4 WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Guest Editorials SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE ... There is an unintentional irony in the fact that some politicians are protesting that sauce of the Old Party geese should not be sauce for the New Party gander. The “sauce”, in this case, is made of campaign fund contributions. The Conservative, Liberal and Social Credit parties raise much of their funds from big business contributions. Apparently it is wrong, however, for the New Party to seek a little sauce, by financing itself through contributions from trade unions — “the political check-off”, as some call it, In British Columbia, the Social Credit government has enacted a law forbidding any B.C. union to donate from its funds to any political party. No other province has yet followed suit. But among the voices raised against the New Party plan to finance itself by union funds is that of Ontario’s Attorney-General Roberts, who sees in it “an element of extortion.” What is the contentious financing proposal which may be adopted when CCF and trade union delegates meet July 31 in Ottawa .to form the New Party? The one most likely to be adopted is to have each union local, where a majority vote favours affiliation with the New Party, contribute five cents per member per month out of union dues. If individual members do not wish to support the New Party, they may “contract-out” — by requesting that they be taken off the list of those making a political contribution. “The “contracting-out” system will undoubtedly help the New Party cash in on the political apathy of some union members who, though indifferent or hostile to it, will be too lazy or timid to bother being de-listed. If the New Party would adopt a “contracting-in” system — under which a deduction would be made only from the dues of those members requesting it — the party would be above criticism. Nevertheless, there is a dash of unmitigated gall in the protests of spokesmen for the Old Parties against the New Party scheme. For even the “contracting-out” system is more democratic, more open to public surveillance, and less liable to abuse, than the methods used to finance the Liberals, Conservatives and Socreds. They rely mainly on under-the-table gifts from corporations. It would be naive to think these donors don’t hope for rewards in the form of favourable legislation, or other considerations. Compared with the rights of union members to decide whether their money will be used for political purposes, what say have the shareholders of these corporations? They are not consulted, and seldom know their money is being used for this purpose. When the Liberals, Conservatives and Socreds are willing to finance themselves democratically through membership fees, and to disclose the sources of all funds, only then will they have the right to criticize New Party financing without appearing as hypocrites. Cliff MacKay “An estimated 1,800,000 additional workers will be displaced by machines during the next year.”’—U.S. Secretary of Labour Arthur J. Goldberg, before A House of Representatives subcommittee studying automation. REPRINTED FROM THE STAR WEEKLY CROFTON, B.C.—Twenty years ago a pulp mill as big as this one would have employed three to five times as many men. One ton of production here requires about six-tenths of a man. Formerly there were two to three men on a payroll to achieve the same output Now the engineers install servo-mechanisms, transistors, electronic cir- cuits and control panels. The personnel department takes the “Help Wanted” sign out of the window. But who would work for the wages paid 20 years ago? And why should they, when machines can do the job quicker and better? And cheaper? This isn’t a factory run by bosses and labourers. It is a $47 million labora- tory operated by specialists and technicians who convert forest waste into gleaming white 500-pound bales of fibre sheets. As you might expect, the manager is a chemical engineer, UBC ’35. Don- ald H. Baker joined B.C. Forest Products Ltd. in 1955 when the mill was being designed. His is the responsibility to maintain volume and quality—and to improve both if possible. Both have been achieved since the mill opened in January, 1958. With one major improvement—an $850,000 additional digester—a project with an initial rated capacity of 425 tons daily has been raised to 550 tons. This while a peak crew and staff of 425 persons has been cut back to 390. (Courtesy The Vancouver Sun) Publication date of the next issue of the WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER is May 4th. Deadline for ad copy is April 21st, and for ss ee = Census Starts In June A census of Canada has been taken every ten years since Con- federation. The first was in 1871. The tenth, on June 1, 1961, will be the largest; it will count a population which is expected to be almost one-third greater than when the last decennial census was taken in 1951. The 1961 Census will measure population, housing, agriculture and merchandising characteristics of Canada. Its uses are so varied that there is scarcely a phase of economic and social activity that cannot be related to it. It is of great value to all levels of government, business, industry, labour, as well as those respons- ible for the administration of agencies of social welfare, jus- tice and education. The many facts which it is only possible to obtain through a census will be used in reaching decisions that Se a a a a a These items were gleaned from the files of the B.C. Lumber Workers’ May ist issue, 1951. First prosecution in Canada for an illegal lock-out has been launched by Local 1-118, IWA, Victoria, with the consent of the Labour Relations Board, against Builders Sash & Door Ltd., of that Oe Righty | IWA setegare attend- ing the IWA B.C. District Coun- cil April 21-22, adopted a resolu- tion which pledged the Union to publish the names of those Mem- bers of the Legislature who had opposed consideration of the 206,- 000 signature petition, and to “do all in our power to defeat these MLA’s at the next general elec- tion.” * * Settlement of rates for shingle groovers has now been achieved. Effective April 23rd, groover feeders and packers rate will be 17 cents per sidewall square, 14 by 14 pack. Other packs of 18” shingles to be adjusted -on the basis of 17 cents per sidewall -square with 1 extra cent for 16 by 17, 5X, sidewall pack. All rates are based on output. * * IWA International President, James Fadling stated at a meet- ing in Local 1-80, IWA, Duncan, “that workers cannot depend on action alone to achieve news copy April 28th. Serr Ak seed Be THE WESTERN CANADIAN wy? BLM Se bn teh OL PUBLISHED TWICE MONTHLY ON THE FIRST SAND ep THURSDAYS of America . (APL-CIO-CLC) Regional Council No. 1 REGIONAL OFFICERS: Presiden et LS ESE FOR Ist aces President a; Ate fl Gece Secretary-Treasurer International Board Deleterks, 6 oa oe ats Joe Madden t nities ee Jack Holst Address all communications to FRED FIEBER, Secretary-Treasurer 2859 Commercial Drive, en B.C, ‘< 4-5261 - Subscription Rat “$2.00 i annum * Advertising TL sombeeni way i‘ Spencer Authorized as. Second Class Mail, Post Office Dept., Ottawa 27,500 COPIES PRINTED IN THIS ISSUE the best results for themselves. They must have properly planned political action to prevent legisla- “tion being enacted which would take away from them all they have fought to gain on the eco- nomic front.” * A Quebec superior court ruled that a sailor whose wages are not paid up has a legal claim on his employer’s ship. The decision indicated that a gypped sailor or his union could take over any ship that proved incapable of. paying off its men * * General Motors Corporation re- ported 1950 net earnings of $834,- 044,039, on a business volume of $7,531,086,846, the greatest net profits and sales ever recorded by a private concern, will make Canada an even better place in which to live. While everyone is required by law to answer the questions put to him by the census taker, the success of the census does not rest on this legal requirement. It de- pends rather on a general appreci- ation of the purposes of the cen- sus, and the co-operation of everyone in answering census questions fully and accurately. and what is your exact job title?” Census takers, making the rounds of 4,500,000 Canadian households beginning June 1, will find that many people do not know the precise answer to this question. In other cases, where the employee knows the answer, it is not known to the wife or landlady at his residence, where the census taker will call. “Machine operator”, for ex- ample, would be to vague an answer. The correct response would be “billing-machine opera- tor, lathe operator, bull-dozer op- erator’, or “sewing-machine op- erator”. Similarly, “clerk” should be expanded to “accounting clerk, sales clerk, stock clerk, receiving clerk, shipping clerk”. “Engineer” would be unsatis- factory, but “civil engineer, stat- tionary engineer, Diesel engineer, sales engineer” would be ac- cepted. “Manager” is also a wrong reply. The right answer could be “credit manager, employment manager, sales manager”, or “of- fice manager”. But these are only a few ex- amples. Make certain that‘ you know your exact job title, and that you leave the information couver Chamber of Commerce. Dear Sirs 1 am instructed by the member- ship to advise you of the following: The membership of this Local Union is seriousty concerned with — the consistent selling of Canada’s — lands, its natural resources and indus- tries to foreign speculators, to the extent that today, the majority ownership of our natural resources and industry is in the hands of foreign corporations. If the present trend continues, within half a century, the whole economy of Canada will be under the control of foreign interests, This membership is mindful of the fact that thousands upon thousands of Canadian workers died in two world wars in defence of our country, and to safeguard the homeland for future generations. The membership of this Cabinet- makers .Local therefore goes on pub- lic record as condemning the spine- less businessmen who are selling Ca- nadian land, natural resources and industry to foreign speculators for a handful of Judas gold, and brand them as betrayers of Canada’s war dead, and destroyers of Canadian ownership of the heritage of future generations of Canadians. We call upon Chambers of Com- merce, Boards of Trade and Manu- facturers Associations to cease and desist supporting this trend of selling anada down the river, and instead, to dedicate themselves to a dynamic policy of building a greater Canada, by Canadians and for Canadians. Trusting you will give the fore- going your serious consideration. I remain, Victor W. Forster, Secretary-Treasurer. with the person at your residence who will be interviewed by the census taker. 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