Ra Cih

oi ane i (ass
silt}

jul WIRES

Say July 21,

1950

STREET ‘BLITZ’ SATURDAY

Peace petitioners
pep up signature
drive in Vancouver

Vancouver Peace Assembly members and supporters will take

to the streets Saturday in a

“‘sionature blitz’
of names to the Stockholm Peace Appeal.

to add more thousands
Petitioners are asked to

report to the Peace Assembly office, Room 40, Ray Building, from
9.30°a.m. throughout the day, for petitions and instructions.

Aiming to secure 75,000 names °

in B.C. before the World Peace
Congress meeting in Poland in
October, local workers for peace
are stepping up activities and set-
ting themselves definite weekly
quotas “from here on in.”

Prominent labor leaders who
have already signed for peace in-
clude the following: Gordon Webb,
business agent, lodge 1857, Inter-
national Association of Machin-
‘ists; James Robison, secretary-
treasurer, Vancouver City Hall
Employees’ Association; | Pearl
Wedro, district organizer, Fur and

Leather Workers; Ray Mercer,
New Westminster Civic Employ-
ees; Harvey Murphy, regional di-
rector, Mine-Mill; William White,
president, Ma rine Workers;
George Gee,
local 213, International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers; J. W.

Black, president, Journeymen
Tailors; Harold Pritchett, presi-
dent, Woodworkers’ Industrial

Union; J. Eaves, business agent,
local 138, Painters; and H. Watts,
recently retired business agent for
the AFL Building Trades Council
and editor of the Labor Statesman.

Oldest B.C. paper

hits Korean ‘allies’

The British Columbian, oldest daily paper published in BC.,
carried a stinging satirical editorial on the Korean ‘war in its issue f

“Saturday, July 15, entitled “Short Shrift for Reds.”

‘text of the editorial:

“Korea, ‘Land of Morntly
Calm’, seems to breed some rough
characters. A correspondent with
the South Koreans describes this
scene: ‘Some 40 persons were
crouched on-all fours; a Korean
policeman stood in the middle of
the mass and crashed the butt of
his American rifle into the backs
of one after another of the kneel-

_ ing men. Their backs broke with
a sickening crunch ... After
this, the story goes on, those who
lived long enough would be shot.
They had been picked up behind
_ the lines as suspected. Red guer-
_ Yillas and condemned to death.
Apparently the bone-crunching

prelude was an a touch of

- sadism.

“Tf this is a fair specimen of

the people to rescue whom from
the clutch of communism the
flower of American manhood are
offering their lives (or having
their lives offered for them), it is
at least doubtful if the objective
is worth the sacrifice. Canadians
_ too may reflect that as things are
_ going it seems very likely that in
due course the South Korean sad-
ists will be their noble allies in

_ a war to make Korea safe for de-

‘Here is the

HALT

eee clear sae ie 1S.

military intervention in Korea.
Only united peace action of the
Canadian people can halt this

trend, and prevail upon the gov-

ernment to use its authority to help
end the conflict and prevent it
from flaring up into atomic war.

Said Buck to St. Laurent:

“Your government. can make a

‘vital contribution to the settlement

of the Korean war with justice to
the Korean. people. Instead of
giving in to U.S. pressure, your
government would speak for the

people of Canada, who are in-

creasingly opposed to sending Ca-
nadian armed forces to aid what
amounts to unilateral U.S. inter-
vention in Korea, if you would

endorse the above-stated peace

proposals in a special message to
Nehru, Stalin, Truman and At-

tlee.”’

Despite St. Laurent’s reply, the
movement for peace in Canada
and in the world is growing. In-
dicative of thé strong desire for
peace in the hearts of all peoples
is the support for the Stockholm

Appeal, signed by 200 millions

of people in 52 countries.

The Canadian Peace Congress
has issued a “‘call to all Cana-

dians” to participate in the peace -

petition campaign, so that peace
may be saved and atomic world

such an appeal ; the peace petition
must be carried into every corner
of the nation.

business manager, .

“Work

TLC condemns Kuzych,
backs union appeal
to Privy Council

Vancouver Tradés and Labour Council (AF L-TLC) went on record last Tuesday night as pledg-

ing
against the Kuzych decision.”’

The resolution adopted  con-
demned Kuzych for: open opposi-
tion to the policy of the union;
making radio broadcasts opposing
the closed shop principle; declar-
ing under oath that the union was
spurious and fake; taking court
action against his union without
exhausting the provisions of the
contract.

The resolution expressed alarm
over the fact that if Justice Whit-
taker’s decision is not erased by
the Privy Council, no union with
a union or closed shop status will
be allowed to’ expel a member ex-
cept for non-payment of dues,

Only one delegate _ spoke
against the executive recommend-
ation for acceptance of the reso-
lution: Tom Alsbury, vice-presi-
dent of the council and a promin-
ent right-wing CCFer.

Jack Phillips, delegate from
Civic Employees, took the ° floor
after Alsbury and warmly defend-
ed the Marine Workers’ and Boil-
ermakers’ Union. “We cannot deny
the non-union man the right to
work where and when he chooses
—but we must protect our right
as union men, to enter into a con-
tract with the employer that we

will not work with non-union men.

Once we lose that right, we lose
the right to seli our labor power

on our own perros. as free trade.

unionists.”

Alsbury followed the. same line
of argument that he used in the
previous meeting of the council:
“My opposition is based on court
evidence”; “Everything they say

_ about Kuzych may be true—but

other persons are equally guilty
. -’; “There have been totalitar-
ian Seethnns used .. .”; “Support-

” ing the Marine Workers and Boil-

ermakers’ Union is not in my best
interests and your best interests

-’; “If we are going to sup-
port them—we should have some
measure of control over policy.”

A letter from President. Percy :

Bengough of the Trades and Labor
Congress of Canada pointed out
that “the man became injured not
because the union wanted ‘to in-
jure him, but to advance their
own interests.”

‘“But we must insist, as good
union men, to refuse to associate
with him, on the job and in the

club, after exploring every method
of persuading him to. be a good

union man, If Kuzych wins, we

Will lose this right by law,” said

Bengough.

Scoring the anti-communism of
Alsbury, Phillips stated: “Some
say the issue is communism. A
few who hold this view attack
Kuzych with pea shooters—and
use a shotguy against the Marine
ers’ and Boilermakers’
Union. If the last decision in favor
of Kuzych stands, it will become
part of the common law of the
land, In effect, the union shop

and the closed shop will be use-

less in their present form, Any
anti-unidn elements will be able
to go to any court in the land and
get legal protection as a violator
of union work rules, as a disruptor,
scab or police agent.”

Delegates applauded after Phil-
lips spoke, and when the vote was
put, only two “no’ s” were heard.
@ne was from Alsbury.

“full moral and financial support to the Marine Workers’ and Boilermakers’ Union in their appeal

Nine Greek seamen
free for sixty days

Nine Greek seamen held in detention by immigration authorities
here since May, were released for 60 days and given the opportunity

to “grab a ship”

following an interview with Immigration Minister

Walter Harms by a group of prominent’ Vancouver trade unionists

Tuesday this week.
Plight of the Greek seamen,

who face death or concentration’

camps if they are returned to
Greece, was first made public in

the Pacific Tribune on May 12.

Since that time many unions
and other organizations
shown interest in the case, and
have sent letters to Ottawa pro-
testing the detention of the young
seamen.

have

The delegation which interview-
ed Harris was composed of Van-
couver’ Labor Council representa-
tives, headed by George Mitchell,
and other well-known unionists.
Members of the delegation which
held a long conference with the
minister at Hotel Vancouver were:
George Mitchell, VLC; Don Rad-

ford, CCL regional director; Pearl
Wedro, Fur and Leather Workers,

‘Percy Lawson, CCL representa-

tive; Jack Lucas, Amalgamated;
George Brown, Boilermakers and
Jack Phillips, Civic Workers.

Harris: explained that the men
will be released for 60 days to
enable them to try and catch a
ship. During this time they will
have to “shift for themselves” as
the Panamanian company which
formerly employed them is not

* responsible for their upkeep ex-

cept when the men are held in the
Immigration shed,

Should the men fail to ,ship
out within 60 days, they will be
taken back into custody and ship-
ped out on the first Panamanian
vessel which calls at this port.

Master agreement is

oe | | ; ig :

signed in fur industry
First master agreement in the fur industry here has been signed

between the Furriers Guild and the Vancouver Fur Workers Union,
Local 197, union district organizer Pearl Wedro announced this week.

The
Vancouver
10-cent hourly increase over pres-
ent wages for all employees; a

ne
prentices of $18 per week, with
an automatic $2 boost every three
months during the first year; paid

agreement, covering. 15

firms, provides for a

minimum starting rate for

statutory holidays; vacations with
pay; 40-hour, 5-day week; time
and one-half for overtime; main-
tenance of union membership,
preferential hiring and compul-
sory union checkoff; established
minimum scales for all sections of

WORKING FOR THE PT

the industry and grievance pro-
cedure,

The following plants are cover-
ed by the master agreement:
Alaska Furs, Anderson Furs, Ave-
nue Furs, Canadian Fur Enter-
prises, Fosters’ Fur Store, Faulk-
ner’s Furs, Lando Fur Co., Lubin
Furs, North West. Fur Co., Speis-
er Furs, Sweet Sixteen Ltd., Toft
Furs, Viking Fur. Co., Wallach
and Brail, and Yukon Furriers.

Miss Wedro said that several
other shops which are certified
are expected to become party to
this agreement shortly,

Now is the time to get subs

Renewing his subscription to
the Pacific Tribune this week, a
young man whose sub had expir-
ed said, “I’m glad someone called
on me. To tell you the truth, I
didn’t send in my own renewal
through sheer neglect—and how
I've missed your paper! Will you
please send me a few back issues
telling the truth about Korea?”

We've sent the back copies, but

there are many more ex-readers

like the young man above, who |

aren’t getting the Pacific Tribune
simply because they failed to re-
new their subs, and no one has
bothered to visit them.

This is the key job that faces
us: the getting of new readers
and hanging on to the old.

A total of 33 subs and renewals
were turned in this week, 17 from
Vancouver and 16 from provincial
points,

Norquay, Grandview and Fair-
view supporters head the parade
with three subs each. New West-
minster, Quesnel, Trail and Lake
Cowichan turned in two subs each.
Trailing with one sub were Hast-
invs East, Bill Bennett, Victory
Square, Kitsilano, Victoria, Na-
naimo and Alberni,

Street corner salesmen report
that the Pacific Tribune stories —
and articles on Korea make it
easy to sell the paper, Bundle
orders for stores have increased
durihg the past month. But more
Street salesmen are needed.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 21, 1950—PAGE 12