eet eR ta ON a eer eS Pee Bete ig oT ere am THE WESTERN CANADIAN THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER ™ WORKER 38,000 copies printed in this issue. Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQDWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor — Pat Kerr Business Manager — Fred Fieber Advertising Representative — G. A. Spencer Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, = and for payment of postage in cash. EDITORIAL CZ'S IDIOTIC APPROACH pptotic is the only way to describe Crown Zellerbach’s new approach to industrial relations. Instead of moving ahead with the times, the Company’s so- called new approach, is founded on the archaic premise that employees are serv- _ants of the employer with no rights what- soever. This is evident in the manner the Com- pany arbitrarily cut back service time payment for machine operators in the logging camps while its competitors were increasing such payments to their em- ployees. It is also evident by the way the Com- pany has thrown employees into a state of confusion in surrounding them with American experts ‘time studying’ their jobs. The results have been these experts, to justify their activities, have recom- mended employee cut backs placing an additional work load on the already over- worked employees. However, this policy has sharply cur- tailed Company production. Many of its operations have been plagued by work stoppages and walkouts since the meas- ures were initiated. At the moment, two of the Company’s highly profitable operations — in Van- couver and Courtenay — are shut down completely. ' Company officials have refused to dis- cuss the issues involved and appear only interested in carrying on petty recrim- inations against the employees. They have evidenced no great concern over production losses. A typical example of their callous thinking was the statement made by the personnel manager who said, “I've better things to do on a Sunday” when asked by the Union camp committee to mediate the Courtenay operation dispute. A more responsible approach might have resolved the problem preventing closure of the logging show and saving 170 workers from being idled. Contrary to what some people might think, workers don’t take job action lightly. Such action is taken only as a last resort to preserve the dignity of their labour. This is the case with the Crown Zel- lerbach employees. EDITORIAL THANKLESS TASK EXPRESSIONS of unity echoing from the recent NDP provincial convention ap- pear| to us to have a somewhat hollow ring. While party leader Robert Strachan was being pledged. full support, rumors were circulating that the axe was already being sharpened to chop off the head of provincial secretary Clive Lytle. Lending credence to these rumors was the unwarranted. attack on Lytle by former MP Erhart Regier, who ac- cused him of misusing his office to cam- paign for a federal nomination. Admittedly, Nanaimo MLA Dave Stupich came fo Lytle’s defence but to the convention’s shame no apology was demanded from Regier and no mention was made that he was seeking the same federal nomination. The NDP owes Lytle a debt of grati- tude for the magnificent job he has done since taking over as provincial secretary and it’s a shocking way to reward such service. As a paid employee of the party, he was left in the untenable position of be- ing unable to publicly refute the charge. Because of this some delegates left the convention believing the accusation was true. It's a sad commentary on any political party to have it known its civil servants are subject to such cavalier treatment and especially so for a party like the NDP. And yet for some peculiar reason NDP members consider it always ‘open season’ where their civil servants are con- cerned. They too hastily forget their so- ‘ cialist principles when dealing with these employees; something we find most dif- ficult to comprehend. "A PHONY ISSUE UNDER A NOBLE NAME" A campaign for more au- tonomy in the Canadian labour movement was termed “a phony issue under a noble name” by Kenneth Bryden, MLA for Toronto-Woodbine for the NDP. Addressing the annual meeting of the Hamilton and District Labour Council, he said the campaign was anti- labour. Behind the move he detect- ed the hand of the Liberal party, he said, which was at- tempting to attack the labour movement’s backing of the NDP. “The NDP declines to as- sociate itself with this thinly- disguised attempt at union- busting,” he declared. “The issue is phony be- cause with few exceptions Canadian unions already have autonomy,” he said. eee rt? Se, ae ae atthe a te tay ee ‘ 3 +4 HOLD IT A SEC WHILE | TUCK THESE IN YER HIP POCKET . . . NO USE TWO OF US MAKIN’ A TRIP JUST FER A COUPLE OF SPIKES! NO HOUSING CRISIS? On May 31 REID SCOTT, MP (Toronto Danforth) asked Labour Minister NICHOLSON: “In view of the continuing housing crisis in Canada could the minister tell the house whether before a summer recess we may expect legislation in the terms so eloquently outlined by the defeated Liberal candidate in Sudbury?” Mr. NICHOLSON gave a very surprising — but a typical Liberal—reply: “TI am afraid that I cannot accept the premise put forward by the hon. gentleman as to there being a housing crisis. There are housing problems in one or two centres in Canada, but in my view the term ‘crisis’ is no longer applicable.” LIBERAL SMEAR CAMPAIGN GIVES NDP ENCOURAGEMENT The Editor: Thank you — Walter Gor- don! I think at this time it would be very impractical of union members in Canada not to pass comment on the signifi- cance of Mr. Gordon’s speech in Hamilton. I will not pass comment on the text of the speech, as it was composed of frontal at- tacks, half-truths, and whole- _sale innuendoes — therefore, deserves no comment, It does, however, project the thought of the old line party domination coming to an end. No more can the Lib- erals and Conservatives claim the throne of Canada for themselves. A new prince has arrived—the New Democratic Party. In a last desperate at- tack, the Liberals have initi- ated a smear campaign. Take heart — brothers and sisters — this means that our work has not been in vain. A sign-post has appeared, indi- cating that our decisions to have political affiliations were not only correct, but were constructively applied. In the future, greater acknowledgment of political action must be our watch- word. Greater participation must be our directive; in order that we may make Mr. Walter Gordon’s fear a reality —A New Democratic Party government. The horizon is ours to seek. Thank you, Mr. Gordon, for your encouragement ! E. DeANNA. Natal, B.C. QUOTES Trying to understand mod- ern art is somewhat like try- ing to follow the plot in a bowl of alphabet soup. The worm not only turns; he often does it without giving the proper signal. — The Irish Digest.