Proposal for U.S. arms cut

The United States should clean
up its own house and then set
out on a course of promoting a
widespread international econ-
omic surge and peaceful atmos-
phere, the 48th annual conference;
of American farmers was told
recently. The remarks came
from the president of the Nat-
ional Farmers Union, James Pat-
ton, as he addressed delegates
assembled at Great Falls, Mon-
tana,

The problems of the unem-
ployed and those who are dis-
criminated against because of
their race are inseparably linked,
he said,

Speaking on the problems of
maintaining peace, Patton said

he welcomed the Moscow test
ban treaty with all his soul and
believes the time has come to
follow the treaty with a new step
—‘‘the cutting by 20 percent of
our huge expenditures in pre-
paring for war.’’ The arms slash
should be used for social secur-

: ity, education and medical needs.

**Remember,”’ he said, ‘‘that this

.year we can start in earnest the

search for a lasting peace, Peace

—this is ‘the main problem and,

the only alternative to death, The
future of agriculture, of asecure
society, of everything from A to
Z—including our very lives—all
these are dependent upon peace
prevailing.”

Nato chiefs fear peace talk

The secretary - general of
NATO, Dirk Stikker, this week
urged Britain and the U.S. not
to outstrip ‘‘allied opinion” in
exploratory talks with the Soviet
Union.

He told the opening session of
aweek long conference of MPs
from NATO countries: ‘‘There
are positions which we cannot
safely yield. There are points
beyond which we cannot safely
go.”

There were some issues on
which ‘‘we have already gone to
the very edge of risk,’’ he de-
clared.

Describing the ‘‘hot line’’ from
Washington to Moscow as a
_**purly bilateral affair,’” he said:
**Even the test ban treaty, in a
sense, only directly affected
those who actually possessed the
- bomb. The same may well apply
to any agreement which may be
reached about outer space.”’

Stikker called for closer in-
tegration of NATO forces.
‘*There can be no other solu-
tion for Germany and for all
foreign forces operating on Ger-
man territory.

‘¢For all the countries involv-
ed, the golden rule must be in-
tegration in defence and effective
two-way co-operation and inter-
dependence with the United
States.”’

General Lyman L. Lemnitzer,
NATO Supreme Commander in
Europe, said that the test ban
treaty ‘‘does not completely
eliminate the possibility of nuc-
lear tests to lead to further
weapons development. .

*‘It in no way reduces the
existing magnitude or capability
of the forces which make up the
military threat to NATO.”

There was ‘‘a definite need’’
for more weapons, equipment and
modernization in NATO forces
in Europe, he said,

Useful Moscow talks held

Soviet Communist and French
Socialist leaders have found ‘‘a
large measure of agreement on

Mark freedom war

Over 500,000 people last
Friday marked the annivers-
ary of the outbreak of Alger-
ia’s independence struggle
against France, Addressing
the rally, President Ben Bella
praised those who are media-
ting the border dispute with
Morocco,

‘*War must not exist between
countries who have built their
independence in bloodshed,’’
he said, especially ‘‘between
brother countries, between
African countries.”’

LOE

TRAVEL

joint

the question of the necessity to
consolidate the realization of
international tensions,’’ said a
communique issued in
Moscow last week.

It added that the two dele-
gations *‘ recognizing the presence
between them of serious differ-
ences of opinion in the sphere

of ideology, noted the import- —

ance of the unification of the
working class, democratic and
peace-loving forces in the strug-
gle for peace, against all ag-
gressive wars, against the danger

of a new world war.’’

The French delegation, head-
ed by ex-Premier Guy Mollet,
flew home at the conclusion of
their talks,

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Brief impresses
council, will
pass on to UBCM

A brief on the crisis in
municipal financing, sub-
mitted by the Surrey Mun-
icipal Reform Committee to
the Surrey Municipal Council,
(see last week’s PT) was well
received by the council. In
praising the brief, council re-
quested and was given per-
mission to submit it to the
Union of B.C. Municipalities.

In its presentation, the SM-
RC had drawn upon some of the
recommendations of the
Rowell-Sirois royal commis-
sion of the 1930’s, which have
never been acted upon, It then
supplemented these with pro-
posals to implement a high-
er rate of taxation on busi-
ness and industry.

The council was urged to
fight for development of the
Columbia River as an all-
Canadian project. It was point-
ed out that this power could
be the cheapest on the cont-
inent, a fact hardly to be
overlooked by industry.

As~an example of how ind-
ustry looks for cheap power,
the aluminum operation at Kit-
imat was cited, and it was
stated that this single instance
could be repeated over and
over again with proper devel-
opment of the Columbia,

A cut in the arms budget,
which would provide a sub-
stantial saving to municipal-
ities, was also demanded.

LABOR ROUNDUP:

Teachers present |
contract demands|

Negotiations for 1964 salary
agreements between teachers and
school boards in B.C.’s 83 school
districts have been under way for
the past several weeks. Teachers
are seeking wage increases rang-
ing from five to ten percent,
with the largest increases for
those holding a university degree.

Agreement has been reached in
a number of districts, includ-
ing Agassiz (4.3% increase), Sur-
rey (2.6-2.9%), Kamloops, Lil-
looet, Birch Island, Barriere
(1.4-6%), Howe Sound (2.4%),
Powell River (3.9%), Vancouver
(secondary schools only — 3.4%),
New Westminster (2.3%) and

Richmond (2, 3%).
Conciliation proceedings have

been instituted in several areas,
including Burnaby and North Van-
couver, where no agreement has
yet been reached, Vancouver ele-

mentary school teachers, com-
prising almost 10 percent of

B.C.’s teaching force of 14,000,
have not yet reached a settle-

ment.
By provincial statute teachers’

salary disputes are referred to
compulsory and binding arbitra-
tion if no settlement is reached
by November 15,

e
Mine Mill has beaten off a
Steel attempt to raid workers
at the Cowichan Copper Co. on
Vancouver Island. A few of the
125 men employed there re-

A French comment on the effect of A-arms

\

—Nitro in the Paris Force ouvriére

portedly signed Steel cards, but
have since indicated that they |
wish to remain with Mine Mill. }|-

Al King, Mine Mill district }|-
secretary, told the PT that two |
Steel organizers spent a week }|
trying to raid at Cowichan, gave |
up, but have since returned, Mine
Mill is in the process of ne-
gotiating with the company. Two
meetings were held last week and —
another is slated for this week |
to report to workers on how | —
negotiations are progressing, 4

Steel has applied to the Labor |
Relations Board for certification }|
at Cassiar Asbestos Corporation, ' :
which employs. about 360 |
workers, A bitter struggle isex- |
oected brfore this latest raidis ]|
resolved, °

Homer’ Stevens, secretary-
treasurer of the United Fisher-
men & Allied Workers Union,
charged in a front-page article
of ‘*The Fisherman’’ last week }|
that ‘‘a cloud of secrecy hangs |}
over (Norpac) treaty talks be-
tween Japan, Canada and the
United States.”?

Fearing that another giveaway |
of our fish resources is in the |
making, Stevens revealed ‘‘only —
recently fisheries minister H.
J. Robichaud refused to present
drafts of treaties or other docu-
ments to the parliamentary
standing committee on marine |
and fisheries, on grounds that | .
‘negotiations are stillgoingon’.’’ |

The union has called a mass |
‘Save Our Fisheries” rally for |
Monday, November 18, at the |
Pender Auditorium, starting at —
1:30 p.m, Allfishermen andother |
interested parties are invited to |
attend. “

The IWA will enter into nego-
tiations for a new Master Agree- |
ment to cover the woodworking |
industry in the spring of 1964.

According to the local’s news- —
paper ‘*‘The Barker’’, a Wages
and Contract Conference will be
-held some time in February. All |
IWA members wishing to submit —
resolutions to the conference |
should contact the local office |
at TR 4-0274 for details of pro- |
cedure,

U.S. PULP TRUSTS IGNORED SAFETY

Tragic Woodfibre deaths
could have been avoided

The tragic deaths of seven
workers at Woodfibre some
weeks ago as the result of a fur-
nace explosion could have been
prevented if proper safeguard
features had been built in to the
boilers. :

This was told to the Pacific
Tribune by an engineer who has

’ worked in pulpmill plants and

who closely followed the testi-
mony presented at the inquest
into the accident and the tragic
deaths of the workers involved.

At the inquest the testifying
pathologist said that death was
caused by breathing hot fumes,
resulting in injury to the larnyx
and lungs, as well as 2nd and
3rd degree burns,

Evidence at the inquest also
showed that the furnace explosion
was the result of a malfunction
in the oil burning equipment.
Operators of the plant installed
the boilers primarily for the
purpose of recovering chemicals
as a by-product of their opera-
tion,

The plant, which is owned by
Rayonier of Canada, a subsidi-
ary of the giant U.S. monopoly,
installed the oil burners as an
afterthought on the recovery-

Se sa eo Pe

type of boiler which is universal
in the industry when the boilers
were failing to maintain the need-
ed furnace temperature and
steam flow.

In installing the oil burners no
provisions were made for ex-
plosion doors with the result that
rapidly expanding gases tore open
the combustion chamber and led
to spraying workers with black
liquor, a highly caustic substance
used in the process,

Since the disastrous explosion
at Woodfibre, other explosions
have taken place in the pulp
industry. A committee has now
been set up by the Boiler In-
spection Department to consider
ways and means to prevent fur-
ther explosions from taking
place.

Experienced . engineers who
have worked in pulp plants are
of the opinion that accidents could
be prevented if properly designed
oil burners. with igniters and
flame safeguard features were
incorporated in boiler plants,

However, this additional safety
measure would require more

. Capital being spent by the comp-

November 15, 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—

“not be happy to do, since profit 1

~ safety of their operations.

anies involved, which they would 4

is their main goal and not safety — a
for the workers involved. :

Wishing to avoid further outlay |
for boilers with safety devices — q
built in, the pulp monopolies, .—
which in B.C, are almostexclus- |
ively American, are expected to —
use their weight against any |
recommendations which may call
for higher expenditures for the

However, there is a strong
feeling among pulp workers that
the labor movement should insist
that suitable pilot lights and safe- —
guards become mandatory on all
oil fired boilers before moreser-
ious accidents occur.

The PT has been informed
that a fund has been establish
to help the five widows and_
children who have been struck
by the Woodfibre tragedy. Don”
tions to the fund can be se Bi f
the ‘*Woodfibre Disaster F
Woodfibre, LER Op

B
To date, Algeria has wa

100,000 African officers t°
against colonialism and imP?
ialism in their own coum