,

This too
was Stratford

the xan ars ago this month,
to Ming © Stratford brought
aq A another picture: guns
ling een Carriers,’ patrol-
4 strike Streets to break up
; a ioecinst starvation
uy. OW as 13 cents an

he
of, SOUuntry was in the grip
Vhich (Pession the like of
erie aadians had never
Move a efore. The labor
ent iia

“Ing
: os : tpt Conservative
Nis. ennett and its
ie the ata “slave camps”
ther Ployed. The job-
“selves were organ-
Tk anq 22M on strike for
Where Wages.
: qorkers were em-
ae cuts Were faced with
reds of th that brought iun-
oe age °Usands to the point
aN e organized work-
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ang Ployers were
me Oy, tats g0vernments

tr Ris
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8 sent

» the furniture
kerg?

ao call to the
Y League, pled-
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me aies Workers, de-
in th Vance their con-
Pacing Midst of depres-
tog, € pl a united front
ty °yers, 700 workers
; 1933 1on on Septem-

Or

y, their
furniture
very modest, In

By MARK FRANK

those days, they were enough
to raise goose-pimples on the
flesh of the politicians and in-
dustrialists, who immediately

replied with “iron heel”
policies.
What did the _ furniture -

workers want? A decent liv-
ing wage, their leaders said.
Payment of skilled labor at 65
cents an hour; semi-skilled 50
cents and- unskilled 45 cents;
strict enforcement of the mini-
mum wage act for girls; and
the 44-hour week with time
and a half for overtime.

But a leading boss at. the
time, F. M. Gifford,-arrogantly
replied:

“T cannot be blind to the
fact that the 50-hour week Js
the firmly established rule in
the furniture industry.”

A worker, H. Smith, said:
“I have been working here
now for three years and
haven't during that time aver-
aged more than $5 a week. I
have sometimes earned as low
as $3 working full time.

A married man with 10
children, F. Fowler, told the
press: “I have had eight years
experience as a . furniture
worker, yet I have been re-
cently working for 19 cents
an hour. The last pay I drew
was for 114 hours work. It
amounted to $19.57.” 2

The workers going on strike
against a wage cut produced
a veritable panic in Queen's
Park, seat of the Tory provin-
cial government of George S:
Henry. :

Hon. W. H. Price, then attor-
ney-general, the man who had
earlier jailed Tim Buck, lead-
er of the Communist party,
under Section 98 of the Crim-
inal Code, met with his legal
assistant, Joseph Sedgwick.

A secret parley with the

furniture owners took place,
and together they contrived to
get the city’s mayor to declare
an emergency and seek aid
from Queen’s Park.

The aid came. Blue-uniform-
ed provincial police, the Royal
Canadian Regiment in full war
regalia — rifles, tear gas, pis-
tols and the latest Carden-
Boyd “baby-tanks.” They
were quickly dubbed “wicked
wasps of war,” mounting evil-
looking Lewis machine-guns.

Barbed wire entanglements
went up before the armcries
and armed carriers ratiled
through the streets. Attorney-
General Price issued instruc-
tions to the troops:

“Fire directly into the
crowd.”

Strikers brandished sticks
and stones. There was hand-
to-hand fighting before the
Swift Canadian packing plant,
which had also come out on
strike.

On September 28 a great
parade of 2,500 workers took
place.) Ranged against them
and ready to move were close
to 150 militiamen and hundreds
of others — vigilantes and
police squads. The soldiers
waited impatiently for the
reading of the Riot Act. They
had been trained for this in
their armories.

But the discipline of the
workers and the community
was something to behold. They
defeated every. provocation
and prevented a bloody mas-
sacre.

As they marched their signs
read dramatically:

“We want food in Stratford,
not guns.”

Ald. W. M. Osborn and Ald.
O. J. Kerr indicted the mayor
for calling in the troops. Reg
Ranton, a strike leader, de-
clared:

“There can be no negotia-
tions between strikers and em-
ployers until every man wear-
ing a soldier’s uniform is with-
drawn from the city.” ;

“Fight or Starve !” were the
words on the poster carried
by a child. The women who
paraded _held ‘signs saying:
“The soldiers don’t go hungry
—why should we ?” -

*

At Stratford, Fred Collins,
Workers Unity League strike
leader was everywhere, ready
to jump into the breach, picket,
lead and stand fast in the face
of bitter hostility of govern-
ment, police and military. The
press of the day described him
as “dark-haired, energetic and
Herve ;

Facing unexampled unity
and growing support of labor
across the country, the bosses
began to relent: Some of them
came through with offers of
a wage increase, but refused
to recognize the union. Col-
lins was asked:

“What will be your reply to
the ultimatum of the furniture
owners ?”

He answered at once.

“The only reply will be the
picketline.”

There would be no dictation
of terms by the owners and
there would be recognition of
the union, he declared.

The government and the
bosses started a red-scare.
They unearthed a letter from
Trades and Labor Congress
president Tom Moore describ-
ing the Workers’ Unity League
as “directed from Moscow.”
But the workers rejected this
tactic. Ald. Kerr declared:

“We won’t be bamboozled
by such red bogey talk.”

Moore later made a public
declaration blasting the efforts
to use his opposition to the
WUL based on an old letter
Sent out before the strike,
against the Stratford workers.
He threw his support to the
strike and demanded recail
of the troops.

“Stratford strikers are tak-
ing the step they consider best
to have their grievances
righted,” he said. “And we
are not going to hinder them
in any way whatever.”

The strikers triumphed. In-
creases, insead of wage cuts
ranging from 10 to 25 percent
were won and recognition of
the union firmly established
It had been an historic seven-
week strike — an inspiring
example of how to battle an
employer offensive in the
midst of depression.

In the wake of the strike
hundreds of other unorganized
furniture workers flocked to
the banner of the Workers’
Unity League.

Ald. Kerr, who had sup-
ported the strike throughout

“was elected mayor of the city.

Among new aldermen elected
were two railroaders and two
furniture workers. The strike
played no small part in help-
ing turn the Tories out of
office. in the 1934 Ontario
elections.
- The economie and _ political
lessons of Stratford are an un-
forgettable part of the Can-
adian labor tradition, a con-
stant reminder, in the strug-
gles of today, of how labor’s
gains have been won out of its
own united strength.

MONG the leaders of

the Stratford strike were
men like Fred Collins, or-
ganizer of the Workers’
Unity League, and a busi-
ness agent of the Toronto
Chesterfield and Furniture
Workers Industrial Union.

First World War veteran
and former regimental ser-
geant-major in artillery,
Collins stood over six feet
in his socks, a man whose
dynamic personality inspir-
ed all those around him,

“Fred was a great man
for action,’ was how a fel-
low-unionist described him.

When he died in Vancou-
ver four years ago, on Sep-
tember 21, 1952, at the age
of 59, he was learning the
welding trade, while during
the day he worked in a
shop. :

The man who led the strike

Collins will long be re-
membered, not only as a

FRED COLLINS

Stratford strike leader, but
as-a great organizer of the
jobless and their famous
country-wide trek to Otta-
wa in the Hungry Thirties.
Later he did organizational
work among fur and leather
workers.

Those who remember him
personally tell of his im-
mense stock of courage, his
warm Scottish good humor,
his passionate faith in the
working class. He worked
as a tramway worker, pol-
iceman and bus - driver
through his earlier years
after the war. *

His language was rough-
hewn and earthy, but be-
neath the often-times gruff
exterior was the most sen-
sitive of spirits, a man who
loved to sing and have a
roaring good time with his
friends.

OCTOBER 5, 1956 —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE il

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