The battle of Management versus Labor in B.C. seems to

have the potential of an all-out showdown. Both sides appear
puzzled by the new feature of strike-breakers, picket-raiders,
and ghost-walkers. Regardless, they are digging in for a fight

to the finish.

At the present time it seems
that the whole question has be-
come so tangled that there is
apparently no alternative but re-
duction to absurdity.

A referee is appropriate in a
fight. The official in the present
strife is the provincial legislating
authority, the attorney-general’s
office.

Though it is difficult to point to
a solution, it seems that the an-
swer must somehow come from
the law-makers.

Apart from the railways, ship-
ping and meat-packing, labor is
a provincial matter. Each prov-
ince has its own labor act.

Perhaps the first significant
amendment to the Labor Act of
B.C. came in 1937 when a Bill
was passed stating that workers
were not to be enjoined for pick-
eting unless violence occurred.

This reasonable legislation had
little significance upon promulga-
tion as was the case will Bill 39
(1945) due to the good times, the
high wages and the abundance
of employment.

Bill 39 made unions open to in-
junctions in B.C., ex parte and
standard injunctions. This was
the introduction of legal casuistry
to labor-management relations.

With Bill 43 the union men and
the management people dropped
out of the actual front line and
the legal profession took over.

No one would be so foolish to
even imply that labor or manage-
ment is without fault. Both sides

have “climbers,” greedy men, in —

top positions. The common good
is often overlooked by labor and
management. B.C. is not Utopia.
All men here are not and will
not be virtuous.

Here’s where the referee must
come in.

First of all there is a need for
wise and comprehensive legisla-
tion in the province’s Labor Act.
Obsolete laws must go. Even if
this means a lengthy and care-
ful study of some of the world’s
most advanced labor legislation,
such as in Sweden, let it be done.

Secondly, the referees, as in any
sport, should instruct both sides
in the rules. In other words there
should be encouragement on the
part of the attorney-general’s of-
fice to labor and to management
to regard the commonweal as

well us the law.

When Pope Leo XIII was writ-
ing about strikes he seems to

have had similar thoughts in
mind. He wrote:
“The Laws should be before-

hand, and prevent these troubles
from arising; they should lend
their influence and authority to the
removal in good time of the causes
which lead to conflicts between
masters and those whom they com-

ply.”

Written in 1891, these words
apply very well today .. . right
here in B.C., where, since Bill 43
there have been more injunctions
against unions in labor disputes
than in the rest of the nation.

—J. P. C.

—Reprinted from B.C. Catholic

Mr. Reid Scott (New Demo-
cratic — Danforth): “. .. the
announcement we heard this
afternoon will be about as
helpful to the housing indus-
try of Canada as a peanut is
to an elephant.”

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SOLID WALL OF MOUNTED POLICE flank labour sympathisers marching outside Zellers store at

Whalley, November 16, in support of the Retail Food & Drug Clerk members on strike there. It was re-
liably reported that following the demonstration, the shopping centre owners requested Zellers to either
close down until the strike was settled or move out.

—Courtesy The Fisherman

IWA Petitions M.P.s’. Support
To Amend Criminal Code

The IWA Regional Council, by resolution, has petitioned
all British Columbia members of the House of Commons for
legislative action to amend the section of the Criminal Codé
dealing with unlawful assembly.

It is already indicated that the New Democratic Party
members contemplate questions to the government and pos-
sibly the introduction of a private member’s bill proposing to

amend the Code.

The points made in the Un-
ion’s submission are:

@ Members of trade un-
ions (including members of
the IWA) have been charged
in the Vancouver Police
Court with violations of the
Criminal Code alleging un-
lawful assembly.

@ The accused are well-
known and respected mem-
bers of the community and

nd
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are not criminals in the ac-

cepted sense of that word.

@ Public prosecution un-
der the unlawful assembly
section of the Criminal Code
for picketing, as the section
is now worded, may lead to
a grave miscarriage of jus-
tice.

This section of the Code
was never intended original-
ly to be used in ordinary

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strike situations... When so
used, it can only be a means
to smash strikes.

@ Previous convictions. of
strikers under the Code for
unlawful assembly, as in the
Blubber Bay strike, resulted
in imprisonment of strikers,
mainly on evidence given by
the employers, the strike-
breakers or their families.

@ If prejudiced persons in
the vicinity of the alleged un-
lawful assembly give evi-
dence that they are afraid,
the courts have little option
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