10

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

FROM PAGE 9

IWA

voices heard on — our fores-
try problems. There is a tre-
mendous pressure on Con-
gress to give over to private
industry the management of
our national forests. Gover-
nor Tom McCall of Oregon
has just recently voiced his
opinion that a study should
be made as to whether or not
these forests should be man-
aged by private industry. To

the Woodworkers this is a
very important issue.

The poverty program is in
serious trouble due to the
large expenditures in Viet
Nam. If there is no way to re-
duce expenditures in Viet
Nam then we should elimi-
nate our program to reach the
moon. After all, it seems from
all the reports available there
is nothing there except the
large profits for those com-
panies engaged in the produc-
tion of spaceships and rockets
and the high earnings of some
of the workers who work in
these operations.

BY DRAFT

We cannot condone the ex-
orbitant profits that are be-
ing made by those. companies
producing war material. If it
is right to force into the arm-
ed forces the youth of our
country, by draft, as unfair
as it is, then the government
should conscript the profits of
those companies who are
reaping huge profits from
their manufacturing of war
materials. If this were done
I think there would be a
change in the thinking of
those corporations.

There is the-ever increas-
ing cost of medical coverage
for those who are not old
enough to come under medi-
care — the cost is getting
prohibitive. For those under
medicare the cost is out of
proportion. Congress is in-
vestigating everything and
setting up commissions to in-
vestigate riots — why are
there no committees investi-
gating the high cost of hos-
pitalization and medical cov-
erage? Why should costs -all
of a sudden practically dou-
ble? Oh, they say, cost of la-
bor has gone up. The increase
to nurses amounts to very
little and much less to the
others. The wage cost in-
crease comes nowhere near
what hospitals have added on
their charges.

Car insurance rates, in my
opinion, are a racket — both
in Canada and the United
States. Yet Congress does
nothing. What about the cost
of living? You hear nothing

from the White House or Con-
gress. Educational programs
and poverty programs are be-
ing trimmed by Congress.
What about taxes — income
tax? It has been reported by
reliable news services that
there are people in compan-
ies who are making millions
and pay no income tax what-
soever. Let’s close the loop-
holes. Let us write it in plain
language as suggested by
Federal Judge Gus Solomon
of Portland, Oregon, the oth-
er day, so anyone can under-
stand what it means and can-
not be twisted around by a
battery of high paid attor-
neys.

OUR POLICY

Our foreign policy is cost-
ing us not only billions of dol-
lars, it is costing us friends
in those countries we consid-
ered our friends for many
years. I know there are dif-
ferences of opinion among our
members as to our foreign
policy in Viet Nam and other
places. Everyone is entitled
to his own opinion, but this
is mine: I believe President
Johnson has been led into a
trap. Certainly what he is do-
ing in Viet Nam is not what
he told us his position was
when he campaigned for of-
fice — and I went out and
worked and voted for his elec-
tion. Today he has gone be-
yond what Goldwater preach-
ed should be done in his cam-
paign. I am afraid the mili-
tary has more influence with
President Johnson than the
people.

WORLD WAR

Should this conflict con-
tinue, it seems to me we will
surely end up in a third
World War. What any work-
er or middle class family
could possibly think they can
gain from such a war is a
mystery, because there are
many who believe this is the
course to follow. There are
millions of people and a lot
of government officials who
are opposed to the present
program in Viet Nam and our
foreign policy, but are afraid
to stand up and say so. May
God have mercy on all of us
if we get into a third World
War and the hydrogen bomb
is turned loose to destroy one

another.
Years ago in my speeches
I protested American foreign

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aid policies, which many
times gave more for arming
small countries with guns,
tanks and planes, than it did
for developing their economic
resources. Just recently Con-
gress recognized the futility
of sending arms to countries
such as I have mentioned.
They have learned when con-
flicts break out in such coun-
tries as Africa, we find both
sides fighting with war equip-
ment supplied by the U.S.A.
In many of the countries in
South America, Central
America, Africa and South
Viet Nam, the civilian govern-
ments have been taken over
by the armed forces with the
equipment we supplied them.
We have always been ready
to recognize these dictators.
They always use the excuse
the Communists are taking
over. Most of the people who
rebel would not know the
difference between a Com-
munist, Republican or Demo-
crat. All they know is that
they are hungry, sick and
downtrodden.

TAKE OVER

The powers of these coun-
tries use the armed forces to
keep the peasants and slaves
in line. Some people ask, can
the army take over America?
What do you think? If they
decided to do so, how would

you stop them? There may
be others in the high ranks

“PRESIDENT HARTUNG’S RETIREMENT ADDRESS"

of the armed forces such as
General Walker. President
Eisenhower, when he left of-
fice, warned us against the
military and he has a mili-
tary career from the bottom
to the top, as President of the
United States.

TO SELL

Political action is one thing
that I have found the hardest
to sell to our membership, the
leaders of our Regions and
Local Union Officers. I have
tried to show the members of
this Union the importance of
political action for many years
— when I was President of
Columbia River District
Council No. 5, under the Car-
penters and Joiners — and
also under the International
Woodworkers of America —
as CIO Regional Director for
the State of Oregon — First
Vice-President of the IWA
and then as your Interna-
tional President for the last
16 years. Everyone listens
politely, but that has been the
pattern. There have been Lo-
cals which responded gener-
ously, but on the overall, we
have had only one drive
which met the quota set by
the AFL-CIO COPE Depart-
ment and that was in 1964,
In 1966 we did not meet our
responsibilities.

Many other Unions did not
do much better, so we lost
47 liberal congressmen, three

good senators and a group of
liberal governors. Also, there:
were many changes in state
legislators. Who and how the
government is run is as 1m~
portant today as collective
bargaining, housing, taxes,
education, labor laws, civil
rights, social security—these
are but a few of the many
ways government affects the
workers’ pay cheques and liv-
ing conditions. I again say, it
is the responsibility of the
leaders of this Union to see
to it that our members are
educated for the need of a
strong Union and in order for
them to keep it that way they
must interest themselves in
political action. The two are
inseparable in this day and
age. If we want to get our
just share of what the work-
ers produce we must protect
ourselves on the economic
front and the political front.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion let me say it
has been a long hard row to
bring this Union where it is
today. Many of those who
took part in the early days to
build this Union are no long-
er with us. Some have gone
to work in other industries,
some have retired and others
have passed on. I say to the
younger members of this Un-
ion you will reap such bene-
fits from it to the degree that
you put something into it.
Where this Union goes from
here and what it accomplishes
is the responsibility of the en-
tire membership.”

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