eds

STARTING A NEW. SERIES ae hs

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SONS OF FREEDOM

“Au fal
ae

Vol. 16 No. 29

=>

FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1957

Authorised as second class mail by

VANCOUVER, B.C.

l0¢

the Post Office Department, Ottawa

ees

te will likely be thous-
sae Cases of Asian flu in
hea; ver. this fall, local
fh Officials agree.
digs Stewart Murray, chief
save eeecical health officer,
dead}: any viruses grow more
“thet do as they spread, but
: So al mean it is tfue in
fat he ew-type flu which has
oe lions: in Asia appears
- & relatively mild variety.

| Asian flu epidemic
to hit here in fall

A writer in the Lancet, leading
British medical journal, sug-
gested it might have some con-
nection with recent H-bomb
tests.

(In Moscow this week medi-
cal research workers claimed
that they had perfected an
anti-flu remedy called Kuti-
sone. The first batch of the
drug has been produced by the
Moscow salycilic acid factory.)

Dynamite blast kills
Murdochville striker

« MURDOCHVILLE

H -
bla. etve Bernatchez, 35, a striker injured by a dynamite

“ast near
Pital

s

haga for 1,000 striking

aac s of America, said the

- nine Bernatchez as

é Mc capitalism.”

father gree? married and a
our children, suffer-

a sey
teri ered

m

Two
ins ¢ injured
catia blast, third dynamite

on since the _ strike

e .
to the irresponsible anti-

Uni ;
Connen mtude of the Gaspe
Sion to a Ines and its deci-
to replg ire German workers
Blasases we. the striking em-
tude of pre Provocative atti-
the Rieales Provincial
€ € indifference of
: eee government.”
hototioy han 100 of Duplessis’
have {o S police strikebreakers
in the tt Weeks been stationed
y Within mining communi-
es the workers, joined
¥ wives, have been

Marchin “
four ied ek picket lines for

Olice and t

in the refinery at Gaspe Copper Mines, died in hos-
nearby Ste. Anne de Monts last week. Robert Bedard,

members of the United Steel
local union had issued a state-

the victifn of heartless, almost

Having previously notified
workers who are tenants in
company homes _ that they
would be evicted unless back
rent is paid, the copper bosses
now have sent “pay-up” not-
ices to strikers buying company
homes.

Of the 1,000 men who hit

the bricks last March, some,

300 have left the area. In
addition, 80 others are work-
ing.

But despite widescale re-
cruiting of strikebreakers the
company has been unable to
resume normal © production.
After two months of trying, it
now claims to treat about 1,800
tons of ore daily — compared
with a pre-strike figure of 5,-
000 tons daily.

The union claims the com-
pany has lost more than $7
million. in_ profits, and- the
strike “is hurting them a lot
more than it has hurt us.”

Britannia miners

fight shutdown

Take a 15 percent wage cut or the mines will be closed down! This, in effect,
was the ultimatum given to 800 Britannia hardrock miners by the New York head

office of Britannia Mines. ss

But at one of the largest meetings in the history of the Britannia local of the
International Union, Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Canada), the company’s pro-
posal was unanimously rejected.

Ken Smith, Mine-Mill board
member, pointed out that as
productivity was continually
increasing wage cuts could not
answer the’ economic prob-
lems of the workers. He said
that the federal government
had a responsibility to interest
itself in the question of keep-
ing the mine operating.

In Ottawa, union vice-presi-
dent Harvey Murphy propos-
ed to’Justice Minister David
Fulton that the government
should guarantee a minimum
copper price in order to pre-
vent a shutdown.

The minister was non-com-
mittal, but other officials in-
dicated it was unlikely that
the government would pur-
chase copper for stockpiling.
Instead, they said the govern-
ment might consider a subsidy
form of assistance similar to
the Gold Mining Assurance
Act. Under this act, marginal
mines receive a subsidy on
production actually sold.

On October 21, 1956, the
company signed a two-year
collective agreement with the
union, Under this agreement,
the miners were givensa nine
cent boost the first year, with
a further five cents to follow
in the second year. Now, be-
fore the second increase, the
company proposes a 15 per
cent cut, averaging about $2
a day, for a trial period of five
months. If the union accepts,
there will be no guarantee
against further demands along
the same lines, and no guaran-
tee that the mine will stay
open.

When the collective agree-
ment was signed for 1955, the
price of copper was approxi-
mately 43 cents a pound. Dur-
ing the term of that agreement :
the price went up to 48 cents
but the company got the full
benefit of that increase.

With the bulk of Canada’s
copper going to the U.S. mar-
ket, the source of the crisis
facing hard rock mining in
B.C. is this country’ = ° ° : : : ‘
aependenge peeve a aoe ak A Pacific Tribune series of articles dealing
ket. In that country, lead and with the Doukhobor problem begins on page 2.

Continued on back page ca

Boer. 6 CASTLEGAR

Since the Socreds came to power in B.C.
they have resorted to the “big stick” policy in
an attempt to solve the Doukhobor problem.

The picture above was taken at Perry Sid-
ing in 1953 when 148 Freedomite men and
women were arrested after staging a nude

parade.

Today’ some 100 Doukhobor children,
seized by the RCMP on government orders
because their parents refused to send them to
school on religious grounds, are being held at
New Denver.

pia

See BRITANNIA