scl encineielat shall fal. MaL lel LLL IU el Ss | UNIONS PLEDGE FIGHT AGAINST UNJUST LAWS Big business plot against labor hit By TOM McEWEN _ The special convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor (BCFL) -in Vancouver last Sunday bore the stamp of History. It was as if the curtain of Time had been rolled back 132-years ago fo the six Tolpuddle ‘‘Men of Dorset'’, who had banded themselves together in a union to serve the interests of workingmen, for which ‘‘crime’' Labor Special i | ily. ) om a ‘oe cr , - Leeks EDA FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 1966 VOL. 27, NO. 25 ye 10¢ This issue devoted to labor’s fight for a better life. Ray Haynes, new secretary of the B.C. Fede union leaders outside the Court House last Friday, ration of Labor, is shown above speaking to some 100 who gathered to express solidarity with impris- oned Longshore leaders. They all joined in singing “Solidarity Forever."’ Unite for higher wages today- Win a stronger voice for labor! A MESSAGE TO B.C.’S WORKING PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF B.C. Thousands of B.C, workers have “hit the bricks” in a major Struggle to wrest from their local and American bosses a Share of their increased produc- tivity and security of employ- ment, This is no ordinary struggle. The labor movement is pitted against a ruthless, highly or- _ 8anized combination of big busi- ness, a deceptive government Posing as its friend, various Courts of law whose partiality for the employers is daily becoming - Scandalous, a press faithfully Serving the employers, and ele- Ments within labor’s own ranks Prepared to do the work of the absentee owners in the U.S.A. The Federal Minister of Fi- Nance, Mitchell Sharp, has re- cently stated; ‘‘The first thing we have to do and keep doing is maintain a high level of em- ployment, with rising personal income.” HIGHER WAGES, JOB SECURITY SERVE ALL— BUT MONOPOLIES For the vast majority of Ca- nadians, rising personal income means wage increases, The Fed- eral government has itself *spon- sored” eighty cent two-year set- tlements in the case of Montreal longshoremen and St, Lawrence Seaway workers. In B.C, per capita provincial product has increased 15% in the past two years, justification enough for very large wage in- creases. The profits of the U.S, monopolies who dominate the B.C, economy are so swollen that President Johnson’s eco- nomic adviser has publically said. they are harming the economy, Prices. are skyrocketing! In the past six months. they have increased three times faster than anytime since the early 1950’s, - If the boom is to be prolonged it can only be by putting into the hands of the working people suffi- cient purchasing power to keep pace with the Niagara of goods ‘now being produced, they were sentenced to 7-years penal servitude. In the BCFL special conven- tion the drama was staged in the: setting and condition of 1966, but the basic question at issue went back to 1834 in Tolpuddle; the right of working men and women to organize and bargain collect- ively; the right to strike and picket to give security to their jobs and livelihood; the right to protest unjust laws and to resist and disobey court injunction de- crees based upon these unjust laws--aimed at smashing and destroying trade unionism in B,C, Ten B.C, Longshoremen are now in prison for refusing to obey, the terms of a court injunction, aimed at compelling them to work on a statutory holiday declared so by Federal legislation, (See Page 8. . .Smith Statement), In his opening remarks BCFL President A. Staley declared: “We owe a great tribute to the courage of these brothers who have gone to prison for a great principle--the freedom of choice, In this type of skulduggery by government, employers and the courts, we must stand up like the longshoremen, The imposi- tion of these unjust laws upon labor must be stopped,” President Staley and other con- vention delegates pointed out that during the coming days probably _ 20 or more workers who partici- pated in the Lenkurt Electric A sinister conspiracy of big business organized into the Com- mercial & Industrial Research Foundation (C.I.R.F.), aided by the provincial government, the law courts, the monopoly press, and some traitorous elements in labor’s ranks are attempting to impose a “hard line” onthe labor movement, UNITE TO DEFEAT MONOPOLY’S PLOT! The aim of the conspiracy is to prevent the winning of badly need- ed wage increases andtodenythe labor movement a voice over the running of industry. C.I.R.F. is headed by Je E. strike anc picket demonstration, are also faced with “contempt” and other charges arising out of “injunction violation,’’? also face sentences, Among these is C,P,; “Paddy” Neale, Secretary of the Vancouver and District Labor Council, Cliff Scotton, Director of Fed- erations and Labor Councils, CLC and Paul Phillips, Research Director, BCFL both reported of the steady rise and use of ex- parte injunctions in Canada, and especially in B.C, over a ten- year period and covering only four regional areasin B,C, These not only showa steady and alarm- ‘ing rise in these court edicts en- abling employers to smash effec- tive trade union organization, but as one delegate put it, “ex-parte injunctions have now become an integral part of employer bar-’ gaining procedure,” In the combined attempts of Big Business and government, by the “use and abuse” of the courts to further their attacks upon labor, the precedent- setting decision to appeal to the Throne was unanimously adopted by the delegate body, (See text of appeal on page 3). In the reports of unions now in negotiations to the BCFL con- vention: IWA, Carpenters, Pulp and Paper, Construction, Whole- See B.C. LABOR, Pg. 3 Richardson, head of B,C, Tele- phone, controlled by A,T. & T., one of the world’s largest monop= olies. B.C, Telephone is the par- ent firm in turn of Lenkurt Elec- tric. Also on the board of directors of C.I.R.F. is J. V. Clyne, head of McMillan & Bloedel, the larg- est lumber monopoly in the prov- ince with $82 million profits in the past two years, G, B, McLean, head of Stand- ard Oil, notorious U.S, Rocker- feller international cartel, and J. H. Salter, head of COMINCO, main subsidiary of the “public- be-damned” C,P,R, are also on . the board of directors, Not to be overlooked is Ed Benson, gen- eral manager of Pacific Press See CP MESSAGE, Pg. 2 SST