UNION OPPOSES COMPULSORY ARBITRATION

Fishermen hit ‘police state’ plan

The six-man Federal-Provincial Committe e recommendations for the B. C. fishing indus
try were branded as ‘“‘the first step towards a police state’ by a special meeting of the Gen-
eral Executive Board of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU) held Feb. —
26-27. ‘‘The only thing missing is a plan whereby the government could dismiss union offic
ers and replace them. Otherwise it closely resembles Mussolini’s infamous corporate state,”

U.S. renews hounding
of Communist Party

The U.S, government last week
stepped up its harassing of the
U.S, Communist Party, which is
already due to face a second trial
in Washington on March 16 for

Faced with world-wide protests, the
Franco regime last Friday announced
it was dropping the charges under
which the military prosecutor was de-
manding the decth sentence on Justo
Lopez, above, 60-year old anti-fascis?
veteran. He is already serving a 23-
year sentence imposed last December.

failing to register under the
witch-hunting McCarran Act,

It obtained a decision from a
Federal -Grand Jury re-indicting
the Party for failing to register
as a “Communist action organiz-
ation” even though it was aware
that a person was available and
willing to register on its behalf,

Hitherto the U.S, Justice De-
partment has been unable to force
registration of the Party because
the courts held that the govern-
ment had the burden of proving
that a willing voiunteer, unafraid
of possible self-incrimination,
was available to register forthe
Party.

It now appears that the Justice
Department is claiming that it
has such a “volunteer” with whose
aid it hopes to obtain a reversal
of the U.S, Appeals Court ruling
that registration would violate
the Party’s constitutional rights
against self-incrimination cov-
ered by the 5th Amendment,

said the union statement.

The union executive scores
the “secret-meeting” method by
which the Committee gathered
its evidence and materials upon
which to base its undemocratic
recommendations, which “places
the rights and freedoms of
thousands of persons in jeop-
ardy.” The UFAWU demands the
release of alltranscripts of evid-
ence placed before the Committee
in order that the unions should
have an opportunity “to answer

those who would destroy our.

basic freedom,”

The UFAWU executive was
unanimous in its opposition to any
form of compulsory arbitration;
“Legislation which — prohibits
strikes, destroys free collective
bargaining. Compulsory arbi-
tration means that one, two or
three persons, appointed by the
government , would dictate the
rates of pay and living standards
of thousands of fishermen, It
could be the first step towards
compulsory arbitration for all
workers in all industries across

: Canada.”

While the Committee recom-
mendations clearly aim to outlaw
strikes, it proposes a “Hobson’s
Choice” supervised ballot “on
any terms of settlement proposed
by a government-appointed
mediator,” This, says the
UFAWU Executive Board “is un-
warranted interference in union
affairs.”

Nominate Caron in Coast-Capilano

Charles Caron has been nom-
inated as the Communist Party
candidate in the Federal riding
of Coast-Capilano. Caron, whois
a veteran trade unionist and holds
the post of organization secretary
for the B,C, Communist Party,
was his party’s candidate for the
riding in the last Federal elec-
tion,

Speaking to a public meetingia
North Vancouver’s Hendry Hall
Sunday night, Caron said the
central issue in the forthcoming
election is peace, “Canada will
only be able to solve its prob-
lems and build for the future if
thermonuclear war is prevented
and peace maintained,” he said,

Caron called on the Canadian
government to press for apeace-
ful settlement of the South East
Asia crisis and also urged that
Canada repudiate the new Atlan-
tic Nuclear Force plan which
would place nuclear arms in the
hands of West Germany. He said
the Pearson government had re-
neged on its pledge to re-nego-
tiate Canada’s nuclear role with
the aim of abandoning the placing
of nuclear weapons on Canadian
soil, “Instead,” said Caron, “the
Liberal government is speeding
up the placing of nuclear weap-
ons in Canada and at Comox,
B.C?

Referring to the recent re-
port of the Royal Commission
on Bilingualism and Bicultural-

sim, Caron said that the very ©

survival of Canada as a united

state is at stake unless a new
constitution is drawn up which
will guarantee equal rights for
Canada’s two nations.

“The French Canadian people
are no longer prepared to ac-~
cept their present status and
demand full equality and an end
to all forms of discrimination,
Canada will only survive if we
adopt an entirely new constitution
which will meet today’s condi-
tions and needs of Canada and
which will recognize full equality
for Canada’s two nations. The
Liberal government evades solu-
tion of this problem by reducing
it to one of repatriation of the
old constitution,” said Caron.

Drawing attention to the recent
report of the Canada Economic
Council, Caron said that this re-
port points up the need for a new

CHARLES CARON

economic policy for Canada which
will turn us away from being
mainly a producer of raw materi-
als and becoming a manufacturing
nation instead, Unless we do that
Canada will be left behind in the
economic revolution now taking
place,

Caron, who was a sifone op-
ponent of the Columbia giveaway
in the last election, warned that
the present MP, Jack Davis,
supported further giveaways of
Canada’s water resources
through his backing of the Par-
son’s Plan, “Canada’s rivers and
water resources should be util-
ized for Canada first,” said
Caron,

Caron is the first Communist
candidate nominated in B,C, for
the next federal election, The
Party is expected to name ad-
ditional candidates in the near
future,

Speaking at the meeting with
Caron Sunday night, Maurice
Rush, PT associate editor,
charged that the U.S, is continu-
ing the policy of brinkmanship in
South East Asia first putforward
by John Foster Dulles. He called
for reconvening of the Geneva
Conference to end the crisis in
Vietnam, A resolution was adopt- -
ed by the meeting urging this
action on Prime Minister Pear-
son,

Well-known trade unionist and
North Vancouver resident, Wil-
liam Stewart, was chairman of
the meeting, -

While the Committee gracious-
ly excluded UFAWU wage and
prices negotiations “from the
purview of the Combines Act,”
it offsets this gratutious “rec-
ommendation” by indicating that
the Act may still be used to
prevent “coercion or boycott”
in fish production,

This, says the UFAWU “would
mean prohibition of picket lines
or unfair lists or any sympathy
action by fishermen in the event
of a strike of their fellow union
members ashore or on packer
vessels,”

According to the UFAWU Ex-
ecutive the committee made no
positive recommendations for the
betterment of the industry as a
whole, Nothing was recommend-
ed towards a greater fishery
industry for B,C, on a year-
round basis; on extended ocean
fisheries basedon expanded mar-
kets for Canadian fish products,
on Hmiting the number of fisher-
men in relation to the volume
of fish harvested,

“The Union’s Executive Board

believes the time has come t0
remove the threat of the
Combines Act and provide all”
Canadian fishermen with legal
rights on a par with othe?
Canadian workers. These rights
must include the right to joi
a trade union, the right to conduct
collective bargaining,
right to strike,”

The UFAWU Executive Board |
have forwarded a circular lettel |
to all trade unions setting forth

the dangerous recommendations
of the Federal-Provinzial Com-
mittee,
danger implicit in these recom
mendations, not only to fishermel
put to all workers, “This attack,”

says the letter, “is not only
aimed at fishermen, Workers it

any primary industry can be

placed in the same strait-jacke
on the excuse of providing for full
use of the resource, In fact it
is only one step further to leg-
islate compulsory arbitration fo!
all unions,”

SIGNED

Mr. Pearson —

We do not want our children
to come to this end!

U.S. action could lead to world war!
Tell them we insist on negotiations

ee i ar ec er rr i ery

Clip and mail to Prime Minister Pearson, House of Commons,
Ottawa. (No stamp). Ad. published by B C. Peace Council

and the

and emphasizing the |

7

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March 5, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Pagé 2