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THE WESTERN CANADIAN

LUMBER

Published twice monthly

Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1
2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

CCN ee
Business Manager ...

Advertising Representative —

as the official publication of the
INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA,

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

WORKER

<>"
Affiliated with AFL-C10-cLC

Phone 874-5261

a. Pat Kerr
_.....- Fred Fieber
....G. A. Spencer

Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accordance with con-

vention decisions.

Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of

postage in cash.

27,500 copies printed in this issue.

EDITORIAL

SINCERITY NEEDED

7* Province, well-known for its pro-

management sympathies, has sug-
gested in a recent editorial that there is
a strong danger in B. C. industrial dis-
putes that one side or the other will be
“crucified on the altar of expediency” by
the present method used in recommend-
ing settlements.

The editorial is, in our opinion, an ill
concealed attempt on the part of the
Province to criticize the Coast forest in-
dustry settlement.

To back up its argument the editorial

went on to state that too many labour |

settlements are eleventh-hour improvisa-
tions with the most important objective
of the mediator appearing to be to get
the men back to work at any cost.

The Province’s motive would not be
suspect if this view had been advanced
while labour was protesting the use of
third parties to settle industrial disputes.

However, because it is the poor em-
ployers who feel that they were crucified
for the sake of expediency, the Province
rushes in to decry the use of such “cliff-
hanging” methods.

The editorial sanctimoniously suggest-
ed how much better it would be if med-
iators were summoned long before the
dispute reached the critical stage so that
fairer and more provident settlement
formulas could be drafted.

The fact that the employers brought
this situation on themselves by their de-
liberate procrastination at the bargain-
ing table was conveniently overlooked
by The Province for the sole purpose of
shifting the blame to other quarters.

We suggest to The Province that if it
were genuinely interested in advancing a
harmonius solution for industrial dis-
putes it could advise employers to bar-
gain with more sincerity in the future.

EDITORIAL

"SERVE TO STRENGTHEN”

HE “guilty” verdict rendered against
Peterborough, Ont., labour leaders
accused of defying a court injunction
against picketing is a serious setback in
labour’s battle against the misuse of
injunctions in labour disputes.

But it should serve to strengthen, not
weaken, the resolve of Canadian unions
to correct the abuses of this juridical
device.

Actually, all that Chief Justice Gale
has done is to confirm the basis of la-
bour’s criticism of injunctions, and the
menner in which they are granted by the
courts to curtail or eliminate picketing.
His decision simply supports the growing
conviction of unions that redress cannot
be won through court appearances or ap-

ls. The remedy lies in political action

fo have the present laws and their inter-
is — changed by the country’s leg-
tors.

As long as the laws remain as they
are, the courts will continue to impose
them to the detriment of working people.
The Tilco Plastic injunction at Peter-

igh was a classic case in point. The
the Textile Workers, called a legal

ke and began picketing the company’s
ises. The company ayes applied

Four days later, the company applied for,
and was granted automatically, a con-
tinuance of the injunction until such time
as the matter could be brought fo trial.

This procedure ignored the fact that
it was the company’s refusal te bargain
in good faith which was responsible for
the breakdown of negotiations and the
subsequent calling of the strike. The On-
tario minister of labour admitted as much
in the provincial legislature.

The union, on the other hand, observ-
ed the law scrupulously at all times. Its
strike was legal; so were its picket lines.
The right to picket should be subject to
restriction only if there is a breach of the
criminal law, or an obvious danger of
such a breach. There was no such viola-
tion of the criminal law at any time prior
to the granting of the injunction. In fact,
it was positively established at the trial
of the injunction hearing that no violence,
intimidation, or harassment had occurred
that would warrant the laying of a
charge of any kind.

It is understandable, then, why the
labour movement has lost confidence in
the courts when it comes to the use of
injunctions. It is apparent that the courts
will never be persuaded to change their
injunction practices unless the law itself

is changed.
—CANADIAN TRANSPORT

pen Ban ne fe Oe ee es ,:

An’ here’s another shot of me...

boom. .

1st Issue
July, 1966

workin’ on th’
. just before they transferred me to th’
green chain!

[.L.0. CONFERENCE

The eighth conference of
the American region of the
International Labour Organ-
ization is scheduled for Otta-
wa from September 12th to
23rd.

Being held in Canada for
the first time, the conference
is expected to attract dele-
gates from 25 nations of north,
south and central America
and the Caribbean.

The conference will have
two main topics on its agenda,
first employment and man-
power policies and their rela-
tion to economic development;
second, the relationship of
minimum labor and social se-
curity standards. to economic
development.

The two hundred delegates
expected to attend will in-

clude industrialists, trade
unionists and representatives
of government.

Scheduled to be held in the
Parliament buildings, the con-
ference will be addressed by

the Prime Minister as well as -

by Jose Y. Mora, of the Or-
ganization of American States.

In addition to the Minister
of Labor who will head the
Canadian delegation, repre-
sentatives of the departments
of external affairs, manpower

and national health and wel-<

fare will also attend together
with representatives of pro-
vincial governments.

Arrangements for the con-
ference are the responsibility
of the federal department of
labor and its international af-
fairs branch.

NEW 2-YEAR CONTRACT

A two-year contract gives
New Westminster outside
workers a total increase of
32% cents per hour and pro-
vides for an 11% salary in-
crease for inside workers.

Approval of the new con-
tract covering some 210 city
inside and outside workers
came six months and four
days after the last contract
expired and followed similar
settlements by Vancouver
City and North Vancouver

civic workers, who had to

take strike action to back u
their demands. :

_ Increases will be retroac-
tive from January 1, 1966 and
will boost the base rate for
laborers from its present
$2.28% to $2.61 per hour by
July 1, 1967, while the salar-
ies for entrance class clerk
typists will increase from

$231 to $257 per month by the
same date,

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