aN Ss

, 2,000 Jobless At Victoria Demand

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' VOL. 20, NO. 10

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VANCOUVER, B.C.
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1961 ;

UN. hears

new policy

A call for p United Nations policies in the Congo was
made by Ghana president Kwame Nkrumah at the open-
Ing session of the General Assembly Tuesday.

; Hitting out at the past pol-
Icies of the UN which he said

__ KWAME NKRUMAH

appeal for
in Congo

had failed, Nkrumah, widely
recognized as a leading voice
for the new Africa, put for-
ward new proposals for aetion.
He urged that the Congolese
army be disarmed and re-
strained, that all foreign dip-
lomatic missions in the Congo
be recalled “for the time be-
ing,” and that the Congolese
parliament be reconvened. —
The General Assembly
which recessed December 21;
resumed its fifteenth session
on Tuesday. Consideration of
the crisis in the Congo is @x-
pected to be one of the top
subjects for discussion.

labor calls B.C-wide

conference on Bill 42

The B.C. Federation of Labor has called a province-

Wide staff ‘meeting of all unions for
rs a.m. in the Street Railwaymen’s
“4 and.map strategy to deal with it.

This was announced at the

Va
Ncouver. Labor Council

uesday night.

| aoa speaker who rose to
ide. the step expressed
ness ae of ‘the slow-
on Me the Federation to move
ie is critical legislation.
a es Stewart of the Street
Gchate. cna’ who led off the
fight ¢ Said that. ‘next to the
: Or jobs, the fight against
ac Bill is the most important

ie that is before labor. The
Re, Nekotiations coming up in
aS es year will be literally
‘to fe ae if this bill is allowed
Wise rough in its present
Bill Stewart of the Marine
Ga C Union called the leg-
nh “reminiscent of the

Tuesday, March 14,
Hall, to discuss Bill

Labor Front legislation which
Hitler. used to reduce the
unions in Germany to arms of
the government. We must
serve notice on the Social
Credit government that we
will not stand by and see fas-
cism brought in piece by piece.
The labor movement must tell| 2
the government that if they
pas this legislation we will re-
fuse to recognize it.

Council decided to seek a
meeting with the legislative
Standing Committee’on Labor
to present its views on the
pill. Word from Victoria has it
that -the legislation was
brought into the House with-
out having: called the govern-

By TOM McEWEN

WANT WORK’

By chartered ferry and bus transport from the mainland and car cavaleades from
Interior and up Island points, approximately 2,000 jobless workers of the B.C. Federa-
to the B.C. Legislature Monday of this week in a full-

tion of Unemployed paraded
throated demand “We Want

It was one of the largest
demonstrations ever to assem-
ble in Victoria, and from the
large number of trade unions
actively participating in the
struggles of their jobless fel-
low workers, one of the most
united.

Many of the hundreds of slo-
gans carried were symptomatic
of -the times and the urgent
need. “Me today, you tomor-
row”; “I followed John, now
my job is gone”; “Beef, not
Bulle al. Bul 42070 We
want work, not promises”;
“Bennett won the _ election,
what did we win?”; “We fol-
lowed John — to the poor-
house’; ‘‘We are the seasonal
unemployed — we have been
unemployed all season.”

Down Government Street the
crockery rattled in ‘Ye Olde
English Shoppe’ to the steady
roar of ‘“‘We want jobs,” as
did the’ otherwise staid tran-
quility of the legislative as-
sembly. Inside the corridors re-
echoed the demand for jobs
and many government employ-
ees at their desks wore a WOr-
ried look. Even Premier Ben-
nett’s customary fetching smile
dissolved into a forced grin.
“We want jobs,” resounding
‘through the corridors from the
throats of 2,000 jobless work-
ers, gave a new emphasis to
government responsibility,
whether it faced up to it or
not, and the B.C. Federation of
Unemployed resolved in Mon-

day’s demonstration that it
will.
While the demonstration

was at its height around the
legislature, a delegation of
BCFU members divided its
forces three ways to interview
the cabinet, the CCF Opposi-
tion and the Liberal minority
in the House, presenting each

Work.”

public trust, do that which is
your responsibility and your
duty.”

The brief called for a crash
program of public works, scor-
ed the government’s cuting off
of medical aid to the jobless,
demanded continued unem-
ployment insurance benefits
while unemployed, and legisla-|
tion to “protect the assets of
the unemployed.”

A formulation on Columbia}

River development, apparent?y |
smuggled in by some ardent
CCF’er was the only note of
discord in the day’s demonstra-
tions. In essence it called for
an end to “federal and provin-
cial (differences)’’, the finaliz-
ation of this infamous give-
away treaty, in order that
work should not be “delayed.”
Tory Davie
same thing in a Kamloops ad-
dress during weekend, point-
ing to the Columbia as a “so-

Fulton said the!

lution” to Canada’s jobless
problem.

Reporting for the jobless
committee’ interviewing the

with a “Memorandum on Un-
employment” and reporting
back on their respective recep-
tions at a packed mass meet-
ing of unemployed in the big
Victoria Dance Hall.

The brief presented by the

BCFU delegation pointed out §

among other things that “Our
existence and our continued
state of unemployment is testi-
mony to the ignorance, or re-
luctance, of our government
leaders, .and to the falibility

of the laizzez-faire economic

jungle you endorse. We do not
appear here with cap-in-hand,
or in any sense humble. We
are here to demand the fulfill-
ment of our natural right. We
are here to demand that you,

See BILL 42, pg. 8

in whom has been placed the

The biggest jobless march
Hungry Thirties, that is the
been described. Top picture shows marchers in front of the

legislative buildings; below,
town streets of Victoria.

CCF Opposition, Paddy Neil
said “every CCF’er endorsed
the position we have taken,
right down the line.”

The delegation whith -inter-
viewed the Liberal MLA’s,
headed by Chairman Eric
Waugh, found them in full ac-
cord with a majority of the
jobless on the Columbia issue,
branding the pending Colum-
bia Treaty as a monstrous give-
away to the U.S. and approv-

|ing the McNaughton plan of

Columbia River development
for Canadian rather than U.S.
interests. As one jobless work-
er stated, “we’re unemployed,
but we’re not ready to barter
away the Columbia and what
it means for B.C. and Canada,
for the promise of a sandwich
handout now.”

Pat O’Neal, secretary of the
B.C. Federation of Labor re-
porting for the committee
which had interviewed Prem-
ier Bennett and. cabinet. mem-
bers, reported Bennett’s stock
replies to the unemployed de-

See JOBLESS, pg. 3

to the legislature since the
way last Monday’s lobby has

parading through the down-