eh ich lib ic alia ie ii Civic workers vote acceptance of wage boost, score redbaiting By JACK PHILLIPS Secretary Civic Employ es’ Union, Local 28 : Vancouver's 1600 outside civic workers, organiz:d in Local 28, Civic Employees’ Union (T.L.C.), have scored another victory. On Friday, March 4th, the largest by secret ballot, and by a vast majority, to accept t mittee. The wage pact provides an in- crease of nine cents per hour for laborers, twelve and sixteen cents per hour for truck drivers, seven- teen cents per hour for tradesmen and substantial adjustments for numerous other categories, includ- ing. foremen, machine operators, timbermen, trades helpers, im- provers; pipe layers and mainten- ance men. The over-all average is 11.6 cents per hour. | Back in September, 1947, when Donald Guise, formerly an ~ or- ganizer of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union, was elect; ed business agent, and when I was elected secretary, some of our members were quite concerned. “The LPP has captured the lo- cal, The city council will have nothing to do with us now!” “The Regs will pull us out on strike, for sure! They always do!” These were some of the com- ments that came back to us. But history, and the official yecord, have a way of proving what's right and what’s wrong. So_ let’s have a look at the record. In 1948 the union won a wage inerease of fourteen cents an hour, across the board. Add the average of 11.6 for 1949 and you have a total of 25.6 cents per hour This averages nearly thirteen cents per hour per year. In 1946 and 1947, when the labor movement in BIC. was making tremendous gains in the economic field, the local won eight cents an hour, an average of four cents per year. But the true picture cannot be proven by mathematical tables alone. One must appreciate the difference between 1946-47 and 1948-49, In 1946 and 1947, tens of thous- ands of workers, in basic and secondary industries were engaged in mass battles for wage increases, and great victories were won and recorded. In 1948, the wage drive had slowed down considerably, | meeting in the history of the union voted, he wage increases negotiated by their bargaining com- and, so far, in 1949, there is very ,must be seen in order to get. &/ little to indicate that here will be|true sense of perspective. a wide sweeping drive from coast te coast. . The gains won in 1948 made our outside civic workers the highest paid workers in Canada, for the work they were doing. DON GUISE “ . . it’s a good formula.” ' Then came 1949. The splits in the labor movement had deepened. Right-wing CCF’ers dominated the high councils of the CCL. Right- wing reaction raised its head again in the Trades Congress movement. Left-led} unions were under fierce attack, from the bosses, and from and there was plenty of gloom in the air. Forty thousand unem- ployed in B.C.! Loss of -foreign markets! AFL executive backs Hall! Reds to be purged from TLC! Auto workers take wage cuts, and leaders campaign against communism! Mosher calls for sup- port of CCF, but no wage drive! Steel union declares war on Har- vey Murphy, but not on company steel centers! This is the background against which the victory of Local 28 STANTON 16 E, HASTINGS ST. Barristers and Solicitors 501 HOLDEN BUILDING VANCOUVER, B.C. & MUNRO- ‘ MArine 5746 We Always Army and Navy Sell for Less will never know- ingly be undersold. We will meet any competitor’s price at any time, not only ceiling price but floor price, and we will gladly refund any differ- ence. Army and guaranteed to be Navy prices are the lowest in Van- . couver at all times. ARMY & NAVY PEPARTMENT STORES Vancouver and New Westminster their agents within the _ labor movement. ; Came January and #ebruary, / When speakers at a meeting of the Vancpuver Civic Federation advocated that the outside work- ers, City Hall staff, police and firemen should go for a_ cost-of- living bonus, it was Donald Guise, Business Agent of Local 28, who settled the matter. “Why tie -ourselves to a sliding scale?” he asked the meeting. “Why base ourselves on pre-war living standards? Let us fight to wards, in keeping with the in- creased productivity of our na- tion!” This was the policy that won! : The new scale of wages makes Vancouver’s outside civic workers the highest-paid group of urban workers in the province, for the type of work they are doing, and British Columbia leads Canada. The following example will .prove this contention: Laborer Seer cS $1.09 and $1.13 Truck Driver .... $1.18 and $1.23 Tradesmen io) 6 oo oe $1.38 irades Helper... oie $1.12 Asphalt: Raker 6,3) 92.3 - $1.23 Light Tractor Operator ... $1.23 BDRM DALIAN -, 65. $1.23 Caulker! 4 oe sc), $1.13 and $1.18 (All rates quoted are per hour.) In addition to the rates quoted, a large number of adjustments were made in order to establish a better scale of compensation for many jobs requiring skill, or call- ing for special responsibility. This will establish: a more equitable re- lationship between different cate- gories, and provide. more incentive for men to seek promotion through seniority #nd merit. The settlement directly involves the workers employed by the Water Works and Board of Works. Employees of the Schoo] Board. Parks Board, Exhibition Board and Airport will get similar raises. The question of the union shop, pay day every second Friday, three weeks’ holidays after five years, increased contribution by the city towards health insurance, and other minor demands, will be dis- cussed in the near future. The bargaining committee is confident that more gains will be recorded. No, it wasn’t the “Reds” who did it a We just did a little bit! It was the 1,500 united members who did it, and there is but a small handfull of “Reds” amongst them. The secret of our success lies in eye on the ball these last two years, and played as a team, for more wage, better working condi- tions and more security. When you're doing that, your members have no time and no patience for the bosses’ agents and their Red-baiting tales of woe. It’s a good formula, fellow workers, and it produces good trade union results. - Honor roll Is your name on this March list of Pacific Tribune sub-get- ters yet? GREATER VANCOUVER Roy Lawryniuk, East End No. 2 Percy Budd, Commercial Dr. 5 Nigel Morgan, Victory Square 3 Elsie Brandon, Northlands .. 3 Nick Covale, East End No. 1 .. 2 Winona Zukor, Hastings East 2. Maude Stehr, Norquay ‘ Bert Bird, Mariime tPROVINCE F. R. Ayres, Langley Prairie .. 2 OV Bill 7 HIGHEST PRICES PAID for DIAMONDS, OLD GOLD Other Valuable Jewellery , STAR LOAN CO. Ltd. E&T. 1965 719 Robson St. — MAr. 2622 —CQOOrPOORD|a>> move our standards of living up-|’ the fact that we have all kept our |’ Youbou group fights union discrimination By HENRY LUNDGREN ——YOuUBOU,.B.C. A conspiracy by B.C. Forest Produéts Mill management here and certain IWA leaders to completely dominate this mill community met resounding defeat at the annual meeting of the and community management February |}. The meeting was high-lighted by the re-instatement of I. J. Gibson (local 80 WIU of C vice-president) as a member of the. Association by a vote of 76 to 47, and a spon- taneous booing of John Atkinson (local 1-80 IWA_ vice-president) when he charged that Bro. Gibson’s request for re-instatement was not made in good faith. The Youbou Utility Fund was or- ganized during the war years on a one-half of one percent payroll deduction: for the purpose of pro- HENRY LUNDGREN viding for the Red Cross and other worthy charities, the community hall, recreation, parks and local in- digents. A board of 5 members heads the Utility Fund with cor- responding sub-boards for the hall, parks, etc. In the past provision has been made whereby non-em- ployees could come under the plan through a minimum contribution of 50 cents per month. On November 19 Gibson was notified by the BCFP ‘that having overstayed, his leave of absence whilst a member of the district- wide negotiating committee, they no longer considered him an em- ployee of the company. After a delay of two months’ time in which this discriminatory action of the company was concurred in by the IWA, and in which the case was falsely. represented to the Labor Relations Board .by the IWA, it ‘then became apparent that Brother Gibson could not be reinstated at this time, so in order to maintain his status under the Utility Fund he despatched a cheque coverng all arrears in dues. This cheque was returned with an explanation that since he was no longer an em- ployee, and since no provision ex- isted for payment of arrears, the Board felt that he was no longer a member. At the annual meeting the Sec- retary of the Board informed the meeting that on November 8 they PACIFIC 9588 Youbou Utility Fund | peed been informed by letter from the BCFP that Bro Gibson was no longer an employee, despite the fact that Bro Gibson was not notified before November 19 whilst a patient on sick leave in the hos- pital. Bro. Gibson’s re-instatement in- dicates that the progressive work- ers of Youbou will not for long put up with the company and IWA stooges’ attempts to dom- inate the community. In the vote taken it is well to note that some | 30 confidential employees of the company were present. these with _the support of the IWA sub-local executive made up the opposition vote to Bro. Gibson. 4 A further attempt to limit mem- bership to employees only was de- feated, as well as the attempt to increase dues to one percent of the payroll. In debating this latter is- sue, Bro. Gibson drew wide .smiles when he stated that these payroll deductions were not a condition of employment and could be re- voked at any time by the con- tributor, and that if they increased the rates to one percent he guar- anteed that the majority of em- ployees would revoke ‘the check~ off and that further he also guar- anteed that this would be one re- vocation that the company would be forced to recognize. (The com- pany previously refused IWA re- vocations.) \ LPP meet to chart | program for peace “Elect Fighters for Peace, Security, Democracy” will be the keynote of the Labor-Pro- gressive Party 6th Annual B.G.- Yukon Convention to open Fri- day, March 18 in the Pender Auditorium, it was announced this week. The Convention will open with a public session on Friday even- ing, when Leslie Morris, editor of the Canadian Tribune is scheduled to speak. Nigel Mor- gan, provincial leader, will give the main political report at this Session, On Saturday and Sunday one hundred and thirty or so dele- gates from all parts of the pro- vince will hammer out policies ‘for the forthcoming provincial and federal elections, and chart a course aimed at achieving the maximum unity of the people of: British Columbia for peace and social security. Coal Wood ‘| Sawdust | UNION FUELS FA. 7663 119 EAST Jack Cooney, Mer. FERRY MEAT MARKET Vancouver, B.C. FREE DELIVERY Supplying Fishing Boats HASTINGS Our Specialty Nite Calls GL. 1746L PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MARCH 11, 1949 — PAGE &