if
i

any union member,

WITHDRAW
BILL 43!

By JACK PHILLIPS

The Socred government in Victoria can no longer pretend to represent all sections of
the people in British Columbia. The introduction of Bill 43, An Act Relating to Trade Un.

ions, exposed it as the tool of big business.

All their talk about the joint responsibility of

management and labor for industrial disputes is so much eyewash. The calculated objective

of the government is to impo

ganized labor in relation to organized big business.

The new Bill will, if adopted,
replace the Trade Unions Act
of 1902, as revised in 1948. It
will take away a number of
the basic rights that trade
unions in this province have
fought for and won since the
turn of the century.

Let us examine the key
sections of Bill 43.

Section 4: Under this sec-
_tion, “a trade union, or other
person who does, authorizes or
concurs in anything prohibited
by the Labor Relations Act

*. is liable to damages to
anyone injured thereby.”

In plain English, this means
that officers of a union, its
members and the union itself
could be held responsible in
court for participating in a
strike not authorized under
the Labor Relations Act; for
picketing an unfair employer
not directly engaged in a
strike; for posting an informa.
tion picket; or for placing
non-union firms on “We Do
Not Patronize” lists.

Also under Section 4, it is
laid down that the action of
unless
otherwise proved, will be pre-
sumed to be done with the

“concurrence or authorization

of the trade union. This means
that if an individual member
commits an act that is held
to be unlawful, it is the res-

ponsibility of the trade union.

to prove' that it did not auth-
orize the commission of the of-
fense.. This, in effect, is a re-
versal of the traditional con-
eept that innocence must be
assumed until guilt is proven.

Section 7 (2) reads as fol-
lows: “A trade’union is a

SRE SE A ea
ROOFING .

& SHEET METAL

3 REPAIRS
Duroid, Tar and Gravel
Reasonable
Gutters and Downpipes
CK BITZ BR. 7-6722

_ Anarchistie elements,

legal entity for purposes of
prosecuting and being prose-
cuted for offenses against the
Labor Relations Act and for
purposes of suing and being
sued under this Act.”

This is reactionary, vicious
and loaded with dynamite for
the trade union movement.
Let me give you a few exam-
ples of what it could do:

1. If a plant was on strike
and the truck drivers of an-
other firm were ordered to
deliver goods to that firm,
the union to which the truck
drivers belonged could be
sued if the truckdrivers refus-
ed to honor their contract and
make delivery as ordered, un-
less the truckdrivers had a
special protective clause in
their collective agreement.

2. If all the workers in a
sawmill went on strike over a
grievance the employer had
refused to straighten out, the
union could be sued.

3. If a union in the building
trades picketed a job being
done by non-union labor, it
would be subject to payment
of heavy damages.

4. The circulation of a “We
Do Not Patronize” list by the
Vancouver Labor Council
would be an unlawful act.

-5. If the workers of a plant
were on strike, it would be
unlawful for them to post in-

‘formation pickets at another
plant using products produced -

by scabs, or to post a token
picket line at retail outléts
handling scab-produced pro-
ducts. Bais

*6. If any member of a un-
ion, or any group of members,
committed an action pro-
hibited under the Labor’ Re-
lations Act, the union could
be sued and heavily fined.
police
agents or employer stooges

could commit an offense that -

would involve the union and
its officers in the payment of
heavy damages.

Ever since the passage of
the, Trade Unions Act of 1902,
unions in this province have
been recognized as voluntary
organizations and not subject
to lawsuits as such.

The new legislation would

se restrictive legislation in order to weaken the position of or-

turn the clock back 56 years
and would place unions at the
mercy of big corporations, and
of courts that are traditionally
conservative and often re-

actionary in labor disputes re-
ferred to them for legal judg-
ment.

Government control over in-
dustrial relations should “be
reduced to the basic minimum
of guaranteeing the workers
the right to organize, to bar-
gain collectively, strike and
picket. Regulatory procedures
should be designed to. protect
labor and not to weaken its
position in relation to the em-
ploying class which, because
of its position in society, is
much stronger to begin.with.

British Columbia Federation
of Labor should call an em-
ergency meeting of ‘its affili-
ates to discuss this serious
threat and to mobilize the
trade unions of the province
in united action.

There is no time to lose.
Every trade union in the prov-
ince, irrespective of affiliation,
every trade union member,
must be mobilized to turn the
heat on Victoria. United, pro-

test demonstrations ean cor
pel the government to wit
draw Bill 43. a

Above all, this coward
act of the Socred governme
along with the strike-breaki
onstrates the need for inde:
pendent political action"by o1
ganized labor. e
shameless tools of big busi-+
ness, Labor must work hard
to build the all-inclusive po.
of the Canadian Labor €
gress. Such a movement,
cluding the trade unions, 4
and groups willing to work for
the common program can elect
governments that will prote
bor, in place of government

E |
action¢ of the Tories and Lib H
erals in Newfoundland, 7
The Tories, Liberals
Socreds stand exposed as tl
tical movement proposed 1
the Winnipeg, 1958 conventic
CCF, the organized farme
and all reform-minded parti
the interests of organized
hostile to the labor movement, |
g

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

A charge of 50 cents for each
insertion of five lines or léss
with 10 cents for each addi-
tional line is made for notices
appearing in this column. No
notice will be accepted later
than Tuesday noon of the week
of publication.

NOTICES

DEADLINE FOR COMING
EVENTS COLUMN — All
copy must be in the Pacific
Tribune office not later than
12 noon Tuesday.

THE PACIFIC TRIBUNE
OFFICE WILL BE OPEN
THIS SATURDAY, MARCH
14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

COMING EVENTS—City .
—BROADWAY:

MARCH 14 cron soc-

IAL at Betty and Phil Gadd’s,
3023 West Fourth (Fourth
Ave. bus takes you to the door).
Good food, dancing, refresh-
ments. Come and bring your
friends. Proceeds to PT drive.

WANED! All gourmets and
socialites.

REWARD! Sweet and sour
spareribs, pork loin, sausage
rolls, hot chicken and rice
etc. etc. ete. :

TURN IN—dead or alive at

, VALLEYVIEW HALL —
Grandview H’wy SATUR-
DAY, March 14. Dinner at
8 p.m. After-dinner perform-
ance, dancing and refresh-
ments. $1.25 each. HE. 1-6801.

MARCH 15 — Soviet film

“ON THE.
THRESHOLD OF LIFE” will
be shown at Russian People’s
Home 600 Campbell Ave., on
Sunday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
English sub-titles. Everybody
welcome. :

ATTENTION
VICTORIA READERS

“PT” PRESS DRIVE SOCIAL
SATURDAY, MARCH 21,
8 p.m. at William Bldg. —
749 Broughton St. Special
Guest Speaker. Whist, re-
freshments. Door Prize. Ad-
mission 50c.

‘IT’S FOR THE TRIB’—Hear
Geo. North, Editor “The
Fisherman” speak on World
Conference Against Atomic
and Hydrogen Bombs held
in Japan,. and his visits to
victims of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki — animated by

slides. Good food and re-

freshments. Columba’s —
2724 Grant St. Saturday,

March 28, 8:30 pm. m. Ad- |

_ Mission’ 50c.

COMING EVENTS

ITH Spring in the air,
W shake off. those winter
kinks and welcome the new
season. Enjoy a big night out at
BURNABY SOCIAL CLUB’S

4th BIRTHDAY PARTY
SATURDAY — MARCH 14
Valleyview Hall, near Burn-
aby Municipal Hall. Superb
buffet dinner at 8 p.m. Reserve
your tickets now. Limited ac-
commodation. Telephone HE.
1-6801. Admission $1.25.

‘ — TURKEY
MARCH 2 DINNER AND
DANCING, SATURDAY,

MARCH 28 at 654 West 15 St.,
in North Vancouver. Dinner
from 6 to 8 p.m. Adults $1.25,
Children 60c. Everyone wel-
come. Phone YU 17-3620. _

BUSINESS PERSONALS

THE STEAM ROOM — Drake
St. at Granville. (Yale
Hotel). BATHS — MASS-
AGE — THERAPY. The
working ‘man’s
Centre. MU. 3-0719.'

_ REGENT TAILORS LTD.

Remedial

March 13, 1959 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PA

Custom Tailors and Ready |
to wear. For personal ser-
vice ste Henry Rankin at
324 W. Hastings St. Van-
couver 3. MU. 1-8456. 7

HASTINGS BAKERIES L' D.
—Scandinavian products ~
specialty. 716 East Hasting
Street. Phone MU. 4-971

0.K. RADIO SERVICE —
Specializing in TV repairs.
‘Latest precision equipm
used. 1420 West Pender St.
MU. 4-1012. ’

34 TRANSFER - 1420 Comm
cial Drive. Call Nick,
4058. ‘

ze

OLYMPIC STEAM BATHS

1956 LTD.

“A good clean place to relax”

404 East Hastings St.
MU 4-0720

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME -
Available for meetings, wed-_
dings, and banquets at rea-__
sonable rates. 600 Campbeli
Ave. MU. 4-9939. =

CLINTON HALL, 2605 Ez
Pender. Available for ban:
quets, Weddings; Meeting
etc. Phone HA. 3277. =

FOR SALE

ONE PUREBRED GERI] AN
Shepherd pup, 11 weeks old
$25 or nearest offer,
Hughes, Hurd Road, R.R.
Mission, B.C. Proceeds to:
Drive. :

_ PENDER
AUDITORIUM
(Marine Workers) _

339 West Pender
LARGE & SMALL HALLS
FOR RENTALS
Phone MU. 1-9481

s