il a { ms: eae sg o FAs a ed FRIDAY, MARCH 24,1950 ° im hi } PEL | WHO'LL DEFEND COCK MILLARD? ‘Not I,’ says Home WANTED: One prominent CCF trade unionist who has the gumption to stand up in debate and defend the Steelworkers’ raid on Mine-Mill at Trail. Last week Phil Howard of the Hastings East CCF club phoned Bill Stewart, Boilermakers’ Union, and asked him if he would argue in favor of Mine-Mill in a debate at the club’s headquarters, 2211 East Pender, on the Trail situation. “Glad to!” said Bill. “Who's going to defend the Steel raid?” “We're trying to get. George Home or some other well-known trade unionist.” The debate was to have f taken place Tuesday night this week. - On Monday, Howard phoned Stewart to call the whole thing off. “We've been unable to get anyone to take the other posi- tion,” he said, and indicated that Steel officials had said the raid at Trail was no business of the CCF. “Millard, Gargrave, Cotterill and other CCF big shots play- ed a leading role in the disgraceful raid on Mine-Mill at Trail,” said Bill Stewart to the Pacific Tribunte. ‘What they are tell- ~ ing the CCF clubs in effect is that what CCF leaders do as raid- C. H. MILLARD ers and union-busters is none of the CCF rank-and-file’s business.”” ‘Liberals scramble for arms patronage By MARK FRANK Evidence is mounting that armament-makers and other industrialists anxious to profit by huge mili-’ tary expenditures are clamoring for greater freedom to ply their death-dealing trade. indicate that Liberal MP’s are being linked with the war traffic in the form of patronage deals. This much is to be noted in two recent developments: 1. A report by Major General G. B. Howard, general manager of the Canadian Industrial Prepared- _ness Association, which has its headquarters in Montreal. This group is made up of several hundred — manufacturers and industrialists, The report called for more information from the government on types of equipment required for war purposes. ‘The manufacturers want to know what they are expected to do”’ in case of war—in other words, they want the super-profit arrangements they insisted upon during the Second World War. 2, On March 10 the House of Commons heard reports that so-called “‘study circles” for Liberal mem- * bers only, organized by G. J. Mcllraith, parliamentary assistant to Trade Minister C. D. Howe. were really front organizations for patronage deals. Steel hopes fade as 500 workers back in Mine-Mill —TRAIL, B.C. _ The 1,135 votes cast last weekend by CMS workers for their 1950 bargaining committee of Mine-Mill, local 480, were 100 higher that voting totals of previous years. Elected to represent all the workers “‘on the hill’’ were Kitch Bannatyne, Percy Berry, Les Walker, Dan Dosen and Sam Muirhead. These five bargaining representatives, along with president Al King and financial secretary Jack MacDonald, will open negotiations for a new contract with Consolidated after April 1. More than 500 workers who originally ‘‘went over’ to Steel when the raid on Mine-Mill began, have now returned to the serrate union : : teel’s WCSU represents seamen Thompson tells Fishermen " Charging that the Seafarers’ International Union was told the “no status” in the eyes of the federal labor depart ment West Coast Seamen’s Union had “two days before we ourselves were informed,” WCSU president James Thompson told the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ conventton on Tuesday this week that despite this edict ‘ : Thompson reviewed events leading its parent body, - by 11 men and important condi- tions have been: lost.” ‘Despite SIU claims that it will go after a $30 wage hike this. year, Thompson said he had infor- “mation that the SIU actually was preparing to accept a $20 wage =cut. The WCSU president warned delegates to the fishermen’s con- vention against “union splitters” and reminded them that the SIU, according to an AFL decree, had jurisdiction over all fishermen ‘in _ Canada and the United States. * * * Speaking for the “Unemployed Action Association, Fred Collins outlined his organization’s plan to alleviate the position of British Columbia's 65,000 unemployed. The UAA is advocating - public works projects at union wages, in- creased unemployment insurance benefits, unemployment insurance during the full period of unem- ployment, reinstatement of those whose benefits are at present ex- hausted, and placing on _ relief those jobless who are not eligible _ for UIC benefits. At the opening session of the’ UFAWU convention Jack Stev- enson, president of Vancouver, New Westminster and District the Canadian Seamen’s Union, “It is one year ‘since the SIU took over on Trades and Labor Council, greet- - ed the delegates, and said, “Or- ganized you are everything; un- organized you are nothing.” Business agent Ed Nahaney of the Native Brotherhood of B.C. brought greetings to the conven- tion on behalf of president Wil- liam Scow. “We have worked with your of- ficers and negotiating commit- tees,” he said, “and so far have had what we might call a united front. We look forward to con- tinued 100 percent cooperation with you.” F Frank Calder, MLA for Atlin ‘our union reperesents the seamen who sail the ships.” up to formation of the WCSU, which came into existence when lost its East Coast deepsea strike last year. the Atlantic,” he said, “‘and ship crews have been cut and first Native Indian ever elec- ted to a legislature, himself a member of the fishermen’s union, addressing the delegates, expres- sed himself as “feeling at home” at the convention. He called for closer cooperation between the fisheries department of the _pro- vincial government and the inter- national salmon fisheries commis- sion. He gave delegates a first hand impression of happenings in the legislature, primarily in re- lation to fisheries problems, hous- ing and hospital] insurance, PEACE ASSEMBLY STATEMENT statement W: Pearson, adoption of a ‘live ana let live’ policy in world affairs, ' ine of the smelter workers. hopes of certification are fading, and this is indicated by a back- tracking article in a USW bulletin setting back the date at which they hope to achieve certification from April | to June |. * When Steel’s Clare Billingsley challenged Mine-Mill’s Harvey Murphy to “‘put up” or “‘shut up” on membership figures last week, Murphy promptly invited him to debate on a public platform any issue affecting the workers at Trail. “Stop hiding behind newspaper headlines,” said Murphy. _ Bill- ingsley kept silent, ate crow. While the Steel raiders continue their campaign for “certification” the Mine-Mill bargaining commit- tee will be negotiating a new con- tract \ for all workers on the hill. Over the weekend the newly elect- ed bargaining committee for local 480, along with Mine-Mill inter- national staff members Murphy, Gordon and Devite, attended a policy meeting in Kimberley, with the Kimberley and Alberta Nitro- gen representatives, and hammered out bargaining strategy in prepara- tions for negotiations next month. Trustee, barred from U.S.,scores “insult”? iar —TORONTO. School Trustee Sam Walsh has demanded the Canadian govern- ment lodge protest with the U.S. state department following U.S. refusal to permit him entry to attend a conference in St. Louis, Mo., as am Official dele- gate of Toronto, Board of Edu- cation. Trustee Walsh was re- fused entry by U.S. immigra- tion, authorities at Malton air- port when he attempted to a a TCA plane for the Walsh is also sending wires of protest to External] Affairs fs ister Lester B, Pearson was —OTTAWA — Reports also Specific claims were that Me- Ilraith had a recent sessions for 60 Liberals, said to be in “‘re- volt” because of thin patronage andouts, on the important subject of the work of the Canadian Com- mercial Corporation, which hand- les' the purchasing of the National Defense Department. The CCC deals with tens of millions of dole | lars. Mellraith denied charges saying the meetings with officials of CCG were “purely a factial study” with no discussion on patronage. LPP hits ban threat The national committee of the Labor-Progressive party this week lodged a protest with the High ommissioners to Canada of Aus- tralian and South Africa against attempts being made to outlaw the Communist parties ‘in these two countries, The LPP statement declared: In Australia, the Menzies gov- ernment is bringing before the fed- eral parliament legislation to de- clare the Communist party illegal. This repressive legislation will also give the government power to make other progressive organizations il- legal by declaring them “‘substan- tially Communist.” The growing Australian peace movement is a particular target of the Menzies government. The Menzies government is now feverishly striving for a’ Pacific pact to subordinate Australia more thoroughly to U.S, imperialism and to speed up war preparation in the Pacific. To do this they are try- ing to break the resistance of the Australian workers — hence the attack upon the Communist party. In the Union of South Africa, - the Nazi-modelled Malan govern- ment, one of the most savage racist governments in the world, is pre- — paring a replica of the former Sec- tion 98 of the Criminal Code of Canada, repealed in the thirties by mass opposition — but which at- tempts are now being made in Canada to revive. The Communist party of South Africa, one of whose leaders, Sam Kahn, MP, js leading the fight against racist white supremacy and who has been prohibited from hold- ing public meetings, is under heavy attack by the fascist Malan gov- ernment. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MARCH 24, 1950 — PAGE 12