issues af BCFL convention

te ‘Bill 43’—win unity at polls

By JOHN HUNTER -

When the 4th annual convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor opens in Vancou-

_ Two problems are expected to highlight the ee ees:

% How to fight back
against the new Trade
Unions Act (Bill 43) and
how to deal with court in-
junctions in labor disputes.
_ %*& What form and which
policies should be adopted in

+

order to create an effective
political alternative to the
reactionary Socred govern-
ment.
Since last year’s convention
- jJabor has been under heavy
fire, from the employers, the
press, the government and the
courts. The Trade Unions Act
represents a victory for the
monopolies, .which for many
years have been working ov-
‘ertime to create the political
- climate for such legislation in
Canada. Unable to smash strik-
es and destroy unions as easily
as they could in “the good old
days,” they have used their
government in Victoria to pass
legislation that severely re-
stricts the right to picket and
to disseminate information,
and places every union in dan-
ger of court injunctions and
heavy fines.
When Bill 43 was first in-
troduced, Robert Strachan,
; C.C.F. House leader, expressed
amazement: “I believe it must
have been drafted by amat-
eurs.”’ We hope Mr. Strachan
has ~ had a second look, be-
cause it was, and is, quite ob-
- yious that the Bill was drafted

by some of the best legal
brains in the service of big
business. It is also clear that
the workers cannot defend
themselves against this vicious
law by looking for legal loop-
holes, to the exclusion of all
other forms of struggle.

Under the shadow of this
gun pointed at the heart of la-
bor, and before final reading
fin the legislature, the B.C.
Federation of Labor held a
special delegate conference.
According to - Secretary Pat
O’Neil, 24 telegrams from un-
ions calling for a protest work
stoppage were received. But a
coalition of right-wing CCFers.
and conservative roadmen
proved strong enough to kill
this idea. Instead, the confer-
ence adopted a proposal to as-
sess all Federation members
for educational purposes. in
order to explain the true
meaning of Bill 43. The clear-
cut lead given by the left on
Bill 43 and precisely how it
would be used against labor
was soon shown to be correct
—and long before the propos-
ed educational campaign got
under way. For-example, a
search through the files of the
Pacific Tribune for 1959 will
show that the full implications |
of Bill 43 were spelled out as
soon as the text was made av-
ailable for study. The left was
not so naive as to imagine that
this Bill was drafted by ‘‘am-

Fable of

thing of a record.
Featured in a number

_ Witch-huniers say:

on aid parcels sent behind

Canada.

of $6,630.

It is nothing new for committees of the United States
Congress to widely publish distortions and outright false-
hoods. But even by their own standards, the latest release
of the Un-American Activities Committee must be some-

and as quoted in the Vancouver Sun, these Un-American

“Communist nations are netting millions of dollars
annually in the United States and Canada through fees

"It is stated a similar operation in Canada has nated
$20,000,000 to $30,000,000 yearly on parcels sent by Cana-
dian citizens to the Soviet Union.”

If so, this is the most fabulously profitable business.
ever conducted in the .capitalist world. The Canadian
_ Customs tabulates all shipments from Canada and pub-—
lishes them in the government publication Trade of

On page 127 of the 1958 volume will be found the
total value of donations and gifts sent to the Soviet
Union. For 1957 the total is $6,883, and for 1958 a total

Even if Soviet import duties were double the above
| amounts it would still be far short of the Un-American —
| $30-million dollar anti-Soviet “thriller.” —

the year

of leading Canadian papers

the Iron Curtain.

ateurs.”

Following the conference, a
paid advertisement by the Ex-
ecutive of the B.€. Federation
of Labor appeared in the daily
press. It was abviously inspir-
ed by the C.C.F. “advisers” of
the top officers of the Federa-
tion. It said, in part: “All trade
union members are warned to
refrain from acts which can
be described as unlawful un-
der Bill 43 . .. Bill 43 confirms
the position of the B.C. Fed-

that just labor laws can be ob-
tained only through a political
party that is prepared to serve
the interest of all the people
of British Columbia.” Subse-
quently, C.C.F. spokesmen in
every part of the province and
in many unions took up the
cry: “Bill 43 is law and we
have to live with it — until
we can elect a C.C.F. govern-
ment!”

A mass protest strike and
a stepped-up fight by the CCF
both inside and outside the
house, around the demand to
withdraw Bill 43, would have
created a major crisis for the
government. Such a crisis
would have come at a time
when labor was still incensed
over the arbitrary actions tak-
en by the Socreds in the strike
of government employees and
‘in a period of rising militancy
in the labor movement as a
whole. Such a protest move-
ment could have laid a dur-
able basis for the building of
a genuine alternative to the
Socreds, Liberals and Tories.

The successful conclusion
this summer of the 19-day
strike at Northland Navigation
stands out as a model for those
in the labor movement who
are looking for a way out of
the blind alley of eae wing
policies.

When the Marine “Ruginbers
declared a legal strike, the
Seafarers’ International Union
supplied scabs to take their
jobs. The S.I.U. also took over
the jobs of the Longshoremen
when the latter recognized the
picket line of the Engineers,
even when it had been remov-
ed by injunction. In reply to
an injunction banning all pick-
eting, mass observer lines,
without placards or _ signs,
were set up on a 24-hour bas-
is, with Longshoremen form-
ing the core but supported by
members of many unions. The
B.C. Federation of Labor de-

eration of Labor to the effect.

clared all cargo shipped by
Northland to be hot cargo and
publicly gave .its support to
the Engineers and Longshore-
men. The employer retaliated
by obtaining injunctions
against Pat O’Neal, Secretary
of the Federation, other Fed-
eration Executives and a num-
ber of observers. But despite
the injunctions, the observer
lines grew in size. Unions con-

Pat O’Neal, general secre-
tary of the B.C. Federation of
Labor, who has played a prom-
inent role in the fight against
Bill 43, and in the Northland
strike, in which grave inter-
union problems added to the
difficulties of the siriking
unions.

nected with the docks, but not
directly involved in the strike.
refused to cross the lines to
make - deliveries. This tipped
the scales against Northland
and the S.1.U. and in favor of
the Engineers and Longshore-
men. ;

When the strike was settled
the Marine Engineers had won
a good contract, the Long-
shoremen had their jobs back
and all court actions (3 injunc-

tions and 53 summonses) were:

withdrawn.

A few days later, a special
convention of the B.C. Feder-
ation of Labor, attended by
867 delegates, voted to sup-
port -all strikes, observe all
picket lines and establish a la-
bor defense fund. In short, the
Northland “formula” was ad-
opted. Officers of the Iron-
workers’ Union, just released
from Oakalla Prison Farm, on
bail of $3,000 each put up by
the Federation, were given a
standing ovation. Three offic-
ers were fined $3,000 each and
their union was fined $10,000.
In the space of a few months,
workers had learned that the
best answer to Bill 43 and
court injunction is the refusal

to surrender traditional rights |

and backing up that refusal

with concrete action and
working-class _ solidarity.

The big vote in favor of
strike by the membership of
the I.W.A. was another exam-
ple of the rising militancy of
labor, as were the significant
victories won by the Iron-
workers and Fishermen and
Shoreworkers. But in the case
of the I.W.A., the workers fin-
ally voted to go back for less
than they hoped to get and
were entitled to receive. The
woodworkers were disgusted
by the passive leadership giv-

en by their District Council

and by its failure to apply the
Northland formula
to numerous injunction obtain-
ed by the employers.

If the delegates in conven-
tion will apply the Northland
formula to political action,
they will lay the basis for a
progressive alternative to the
Socred government in Vic-
toria, ‘

But the last British Colum-
bia CCF convention, held in
April
that the aim of the CCF is to
use the B.C. Federation of La-
bor and its affiliates as a’

source of party funds, mailing ©

lists and canvassers, with the
CCF naming the candidates
and running the show.

At the convention, the Brit-
ish Columbia “CCF-CLC Joint
Liason Committee,” made up

entirely of CCF members,

made a report that was endors-
ed. It proposed that the Feder-
ation would be “consulted” as
to program and candidates,
but every candidate must be
a CCF member. ‘Further, no

one who belongs to a party —

other than the CCF is to be al-
lowed to attend a nominating
convention. This would auto-

matically exclude as candid-—

ates all union members who
support the- CLC Winnipeg
resolution of 1958 but are not
members of the CCF. It would
also call upon unions to sup-
port a candidate even though
they were denied democratic.
representation at the nomin-
ating convention, :
This narrow, partisan ap-
proach directly contradicts the
Winnipeg resolution, which
lays down the following guide:
“The time has come for a
fundamental realignment of
political forces in Canada.
There is need for a broadly
based people’s political move-
ment, which embraces the
CCF, the labour movement,
farm organizations, professidn-
al people, and other liberally-
minded persons interested in
basic social reform and recon-
struction through our. parlia-
Continued on Page 8 -

in reply —

of this year. indicates

See REPEAL BILL 43 _
October 2. 1959—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5
+ pe.

EME TAA NN