TTEMPTS are

being
made by the semi-
feudal timber mon-
epolies and their

agents to belittle the tre-
mendous victory gained by
the organized Ontario bushwork-
ers after their 22-day strike—a
strike that broke the ‘North*
country’s Open Shop Unlimited.

The anti-union, anti-labor
agents make a point of the fact
that the agreements signed with
the Lumber and Sawmill Work-
ers’ Union mainly cover pulp-

_ wood operations, leaving Fastern
@Qntario sawlog operations rela-
tively untouched. What they
conveniently “overlook” is the
fact, well known to them, that
the union’s campaign was aimed
at the heart of the basic timber
industry in Ontario—at the giant
monopolies which control pulp
and paper, such as Abitibi Pulp
and Power.

The 17 pulpwood and logging
companies which signed agree-
ments with the union—after 2
province-wide strike which cli-
Maxed a two-year attempt to
Svade signing such contracts —
employ well over 70 percent of
all workers in Ontario timber
camps! 2

In addition to the great vic-
tery won as a result of the
Strike, the union has many
agreements reached with large
Sawmill and logging operations
throughout Northern and North-
western Ontarié. When this is
kept in mind, along with the ne-
cessity of consolidating the great
strike gain, it can readily be
recognized that the complete or-
ganization of Ontario's pulp-
wood and logging industry is
well within reaching distance.
It is this fact which lies be-
hind the attempts being made
to belittle the great strike vic-
tory.

T would be fatal to conclude

that the victory gained by
the union will remain unchal-
lenged. The powerful monopolies
which control the pulp and log-
ging industry are only hiding
their time in seeking
and a way back to pre-war con-
ditions. This means that the

revenge

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 12

thousands of
brought into the union must be

new members
put on guard against all
Sible efforts to break ~
Spirit of solidarity.

This
and

pos-
their

involyes the most rapid
thorough consolidation of
the union in all camps and
mills, and, above all, the sxten-
sien of organization and collec-
tive bargaining to all areas not
yet organized. This job must be
concluded prior to the expira-
tion of the present agreement
(eight months away) and must
be viewed as a tremendous mop-
ping-up operation.

One of the most essential fac-
tors in this operation will be
to bring the union into the full-
est possible participation in the
patrietic battle against the ris-
ing cost of living, which re-

mains a constant threat to the

Wage gains and

sions won.

other conces-

How about the strike’ itself?
It took place at the very begin-
ning of the great British Colum-
bia woodworkers struggle. Our
strike brought 11,000 workers on
the picket line, and their de-
mands were simple and to the

point: a minimum wage of $5
per day plus board for general
labor; sanitary camps with
Single beds; union recognition.

The Qntario bushworkers’

Strike was timed well. It oc
curred at a time when the pulp
and paper monopolies had few
Stockpiles of raw wood for the
mils, but when the best pos-
Sible market conditions existed.
This was a factor that assisted
in compelling even the most bit-
ter anti-union managements to

agree te a settlement—especially —

after their elaborate plans for
mass scabherdinge failed,

NOTHER factor that led to
suecess was the correct ori-
entation of the union leadership
upon a policy of long and sus-

“tain struggle. By careful pre-
paration and study of experi-
ences gained by laber in post-

war battles throughout the coun-
try, the strike leadership avoid-
ed many weaknesses and mis-

takes. A great deal of work was
Gone prior to the strike to bring
the main issues before the pub-

LATTA TOLL TTT TTT NT

Ontario bushworkers

lic. This led to the Windsor con-

vention of the Trades and Labor -

Congress endorsing the strike
and its aims, aims which were
tied in with many broader com-
munity issues.

Experienced veterans of World
War 2 provided the firmest pos-
sible leadership on picket lines,
at parades, and wherever spe-
Cial discipline was needed. —

@

EN the strike started the

strategy of the employers
was mainly one of maintaining
@ conspiracy of silence, while
putting into motion all available
means for bringing in strike-
breakers from all parts of the
Dominion. The National Employ-
ment Service and the Big Busi-
ness press played a major role
in this strike-breaking conspir-
acy. Even after the effectiveness
of the strike was well establish-
ed—and after the Ontario gov-
ernment had publicly admitted
the loss of $250,000 in stump-
age fees alone—the big pulp and
paper monopolies continued their
stubborn propaganda about “no
strike.”

What was the most decisive
factor in the speedy and com-
plete victory of the bushwork-
ers? Undoubtedly it was the
unity {of the people with the
Strikers, and their firm deter-
mination to block a return to
the Hungry Thirties in the pulp-
wood and logging camps. This
unbreakable solidarity between
the strikers and the general pub-
lic of Northern and WNorthwest-
ern
provincial government to act in
helping to bring the stubborn
timber monopolies to terms.

C)
NE of the features of the
Ontario bushworkers strike

was the splendid unity between
French and English speaking
Canadian. It bridged, so to speak,
the gulf between Western and
Eastern Canada (in terms of
the B.C. woodworkers victory)
and opened wide the door for
complete unionization of all tim-
ber workers from one end = of
Canada to the other.

Nearly one half of the work-
ers directly involved in the On-
tario timber strike were French-
Canadians. Most of them were

Ontario forced a reluctant -

won a sreat

union victory

By
BRUCE MAGNUSON

@ The writer of this
article, widely known
as a leader of Ontario
lumberworkers, is sec-
retary of the Ontario
Federation of Labor

LUTTE AAA

young workers who had never
before been in contact with the
trade union movement. But de-
spite incomplete organization,
and the vicious splitting tactics
of the semi-feudal timber bar-
ons and their agents, the strike
penetrated the heart of On-
tario’s timber industry and
brought 18,000 out of potential
25,000 workers under collective
bargaining- agreements. The
large influx of members into
the union, which began during
the strike, is continuing at a
rapid rate.

The unity between workers and
farmers was another significant
feature of the strike. This fac-
tor is emphasized by the rapid

growth in union membership
among seasonal bushworkers

who spend their summer months
On farms.

AS in all big postwar strikes,

So in the bushworkers’ strug-
gle, every possible effort was
made to bring the full weight
of the state apparatus against
the workers. The Ontario gov-
ernment brought its police into
the strike area, distributing the
forces in such a way as to make
certain that the heaviest blow
would fall where the workers
were most recently organized,
and where red-baiting, intimida-
tion and various forms of prop-
aganda issued through the Big

AHUSITSLGVINVTUAANIAUUOANT ROUT ATP
Business press — and even by
sections of the Catholic hier

archy—would be most likely to
split the ranks of the strikers.

In the Cochrane District,
where 90 percent of the strikers
were recently organized French-—
Canadian ‘workers, 18 were ar-

rested in various trumped—-ip
charges. However, the attempt
of the Drew “government,

through Attorney-General Leslie

Blackwell, to prohibit effective
picketing, failed. The unity of
the people behind the strike,

plus the exemplary conduct of
the strikers in the face of all
provocation, was responsible for
this. On all sides the union
forces were commended (by
such ‘people as Mapistrate Tuck
er of Cochrane) for the discip-
line and orderliness of the strike,
while equally, on all sides, the

- Ontario government was request-

ed to remove its! provocative pro-
vincial police from the strike
scenes,

The strike ended im victory,
a great victory for the work
ers, not only in Q@ntario, but in

Canada as a whole, organized
and unorganized. The months
ahead will bring severe tests

for the union and its leadership.
Attempts will be made by mon-
opoly and its agents to cancel
out the gains made; our job
will be to consolidate what we
have won and to go forth to
further - victories.

Given the continued confidence
and support, built up during
years of severe trials and hard-
ships—and cemented by our
great strike—there is every rea-
Son to feel confident of the
future. A strong, propressive
union movement among workers
in Canada’s basic timber und
pulpwood industry can and will
be built. Along with the rest of
Canada’s organized workers, we
will march forward in a single,
united movement towards a bet-
ter Canada—a Canada more in
keeping with the needs of her

= A
svorking men and women.

ERIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1946