\ itceecumee oe aoa

Paul Bunyan program
draws record crowd

PORT ALBERNI, B.C.—The annual Paul Bunyan Day
program, sponsored by the Joint Labor Council of AFL and
CIO «unions, which drew a record crowd of some 5,000
people here on Labor Day, has established Port Alberni
as the sports center of Vancouver Island.

Farmers

The smaller farmers in par-
ticular, who can least afford
to pay the increased school
levies, are beginning to recog-
nize that Bill 39 and the
school tax are similar in de-
sign and equally part of the
government’s CMA-inspired
policies—Bill 39 to hamstring
labor in its fight for higher
living standards and the school
tax to place the heaviest tax-
ation load on the land rather
than industrial profits.

Dr. Weir’s mission to Kam-
loops, to hear the grievances
of Interior farmers’ and cattle-
men’s representatives and a
special delegation from Van-
couver Island, was indicative
of the government’s growing
concern. But Dr. Weir did
not accomplish his purpose of
placating the aroused farmers.
Despite the promises he gave,
he returned with the ultima-
tum and a resolution reiterat-
ing the demand for a special
session of the legislature.

Coalition members are wor-
ried, The Coalition depends
on the rural seats to maintain
its majority in the House. Its
hold on the Greater Vancou-
ver seats, Center, Burrard and
North, it regained in 1945 has
been rendered still more pre-
carious by the opposition to
Bill 39. It is none too secure
in several other industrial con-
stituencies. And now the poli-
tical ferment in its rural
stronghold presents a direct
threat.

The government’s immedi-
ate concern is the demand for
a special session of the legis-
lature coming from both labor
and farmers, Government
members know the pressure
they will be under if labor and
farmers can get together to
present that demand. What-
ever counter-pressure the Ca-
nadian Manufacturers Associa-
tion exerted, the government
could not evade the issues and
expect to survive,

(See also story on page 6)

Featured event was the world’s
championship power saw bucking
contest for the Pacific Tribune
trophy, won by George Schick
and Joe Bjorkman from Bloedel’s
Franklin River camp.

Using a Burnett machine,
Schick and Bjorkman led 37
entries in the contest by mak-
ing the required four cuts, two
of 32% inches and two of 31%
inches, in 2 minutes, 32 3/5
seconds.

The runners-up, George Voight
and Eric Sundberg of Ladysmith,
made the cuts in 2 minutes,
44 4/5 seconds.

Presentation of the Pacific Tri-
bune trophy and a first prize of
$300 was made by Nigel Morgan.
The trophy will remain in the
office of IWA Local 1-85 at Port
Alberni to be competed for next
year, but each winner received
a small replica of the trophy
for himself.

Voight and Sundberg, as run-
ners-up, received a second prize
of $200.

Appeal will go
to Supreme Court

Nanaimo Laundry and Dry
Cleaners Union, Local No. 1,
whose walkout in protest against
the dismissal of two workers gave
Bill 39 its initial test, will carry
its case to the Supreme Court
of Canada, R. J. McMaster, union
counsel, announced here this week.

The union will appeal the rul-
ing recently handed down by the
British Columbia Court of Appeal
that a trade union constitutes a
legal entity under the new Indus-
trial Conciliation and Arbitration
Act (Bill 39) and therefore may
be prosecuted and sued.

The appeal, which cannot be
heard until the New Year, will be
based on the contention that a
trade union is not a legal entity.

Fifteen millions
now in US unions

WASHINGTON—From a depres-
sion low of three million mem-
bers-in 1933, the U.S. labor move-
ment has swelled its numbers
five-fold to a total of approxi-
mately 15 million today, 50 percent
of them affiliated with the AFL.

Dues payments to the AFL are
in excess of seven and one-half
million members, while the young-
er CIO reports about six million,
with 1,750,000 others in unaffili-
ated organizations.

Despite the heavy growth in!

membership, organized labor still
represents only slightly more than
one third of all non-agricultural
workers excluding the self em-

ployed, domestic servants and un-|

paid family workers.

For a Good .
Suit or Overcoat

come to the
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Steel

was seeking an interview with
the provincial cabinet to dis-
cuss Bill 39 and was inviting the
participation of officials of Van-
couver Trades and Labor Council
(AFL), which voted this week to
demand a special session of the
legislature to amend Bill 39. Pat
Conroy, secretary, has also been
invited to join the delegation.
Pritchett reported that he had
been instructed by his executive
to write to the CCF and LPP pro-
vincial organizations seeking their
support of the B.C. Federation of
Labor’s campaign against Bill 39.

Meanwhile, Premier John Hart,

‘las acting minister of labor, this

week laid the basis for the largest
mass prosecution of workers in
the turbulent labor history of the
province by instructing Oscar C.
Orr, Vancouver city prosecutor,

and Michael. H. McGeough, pro-
vincial labor department official,
to proceed with charges against
114 United Steelworkers’ members.

Orr issued summonses for 31
strikers at the four Vancouver
plants involved in the strike, and
McGeough laid charges in Bur-
naby against 85 strikers at the
Dominion Bridge plant. The
charges state that the workers
participated in an illegal walkout
before conciliation proceedings as
laid down in Bill 39 had been
followed.

The two officials of the United
Stelworkers, Pen Baskin, inter-
national representative, and Ewart
R. Orr, president of Local 3546,
are charged with unlawfully auth-
orizing the strike. ‘

A total of 10 charges will be
laid against the two locals in-
volved in the strike, 3546 and 2655,
Premier Hart stated this week.

The charges will be heard in
Vancouver and Burnaby police
courts this coming Monday, ana
E. 8B. Jolliffe, CCF provincial
leader in Ontario, is flying to Van-
couver this weekend to conduct
the defense for the union.

A further challenge to the
Hart government’s roundly de-
nounced legislation appeared pos-
sible this week as Harold Prit-
chett stated that more thar 1,000
furniture workers, members. of
the International Woodworkers,
would strike next Wednesday,
September 10, unless their con-
tract demands were met.

Pritchett made his announce-
ment Tuesday this week follow-
ing a meeting of the IWA dis-
trict policy committee and job
stewards in furniture plants.

The union is demanding a 12%
cents an hour wage increase, rais-
ing of the minimum wage for
women workers to 69% cents an
hour, with the contract wage in-
crease to be added, and retroac-
tive application of the increases
to June 20.

|

GReAfisld

“Do stop fretting dear, I’m sure Mr. Hart and Mr. a d
have our interests at heart. Didn’t they give us Bill 39 .- -
a new school tax levy, to lighten OUR burden?”

mb

_ ee

gain in good faith in recent In-
terior woodworking negotiations.

The demand arises out of a
charge made by IWA. President
Harold Pritchett on August 12,
that Ruddock, after signing an in-
terim agreement with IWA dis-
trict representatives covering all
Interior operations, proceeded to
Cranbrook and there concluded a
separate agreement with Local
1-405 excluding the local sash and
door plant and the box factory
from the 12% cents an hour wage
increase agreed upon. :

Pritchett pointed out at that
time that exclusion of the box
plant from the agreement per-
mitted operators in the Kelowna
area, where box plants consti-
tute 90 percent of all woodwork-
ing operations, to pursue a divis-
ive policy in an effort to estab-
lish a lower wage increase.

This week, following up _ his
charge that Ruddock had violated
his own interim agreement, Prit-
chett called upon Premier Hart
to prosecute the CMA representa-
tive for his refusal to sign the

FIRST

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Ul Z/ARTKINO IS ‘FIRST
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Uncut, official films
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IWA asks Premier Hart
fo prosecute Ruddock

Premier John Hart, as acting. minister of labor, this weg
was called upon by the International Woodworkers oe the
erica to prosecute John H. Ruddock, representative ©
Canadian Manufacturers Association, for his failure t®

pat

oops
contract in the Kelowna-Kaml

area. nue
Pritchett explained that tena”
dock was opposed to the In fof
tional Woodworkers’ demant je
a 12% cent increase appl
to all woodworking operat on a
was prepared to concede "plant
10 cent increase for ee
workers. The IWA, he 8# and
prepared to sign the contrat to
refer the remaining 2% °° agock
private arbitration, but Ru

had rejected this proposal.
en eee

Union wins contract :

0
negotiations draw? tps:

After on
four meyrer?

over a period of

Pierre Paris, shoe manufet ast
here, signed an agree’, ther

weekend with the Shoe, *(qj0-
and Tannery Workers Union nes
CCL), E. E. Leary, unloP = 5
agent, announced this we® ploy’

The agreement gives ore and
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1947