Week in the House : By BERT WHYTE The problems arising out of hydro-electric development. on international rivers have not been discussed in detail during the current session of the legis- lature, and with the House sched- uled to prorogue next week it appears unlikely that the sub- ject will receive the serious at- tention it deserves. Buckshot criticism fired by CCF and Liberal members has failed to force Premier Bennett to reveal his long range hydro _ Plans, but he has said enough to Make it plain there is no basic change in his position of making a few fast bucks for the treas- ury by placing control of this Natural resource in the hands of US, monopolies. Late in.1954, when the premier Was all set to ram through the \aiser dam deal, LPP provin- Clal leader Nigel Morgan toured € Kootenays denouncing the _ Storage dam’ plan and_ pointing Out that what was needed was development of Columbia hydro Power by Canadians. His cam- Paign helped bring realization to thousands that what Bennett was Sing would only succeed in ex- borting jobs, while development Of power here under Canadian Control would attract industry to the Kootenays. A few days ago Premier Ben- nett, arrogant and stubborn, told S that his government still Opes the “deal” with Kaiser luminum Company for a stor- ®§e dam on the lower Arrow lakes will go through. The U.S. firm proposed to build ' 7 the storage dam and. give B.C. Percent of the power gener- ated downstream by the storage Water, Ottawa blocked the move Y enactment of Bill 3, giving tederal authorities control over international rivers. Wana CONSTANTINE FINE CUSTOM TAILORING Ladies’ and Gentlemen Rm,, 118, 603 W. Hastings St. RPA. 5810 Vancouver 2, B.C. OD, FOr CC “Everything in Flowers” FROM... EARL SYKES 56 E. Hastings St. PA. 3855 VANCOUVER, B.C. —— NEW ZENITH CAFE 105 E. Hastings St. For The Finest In Good Eating 7:15 p.m. LABOR-PROGRESSIVE POINT of VIEW by NIGEL MORGAN -|Power sellout to U.S. still Bennett’s plan CCF and Lifberal members quickly jumped on the premier, blasting his “giveaway” policy on natural resources. A;demand for expansion of B.C. Power Com- ‘mission was advanced by the CCF, to which Bennett replied that in the coming year the bor- rowing power of the commission will be increased by $60 million. ‘But Bennett and other cab- inet members made it plain that their purpose remains the build- ing of storage dams for U.S. in- terests, rather than power dams to benefit the people of B.C. and guarantee future industrial de- velopment in this province. Lands and Forests Minister R. E. Sommers (already under heavy fire on the forest management licences issue) told the House that the government hopes for construction of the huge Mica Creek storage dam on the main stem of the Columbia by U.S. interests. B.C. will get the “at- site’? power and 20 percent of the gross power generated on the American side, he smugly ob- served. What Sommers failed to men- tion was that U.S. interests will only build the Mica Creek dam if they are guaranteed no diver- sion to the Fraser will ever be made, and also assured that they will control. a regulated flow to meet the needs of U.S. produc- tion schedules. Whether diversion of Columbia waters to the Fraser is feasible or desirable is debatable. Control of the Columbia, which the U.S. interests demand, is something else again. The peo- ple of B.C., the premier should understand, are unalterably op- posed to any and all “deals” which will surrender control of Canadian water power to foreign interests. : “Develop our own power in Canada, and we will be able to build great basic industries here,” Nigel Morgan said in November, 1954, while campaigning against the Kaiser dam sellout. “Ameri- can capital will also flow into this province, to build factories close to the source of . cheap power. : “We are not opposed to foreign capital being invested in Can- ada. The question is, what are the investments being used for? At one time U.S. investments were used to industrialize Can- ada. Today U.S. big business tries to prevent the industrial- ization of Canada and prevent the building of basic industries. The U.S. wants to buy ownership and control of our natural re- sources, and particularly water power. “The LPP opposes the propos- ed Kaiser dam power sellout on the Columbia, but advocates the rapid development, through the agency of the B.C. Power Com- mission, of the maximum amount of water power to operate new industries.” __ At that time the LPP was the only political party to put forward such a program. Today, as the debate in the House indi- cates, it is also the official posi- tion of the CCF. / In the fight for the develop- ment of our natural resources for the benefit of the people of B.C. and Canada, unity of the left and progressive forces 1s being forged. As .the struggle advances, this growing sentiment for united action will eventual- ly include all patriotic Cana- | dians. | 4 Union compelled GM | to ‘recognize Canada’ By MARK FRANK TORONTO “We did one big thing in this strike—we made General Motors recognize Canada.”’ That’s how chunky, smiling Gordon Lambert, chairman of the United Auto Workers’ GM sub-council, summed up the major gains won by the union in the longest (148 days) strike ever against a big industry in Canada. No ’56 cars, said GM, but union called hand Years of tough bargaining with this giant U.S. corporation have always featured a haughty, ar- rogant attitude by company ne- gotiators to their branch plant workers in Canada. Union offic- ials have often charged that GM bosses deal with their Canadian workers as “colonials”, foisting cheaper settlements on them than those achieved in the U.S. The 26-cent immediate gain won for 1956 “with the richest corporation in the world’ bet- tered the U.S. contract priced at 21.3 cents. But there’s 12 cents more coming. Thus over the 30-month contract 17,250 workers will pick up gains of 38 cents an hour...some even more. The GM gains are seen setting the pace now for the battle of 150,000 railroaders to win a 33- cent wage and welfare contract, as well as pending negotiations in steel, electric and auto. GM threw down the gauntlet to its Canadian workers with a “take it or leave it” offer of 17.7 cents on September 19 last year. Five months later it was in re- treat, faced by the unprecedented unity of the workers in its entire Canadian chain. é I talked to Gordy Lambert, who comes from the 4,000 member St. Catharines plant, after the sign- ing ceremonies in Toronto’s Royal York Hotel. One of four top negotiators who tangled with GM industrial relations director Louis G. Seaton from Detroit, Lambert emphasized to me what ‘he considered “the biggest gain of all:” : “For years running GM always treated us as low man,” said Lam- bert, “giving us. less than U.S. workers in the same company got. In 1950, our annual improve- ment factor was three cents an hour compared to four in the U.S.. In 1953 it was four cents here and five over there. “Now, for the first time, GM has had te come through with the six cents an hour improve- ment boost, the same as in the US2 indicate that the 52-cent hourly differential between Canada and the U.S. is being narrow- ed). Lambert cited also the winning of supplemental unemployment benefits and night shift extra pay provisions that equal the U.S. contract. Canadian “firsts” in- cluded a much better prepaid hospital, surgical and doctor care plan than that achieved south of the border, as well as eight paid statutory holidays instead of seven in the U.S. In addition the levelling off of pay rates in the Canadian chain was described as a major con- cession by GM. “This was never true in GM plants here before — and for the first time we have a master five- plant contract covering all 17,000. workers,” said Lambert. _As one of the key negotiatiors | } relations. (The total gain would — t TORONTO | “‘l’m taking a plane back to Detroit.” ] The words were measured and came from tight-lipped top U:S: negotiator for General Motors— Louis G. Seaton, director of labor They were uttered across the bargaining table in Room 1271 of the Royal York Hotel, where the bulk of “master contract’ nego- tiations between GM and its 17,- 250 employees in Canada took! place. Minutes before, this highly- paid GM official had played the corporation's final card: “No 1956 model production in Canada. | We'll bring 25,000 Chevrolet cars in to Canada from the U.S.” Canada’s United Auto Work- ers’ Union director George Burt came back with a blunt reply: “All right — and when you go, don’t forget to call the press in and tell them about the 25,000 cars. We'll see what the Cana- dian labor movement says about that.” According to a member of the UAW negotiating team, Seaton’s last words were: “Sorry I ever plane.” Three weeks later the strike was over and Canadian plant production underway. mentioned a along with Oshawa’s Doug Sutton and Canadian director George Burt, Lambert dropped some 20 pounds during the course of the; From the beginning GM tried in vain to break picketline morale which was buttresed by an inter- national strike fund of $4 million gruelling negotiations with the | and supported from Canadian company. He paid high tribute to the men and women on the: picketline for the victory. Said Lambert: “It was the guys and girls on the picket line and their families that won this strike. They were put to so many tests, yet they came through with fly- ing colors.” His views were echoed by Burt, chief spokesman in the negotiations. “The support we as negotia- tors have had from our rank- and-file,’ he said, “and from our international union UAW- CIO and the Canadian labor movement — has been magni- ficent, and one might say GM- shaking. Without such loyalty we could not have hoped to win any large part of what we have.” Lambert spoke of the unity achieved for the first time by all GM workers in Canada. “We were banded together for the first time. The experience of such unity will have a lasting effect.” Statements made at wind-up ceremonies’ by Burt and Seaton ‘for GM were a study in contrasts. The union spokesman was bouncy, confident and smiling, while GM’s top negotiator sat tight-lipped, evaded questioning by newsmen, his voice nervous and strained. Burt told how GM had “resis- ted every effort” to gain equality with Ford and Chrysler workers in Canada on health demands. The new GM contract covers over 50 percent and Burt pledged that the union would go after the other half. : “It doesn’t mean we won’t ask for the pay-all plan again. As a matter of fact it is clear now that this will be one of the major de- mands which GM workers in the U.S. will now make in 1958.” One of the major reasons for the long and bitter resistance of GM in Canada was the fear that Canadians would win a fully- paid hospital and doctor plan that would set a precedent for ‘similar demands by its 375,000 GM. workers in the U.S.. | labor to the tune of $300,000. GM’s first tack was to drag out conciliation procedures. They failed when George Burt walked out on the conciliation board in a dramatic action that brought commendation from all labor. GM then sought to set one plant against another, playing on the fiction that the big 16,000- member Local 222 unit in Oshawa was unwilling to settle. A pro- gressive “young guard” leads the union there. ; In their “war of nerves,” the company tried to tab the strike “illegal” in the early stages using U.S. laws as a precedent. Brought into play were eviction threats, underhand attacks by the com- mercial press and radio, and efforts to bring “third parties” into the strike negotiations. HUB HUMOR “If he keeps on improving we'll j : have to buy sce stings." Everything in clothes and fur- nishings for men and young men. Ask about our FREE CREDIT PLAN to buy them. | HAUTE