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THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

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THE WESTERN CANADIAN

LUMBER

WORKER

38,000 copies
printed in this issue.

Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS 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 Representatives — Elizabeth Spencer Associates

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. Gee?

EDITORIAL

A CRUSHING DEFEAT?

TH polls had hardly closed before the

predictable editorials began to appear
—"NDP not a national party,” “NDP dis-
appearing,” etc.

Such pronouncements reflect more
hope than conviction. It is true that as of
now they seem to have lost Tommy
Douglas, and if that is confirmed it will
be a terrible blow for the NDP and for
Canada.

But the party came out of this election

with two more seats than they got in
the 1965 election.

If the loss of a national Leader (the —

National leader) and. a net gain of two
seats is a defeat, then what words could
describe the fate of the Tories?

A loss of about one quarter of their
seats and their major spokesman for B.C.,
the prairies, Ontario and Quebec makes
the NDP results look like unqualified
victory.

As to being a national party, the NDP
now has a base in the prairies, which
they lacked going into the race.

The party has yet to establish itself
in Quebec and the maritimes, but the
Tories are in the same position in B.C.
and Quebec, and last year’s Liberals had
no base in the prairies.

None of this discounts the loss of T. C.
Douglas or the expected gains that failed
to materialize. But if a gain of two seats

A
O.K. .. . THAT’S FAR ENOUGH . .
LOOSE! 3

. SHE’S

is a crushing defeat, just imagine what DISCRIMINATION STUDY

an NDP victory will look like.

MACHINISTS WIN U.I.C. STRIKE APPEAL

Sixteen members of the In-
ternational Association of Ma-
chinists and Aerospace Work-
ers have won a significant
appeal before the umpire for
the Unemployment Insurance
Commission.

Doreen Bell and 15 other
employees were laid off by
Morse Chain Company of
Canada Limited after a six-
month strike ended last year.
The unemployment insurance
officer ruled they were eli-
gible for benefit from Oct. 16,
the date 50 members of a
-total work force of 66 were
recalled to work. But as a
result of the appeal their in-

surance benefits were dated
back to Oct. 6, 1967, the date
the agreement was signed.

The company had recalled
only 26 employees by Oct. 16,
1967, and had advised the
union Oct. 31, 1967, that it
would only need 50 of the
total pre-strike work force of
66 when it resumed full pro-
duction. The company claimed
the reduction was due pri-
marily to the effect of the
strike and the subsequent loss
of business.

Hon. Justice Kerr, the UIC
umpire, rejected the union’s
argument that there auto-

YOU LOST A MAN

On June 25 you lost a man, a man who dedicated his
life to making a better Canada for all — but especially
for you. A man who brought in the first free cancer
clinic in Canada, a man who brought in the first hospital
insurance scheme, the first car insurance, the first medi-
care in Canada, the man who fought for low-cost drugs,
aman who removed the barrier of the dollar so that
you and your family could achieve health and security.

A man who wanted a free and independent Canada,
a genuine peace in the world with justice and equality
for all the world’s peoples, a man who put his fellow
man’s needs and problems before his own, He dedicated

his life to you.

You were the loser on June 25—not Tommy Douglas
—because Tommy didn’t lose. The monuments he built
have enriched us all and will live forever as his contribu-

tion to his fellow man.

And we can only ask Tommy, his wife Irma and
Canadians all across Canada to forgive us for the loss;

we could have done more.

—JOHN McNEVIN

matically was no dispute be-
cause a settlement was signed
Oct. 6 and some employees
had returned to work. How-
ever, he ruled that each case
had to be decided on its merit
and that the burden of proof
was on the insurance officer
to prove that the applicant
was not eligible.

In his finding, he stated: “I
come to the conclusion that
the evidence is not sufficient
to support a finding that the
continuation of the stoppage
of work after the settlement
of the labor dispute was
clearly attributable to that
dispute.”

PRAISE FOR

THOMPSON'S

M.S.A. REPORT

The Editor:

My son is a member of the
I.W.A. here in Victoria and
receives the ‘Western Cana-

dian Lumber Worker.’ As a_

delegate to the M.S.A. meet-
ings in Vancouver I am great-
ly interested in the compre-
hensive report on ‘Canada’s

' Medicare Plan” by MS.A.

President Ben Thompson, Ist
Vice President, Local 1-71 on
page 8 of the above mentioned
paper. Would it be possible
for me to receive as many
copies as possible,

Appreciating your courtesy
and congratulating you and
all for the excellent paper.

I remain,

Sincerely yours,
Edward A. Duncan

FOR LABOUR-MANAGEMENT

Establishment of labor-
management committees to
study discriminations in their
own ranks was proposed here
by A. R. Gibbons, a general
vice-president of the CLC.

Addressing a conference on
human relations, sponsored
by the Canadian Council of
Christians and Jews, Mr. Gib-
bons said these committees
should look at employment
practices, recruitment of
workers, training, education
and individual attitudes of
labor and management to see
if there is discrimination.

Recommendations on dis-
crimination, passed by the In-
ternational Labor Organiza-
tion could form a basis for
such studies, he said.

The speaker suggested that
labor, management and goy-
ernment representatives at-

eco e
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tending conferences such as
the one organized by the
Council, formed part of a
“smug majority.”

He criticized groups for
“sitting around being knowl-
edgeable about problems of
Indians and Eskimos.”

“You have to get these
people here to tell you about
their problems not tell them
what their problems are,” he
said. -

Mr. Gibbons claimed that
smugness in itself was a form
of discrimination.

He said his own railway
union until a few years ago
had a clause in its constitu-
tion barring Negroes from its
membership. Some _ unions
still have such clauses and in-
dustry often discriminates
against many workers, he
charged.

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