woodworkers of America, ClO.

Despite its endorsation of the CIO, the officers of the IWA
District Council in B.C. persisted for some time in overtures to
the Carpenters in the belief that unity was paramount, and
sought to retain affiliation with the Trades and Labour Congress
and subsidiary bodies in Canada.

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The Western Canadian Lumber Worker — Special Edition/5