tober Revolution”

+

=

The Communist and pro-Communist officers of the District
Council gained a measure of success which went to their heads. They
grew arrogant in dictating the Union’s policy. Invariably, absolute
power wielded by officials is dangerous, and in the case of the IWA led
to corruption in some instances. All the while, it was useful for the
Communist Party, then fighting for its existence, to control an
organization which provided salaries for its officials. From time to
time, it was found convenient to siphon funds from the IWA to Party
purposes, or purposes which were coincident with those of the Party.

The break first developed in the International Conventions. Al
Hartung and Jim Fadling, International officers, were alert to the
danger. Unhappy about developments in British Columbia, the In-
ternational Executive Board commenced its own broadcast and paper
in Vancouver to reach the membership. Organizers, nominated by the
B.C. District Council, were promptly fired when they engaged ‘in
unconstitutional activities. Matters came to a head with the enact-
ment of the Taft-Hartley Act in the United States, and union officers
were required to take non-Communist affidavits.

The International Union firmly opposed the Taft-Hartley
requirements. Finally, the Union in the U.S. was given the ugly choice
of either signing the affidavits or surrendering certifications to the
Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union under rulings of the National
Labour Relations Board. An International Convention ordered that
the affidavits be signed.

The B.C. District Council officers violently opposed this decision,
and openly flouted the convention action. International President Jim
Fadling suspended the officers who refused to sign in accordance with
the convention decision, including one from British Columbia.

This set the stage for bitter debates in the 1948 District Con-
vention, held in March. For the first time the ‘white blocs,”’ which had
been organized in a number of Locals, openly declared their op-
position to Communist control. Leading speakers for the rebels were
Fred Fieber, and the late George Mitchell who were supported by a
solid delegation from Local 1-357. E. Dalskog, whoin some mysterious
manner had become Acting District President, presided, with Harold
Pritchett alternating.

International President Jim Fadling presented the position of the

_ International Union, but Karley Larsen, District 2, gained sustained

>

>

applause in his attack on Fadling. Harvey Murphy of the Mine, Mill and
Smelter Workers Union lectured the convention at length in a
barefaced intrusion into IWA affairs to justify Communist policy.
Harold Winch, CCF Leader of the Opposition in the Legislature, was
heard briefly. Nigel Morgan, Leader of the Labour-Progressive Party,
former District Secretary, Editor of the B.C. Lumber Worker, and

International Board Member, was heard at length on the policy of the
* LPP.

-

*

One of the central issues was a resolution supporting District 2 in
demanding the initiation of a referendum recall of International
President Fadling for his suspension of International Trustee Jack
Greenall, who hailed from British Columbia. A roll call vote was

, demanded with the result that 17,377 were recorded as in favor of the

resolution, and 4,370 against. This infuriated the ‘“‘white bloc’

_ members who claimed that the convention had been packed with pro-

2

communist delegates, not properly instructed by their own Locals on
the issue.

Communist opposition to the Marshall Plan, then in operation,
provoked another bitter debate. ‘“‘White bloc’’ speakers got short
shrift from the Chair, and were often shouted down.

Between March and October, matters came to a head, when
complaints about the District Council’s finances required an in-
vestigation by the International Union. This investigation exposed

_ Juggling of the Union's funds, and, in some instances, definite misap-

propriation. The auditors reported that over $100,000 had not been

. accounted for by supporting vouchers. Large loans had been made to

| ne Bas

District Officers and members of their families.

August and September were months of intense activity on the
part of the Communist leaders to prepare for the October revolution.
On October 2nd, a meeting of selected shop stewards developed
plans to railroad a secession resolution through the District Council

* On October 3rd. WIUC buttons were in readiness. The Council’s

decision to disaffiliate was contained in the script of a broadcast

' delivered by Pritchett to Station CJOR at 2 p.m., hours before the

motion was carried by the Council’s delegates.

Upon the adoption of the resolution of disaffiliation, delegates
from Local 1-357 walked out in a body. It was evident that the
Council's meeting had been “packed” by pro-Communist delegates.

The officers of the International Union and the Canadian

Congress of Labour were prepared for some overt move by the

Communists.
On the following day, Jim Fadling, International President, and
Stewart Alsbury, President of Local 1-357, applied for a court order to

freeze the funds and assets of the IWA until the matter could be
settled in the courts. : :

Fadling declared, “IWA charters in British Columbia will remain
in effect. Likewise the present contracts in the B.C. wood industry are
between the IWA and the employers, and the full resources of the
International Union will be used to protect and preserve all the rights
and privileges of B.C. woodworkers as members of the IWA, under
their Local Union charters and industry contracts which remain in
effect.”

Al Hartung, International 1st Vice-President, also entered the
battle for IWA constitutional rights and stated, ‘We are really not
surprised at this desperate new move. The tactics of the Communist
Party, whose game Pritchett has been playing for years, is to rule or
ruin.”

Provisional officers were immediately installed. They were: J. S.
Alsbury, District President; District 1st Vice-President, Lloyd
Whalen; District 2nd Vice-President, Jack Squires: District 3rd Vice-
President, Gordon McEntee; Financial Secretary, Mike Sekora;
Trustees, W. S. Lynch, Neil Shaw and Joe Morris.

The provisional officers pledged themselves to:

1. Calla convention at the earliest date to enable delegates from
all B.C. Locals to elect their district officers and determine district
policy.

2. Assist all B.C. Locals to transact the business of our Union
and overcome the attempt to split our Union.

3. Build up the maximum bargaining strength of our Union and
improve wages, hours of work, and working conditions.

4. Install strict accounting of district finances and restore full
democratic control by the rank and file membership of district affairs.

They kept their pledge.

The weeks that followered were hectic ones in IWA circles. The
membership in one Local after another rallied to the flag of the IWA,
and rejected all appeals from the leaders of the new WIUC. Disloyal
officers in the Locals were ousted. The International Union was
sustained everywhere, despite the appearance of a few WIUC buttons
on the job.

The IWA became involved in a complicated series of court actions
to recover the assets of the District Council and the Locals. The WIUC
officers barricaded themselves within their offices in an attempt to
retain office equipment and funds. More than once the courts ordered
the Sheriff to confiscate property in their hands. The Loggers’ Navy,
property of Local 1-71, was discovered hidden in a remote bay, only
after an extensive search in B.C. coast waters. Until the Union could
recover control of the B.C. Lumber Worker, a special publication was
issued weekly called ‘‘The Voice of the IWA.”

When the smoke cleared a few months later, the IWA, through a
decision of the courts, had recovered some of the assets of the IWA. It
was impossible to secure a proper accounting of the funds, formerly
held by the Union. Office equipment disappeared. One of the Union’s
most valuable assets, its records, were never found. Its most precious
asset, the loyalty of the membership, was intact.

This record should include recognition of the all-out assistance
rendered by the officers of the Canadian Congress of Labour to the
International Officers and the Local Unions. A staff of IWA and CCL
organizers travelled far and wide to inform woodworkers of the threat
to their rights. This list includes many who have since been elected to
office in the IWA.

For a brief period, the WIUC fomented trouble in the logging
camps, until IWA organization was demonstrated as in command of
the situation. WIUC units lingered precariously in the East Kootenays
for a number of years, and had nuisance value only when negotiations
were under way.

At the next International Convention, the traitors were named
and debarred from membership in the IWA.

At the 1949 District Convention of the IWA, Stewart Alsbury was
elected as District President, giving proof that membership loyalty to
the IWA was steadfast.

As predicted by Fadling and Hartung, the upheaval re-vitalized
the IWA. Membership control of the Union's affairs was upheld and
more firmly entrenched. The lesson has not been forgotten, and
membership control is today a rock-bound principle of IWA ad-
ministration.

In 1949, the IWA faced a formidable problem. The whole
organization was re-built from the ground up with the handicap of lost
finances and records.

The housecleaning that followed the October revolution
established sound administration and gave a marked impetus to the
Union's growth in membership and strength to fight for better wages
and working conditions. In 1949, the Union entered upon a new era in
which it has consistently displayed a virile trade union democracy.

The Western Canadian Lumber Worker — Special Edition/11