THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

NDP-LABOUR SOLIDARITY: NDP leader Ed Broadbent is
seen here presenting a cheque for $1700 to the Children’s
Christmas Fund set up to purchase gifts for children of strik-
ing Inco workers in Sudbury. The NDP donation represented
a $100 contribution from each NDP MP, and was officially re-
ceived by the family of Gary Patterson (above), one of, the
workers who have been on strike against Canada’s nickel

giant since September 15, 1978. é

[Ete ege need

By FRANK WALL
Regional Education Director

Registrations continue to
pour in to the Canadian Labour
Congress Office for its Annual
Winter School at Harrison Hot
Springs.

At the time of writing there
are more than 30 applications
for the I.W.A. Leadership
Course — January 21-26, 1979.

It is fortunate that a number
of applicants have indicated
their second choices on the
registration forms as it is quite
likely that there may be too
Many registrants for the
I.W.A. course and at that point
the indication of a second
choice of course is of vital im-
portance.

There is to this point in time
one official registrant for the
Instructor’s course and one or
two verbal indications of
participation but by the time
that this reaches you it is to be
hoped that there will be suffi-
cient support for this course.

The total program for the
school this year is both exciting
and innovative to some.degree.
With seminars on Democratic
Socialism February 4-9; Time
Management — January 21-26;
Public Relations and Labour
Journalism — February 11-16;
Labour College Graduate
Course — February 4-9; one
can readily see that there is
much that has been done to
introduce courses out of the or-
dinary to the regular school
format.

This year should prove to be
one of great importance to the
labour movement in this prov-

ince. AS you may be aware
there is the great possibility of
a Federal and a Provincial
election this year. It is in set-
tings such as the upcoming
Winter School that unionists
have a great opportunity to
mingle and discuss problems
that they perceive effect them
and their families and friends,
with each other.

It provides a great oppor-
tunity to discuss their future,
the future of this province and
the country as a-whole.

It enables people to do some
Serious thinking about their fu-
ture and the role labour can
play in the days that lie ahead.

It is my hope and wish that
those of you who are fortunate
enough to attend the Winter
School in 1979 may come away
from Harrison with further re-
solve to continue to assist your
organization in whatever way
possible and to become as ac-
tive in as positive a way as is
possible in your own local
unions.

If the school is to be termed a
success, then it has to result in
a greater application by the
student on his return to his
local, of his efforts and talents,
to the memberships needs. It
can be a period of time, during
that week, that can help the
student reinforce some of his
ideas and thoughts about the
Union Movement. If that can
help him to pass it on to his fel-
low workers if it enables him or
her to apply some of those
things learned at the school.

Then the school will be a real
success.

Ly

The 35-hour week is now the
prior aim of the British unions
in the move to reduce un-
employment. In fact, the sub-
ject was widely discussed at
the recent congress of the TUC
in Brighton.

The immediate aim of the
TUC, and particularly of
President David Basnett, also
General Secretary of the
General and Municipal Work-
ers’ Union, is to obtain the 38-
hour week from the govern-
ment with full wage compensa-
tion, particularly for manual
workers, in exchange for his

bo se

support for a policy of wage re-
Straint.

As for the Confederation of
British Industry (the em-
ployers’ Organization), it is
opposed to any reduction in
working hours which, accord-
ing to it, would increase wage
costs and would undermine the
ability of British industry to
compete and would lead in the
end to more unemployment.

Following on the positions
adopted by the Belgian and
German unions, that of the
TUC shows that the 35-hour
week is increasingly becoming
a “European claim’’.

By TOM FAWKES
What do eight west coast
fishermen, 52,000 woodworkers
from across western Canada
and 11,700 striking Steelwork-

ers have in common? Twenty-

five tons of fish that’s what! To
be exact twenty-five tons of
herring caught near Lady-
smith on Vancouver Island
brought to Vancouver and
frozen for shipping across the
country to Sudbury, Ontario
where the Steelworkers are on
strike against the giant INCO
multi-national.

The whole thing is an
exercise in national solidarity,
the kind of national solidarity
that makes the Canadian
labour movement what it is. In
total there are about twenty-
four thousand people effected
by the INCO strike when one
considers the families of the
striking workers as well, and
the twenty-five tons of fish will
be distributed to the strikers
and their families.

The whole thing was put
together during the B.C. Fed-
eration of Labour convention in
mid-November with the fisher-
men’s union (UFAWU) agree-
ing to send the. boats out to
catch the fish and the IWA
agreeing to pay towards the
cost of processing and shipping
the fish. There are a number of
other unions contributing
towards the processing and
shipping bill which will be in

NOTICE

Anyone knowing the present
whereabouts of Arthur Keyes,
formerly of Galino Island, is
asked to please contact Mrs.
June Dobbin, care of Robert
Randell, General Delivery,
Honeymoon Bay, Vancouver
Island VOR1Y0 or phone Mrs.
R. Randell at 749-3736.

ee eS XG Fees # Fe
REGIONAL 1st Vice-President Bob Blanchard inspects the catch

JANUARY,

eK,

of herring which the IWA paid to ship to the striking Steelworkers
in Sudbury, Ontario.

eir time

to catch the herring. Group left, Lou Buzikievich, John Soloway,
Peter Wishinski (Skipper and owner of the vessel); Bill Wishinski,

Harry Beale, Rich Wishinski.

excess of three. thousand
dollars.

For those of us on the west
coast and the prairies who are
not accustomed to eating
herring in any other way than
pickled, or swimming in sour
cream, along with our beer and
cannot imagine anyone eating
the fish any other way, the
Steelworkers inform us that a

PHOTOS BY DON JANTZEN

large number of their mem-

bers in the Sudbury local are

originally from the east coast
where herring is consumed as
a main course fish and those

members looked forward to the
arrival of the-fish——-.._..

It wasn’t turkey but it was

better than what the boss was.
going to give them.

COPIES OF GAZETTE
WANTED BY LIBRARY

TORONTO (CPA) — The University of Toronto Industrial j=
Relations Library requires copies of the Labour Gazette for .j :

the period 1939 to 1950 inclusive. :

* Anyone who has any issues in this period and would like to
have them made available for research purposes, please
contact W. Wray Roulston, Chief Librarian, Centre for In-
dustrial Relations, University of Toronto, 123 St. George
Street, Toronto, Canada, M5S 1A1.

STILL FORCED TO WORK

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN
|

1979 has been designated by
the United Nations as Interna-
tional Year of the Child. The
UN in making the announce-
ment reminded the world that
“Mankind owes to the child the
best that it has to offer.”

While the UN was making its
proclamation, the Interna-

tional Labour Organization in
Geneva, issued a report stating
that fifty-two million children
under the age of 15 years are
forced to work, some in deplor-
able conditions.

While the majority of these
working children live in the
developing countries, one
million are exploited in the
developed countries.

These children work princi-
pally in agriculture, small
localized industry in the rural
regions, craft workshops or
small family shops. Very often
they work in conditions highly
detrimental to their health.
Many of them have never been
to school.

According to the ILO report,
29 million children work in
Southern Asia, 9 millions in
East Asia, 10 millions in Africa

and 3 millions in Latin
America.

INQUIRY

ON FORCED. -
RETIREMENT

The B.C. Human Rights
Commission will conduct an in-
quiry into the issue of manda-

tory retirement at age
Labour ome

Code will continue to rovi

anti-discrimination eee
for people between the ages of
45 and 65, adding that in his
opinion mandatory retirement
at the age of 65 is a good idea.

a
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