THE NATION By LESLIE MORRIS Self-appointed labor lieutenants do a job for St. Laurent ~ A SCOTTISH miners’ leader writes me that he has never lived through more disgusting days in the official trade union movement in Britain. All the old sturdy traditions of Keir Hardie and Tom Mann are being dragged in the mud. Only’ today the press reports that Attlee is ordering out soldiers and sailors to break the strike of the London gasworkers, the men whom Ben Tillett organized years ago. ec We have plenty of tuppeny Attlees and Bevins in Canada. Reading through the debates of the House of Commons session wnich okayed Mc- Arthur’s assault upon the people of Asia is as disgusting an experience as anything my Scottish comrade is liv- ing through. Read the following House statements of CCF MP’s—and say to yourself: ‘“‘Surely, there will be an end to this!’’- Claire Gillis from Nova Scotia told the Tories and Liberals on Septem- ber 11: ; : “We might as well realize, and I am quite frank in my thinking—that for the rest of our lives we are going to have high taxes and standing armies.” Gillis embroidered this with the remark that he agreed with Trade Minister C. D. Howe that price controls must be accompanied by wage controls, He then put forward the company union idea that industrial councils should be set up in basic industries to improve the war effort against the people of Asia and Eastern Europe. ; Stanley Knowles of Winnipeg kowtowed to Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent by saying (September 8) that “even if prices run wild, evenif the government lets the people of Canada.down, the people will still stand by the government.”” Was ever political lickspittling so vulgar and unabashed? Angus MacInnis of Vancouver, on September 13: “I only take part in this debate (on the budget) fo em- phasize that the difference between us in this chamber is: - VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL not as to aim, but method . . . All parties in the House are agreed on the program the government has proposed to meet the situation . . . So I repeat that our differences _ . are differences of method, not of aim.” ‘Alistair Stewart of North Winhipeg agreed that ‘taxes must be raised” and put the employers on the alert by saying “one of the dangers of the inflationary spiral is the renewed set of demands of organized labor for higher wages.” Higher wages, my friends, is a “danger”! God bless the Chamber of Commerce! | - One remark by O. L. Jones, a CCF MP from Bnt- ish Columbia revealed the thinking behind all these state- ments: ‘*. . . May I sugest that the leader of the opposi- tion rendered excellent service to the people of Canada when he asked that a secret session be held so that we might hear the truth about Korea. Like other hon. members I came here in total ignorance and vam still in ignorance. .” For.a future labor historian: this was spoken in the House of Commons, Ottawa, on September 6, 1950—five years after the defeat of the Hitler Axis. __ It remained for CCF leader M. J. Coldwell to put the final stamp of CCF approval on the capitalist fiction that higher wages means higher prices; “Increased wages means increased costs of production, increased cost of pro- duction means increased cost of commodities, increased cost of commodities means more wage demands, and so on.” This rivals Gertrude Stein’s famous imbecility ““A rose is a rose isa yose...” Will someone ask the former high school principal Coldwell how come that workers are producing more in less labor time and that prices are rising while real wages are falling? Or that higher wages can come out of high profits while prices actually fall at the same time? Or, if wages determine prices, what, determines wages, which is the price of labor? How can price determine price? How long will honest workers put up with this out- rageous shoe shining? The time is here when the answer must be given, because these are dangerous men, ‘subversive to the cause of labor. | Ald. Gervin denounces stand ci approved by Secretary Gervin JOW can one serve the labor movement and a reac- tionary political machine at the same time? The best example in Vancouver to prove this can’t be done is R. K. Gervin, secretary of Vancouver Trades and — Labour Council (AFL-TLC) and Non-Partisan alderman. On October 10, Alderman R. K. Gervin delivered a “thunderous blast” against the Stockholm peace petition to ban the atom bomb. “This group (Vancouver Peace As- sembly) should be told it is not doing justice to Canada by circulating such @ petition at this time,” he main- tained. ~ On March 7 this year, R. K. Gervin, secretary of Vancouver Trades and Labor Council, recorded a reso- lution as unanimously passed by the Council. The “Be It Resolved” section read: “This body calls upon the Canadian government to use its influence in the councils of the United Nations for the destruction of all atom ~pombs, and for the peaceful use of atomic energy on @ national and international scale, in order to increase the wealth, happiness and life-span of humanity.” By his silence secretary Gervin gave consent to the resolution. — On October 10, Alderman Gervin “plasted” his way into the headlines of the war press by. insulting a dele- gation from “Vancouver Peace Assembly, headed by John Goss. “It is not known what countries have con- trol of the atom bomb and are in a position to use it, Until the people have this information, such a petition should be banned,” he declared. Minutes of the March 7 meeting, signed by secretary Gervin state: “Whereas atomic energy is no longer the monopoly of any one nation; and whereas an atomic war could cause undreamt of destruction .. .” On August 9, the Vancouver News Herald (no friend of the peace movement) felt constrained to comment on the arrest of Vancouver citizens for collecting ‘signatures to the peace petition on street corners: “If civil liberty doesn’t extend to the right to get signatures to a peti- tion, it doesn’t extend very far. Or, if the right is enjoy- ed by some and not by others, there is no such thing as equal justice.” On October 10, the first case against the arrested peace petitioners was dismissed, to be followed on the morning of October 13 by dropping .of charges against the other two petitioners. : . On the afternoon of October 10, Alderman Gervin made his position on civil liberties clear. “I would be a traitor to my country if I allowed such a petition to be circulated.” This led Alderman Cornett, a confessed tory, to voice his protest. “That’s going a little too far. We were not elected for that purpose..It’s purely a mat- ter of civil liberties and civil rights.” One would imagine that. R. K. Gervin, as secretary of Vancouver Trades and Labor Council, would be the . first alderman in Vancouver to speak up for peace and for protection of civil rights. But no, Alderman Gervin only stays with the hares the better to lead the hounds. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — OCTOBER 20, 1950 — PAGE 9 LABOR FOCUS By J. B. SALSBERG W age increases the urgent need MMEDIATE and substantial wage increases are need- ed badly by all wage and salary earners in the coun- try. It’s a must if the sharp decline in living standards is to be halted. It is an urgent necessity. if the worker’s share in the national income is not to shrink further. It is an unpostponable task from the point of view of im- mediate as well as long range interests of the working class and their families. 2 © . What should be added with equal emphasis is, George Burt is reported to have said, “the money is there, brothers, go get it.” _ That increased purchasing power is a terrible necessity. cannot be questioned. Every worker knows that. Every worker’s wife feels it every mintte of the day. Every worker’s child is made aware of it in countless ways. The statistics of milk consump- tion bear testimony to this need. The latest official figures show the cost of living to have reached the dizzy figure - of 169.8, and that’s according to the totally unreliable government index. Food prices have risen 219 percent as compared with prewar prices! That wages had nothing to do with the recent price jump is also clear. This is one time when even the mon- opilies and their apologists dare not advance the wage argument to justify the rise in prices. It’s the war, you know .’. . What the heck does monopoly finance want war for if not to make money? Wool, leather, rubber, and thousands of other items jumped in price overnight not because there was a sudden increase in purchasing pow- er, nor because -of shortages, nor because fewer animals were slaughtered, or fewer sheep shorn. No, not for any such reason. It was a simple, cold-blooded monopoly operation to up prices and make as much as possible. The financial reports of all major corporations in this country and the U.S. prove that fact to the hilt. That the government’s enormous war expenditures create an inflationary situation is undoubtedly true. But what is. obvious in the present situation is that prices leaped forward long before the increased war expendi- tures made themselves felt in terms of increased employ- ment and wages. It was sheer robbery because this is good robbing time. e ; The CCF cry for price controls will not solve the situation. Monopoly capital doesn’t want such controls yet. It wants to make a.killing first and will agree to a measure of price controls only when it will have gone far enough and when it will want to freeze wages. Isn’t this obvious? Didn’t, the cynical U.S. Congress reject - all proposals for extra profit taxes? Washington not only determines our foreign policy but is also dictating our economic policy... ae gees In the meantime prices continue to skyrocket, the purchasing value of the dollar shrinks, living standards are undermined and the right wing of the CCF cries only about price controls. Isn’t it crystal clear that what the working class needs right now is more pay, more pur- chasing power? Of course that’s it. That is the first. necessity. In addition, we must also press for 100 percent excess profits tax, increased corporation taxes, taxes on capital gains, government subsidies on essential foods, reduction of war expenditures, a peace policy that will make possible production of homes, schools, hospitals and all kinds of consumer goods. But to place price con-" f . trols ag the sole and supreme need at present is equiv- alent to accepting the lowered living standards for the masses. : . ° y. e If the light of these developments it is astounding to watch certain trade union leaders lead the member- ship up blind alleys. The behavior of the railroad union leaders is scanda- lous. They are dragging the largest single group of in- dustrial workers in the country to a still lower level of existence. Z Both trade union congresses, while paying lip serv- ice to the need for wage increases, refused to assumé responsibility for giving coordinated, national leader- ship to such a movement. Pat Conroy warned the CCL unions to ask for higher wages only after their agreements had expired! “Doc- tor” Conroy indeed! * On behalf of the entire Millard leadership, Eamon Park announced that the steel union in Canada will not go out for industry-wide wage demands. They will, he ; said, leave it to each stcel local. The bosses couldn’t have torpedoed the steelworkers’ wage demands much more effectively. But despite all this a wage movement is getting un- derway. The auto workers have helped to spark it in a number of their key plants. The UE is‘in the midst of negotiations for higher wages even though contracts are still in force. The metal miners union, despite its in- volvement in a battle against the Millard raiders, is fight- — ing for higher wages. The heroic, battling Canadian Sea- men’s Union secured substantial wage increases for its members only two weeks ago. Many other unions, like those of the lumber workers in B.C. and Ontario, the tex- tile workers in Quebec, have just concluded new con- tracts which provide substantial raises. The wage movement is gaining momentum. But it must be extended and stepped up all along the line. In most cases it will be the job of the rank and file to get it under way.