MP won't support
farmers in fight
for fair contract

CHILLIWACK, B.C.

_ “An easement is a different matter,” wrote George Cruickshank,
Liberal MP for Fraser Valley, thus giving tacit consent to the unjust
Contracts offered farmers through whose land the Alberta-B.C. pipe

Farmers score
BEER bid for
Cheap easement

CHILLIW ACK, B.C.
The Chilliwack Progress re.
aes last week that expropria-
N proceedings probably would
by Started within the next 10 days
fi the BCElectric to obtain land
eK Its Waleach Lake power trans-
ost line through Chilliwack
id Sumas municipalities.
th Organized landowners along
_ © Proposed right-of-way in the
St Chilliwack district were join-
by farmers west of the Ved-
es Toad and Sumas Prairie in a
a mec: nation to obtain settle-
aa nt of easement on their land
their own terms or force the

“T presume that it (the contract
.with the Pipe Line Company)
calls for the line being ‘buried at
a certain depth in order that the
farm might be worked and this
should not materially interfere
with the operation of the farm,
particularly as presumably they
will.claim a 60-foot right-of-way,”
continued Cruickshank’s letter. »
’ “Not materially interfere with
the operation of my farm?” re-

“This man Cruickshank must
have no knowledge of farming to
make such a statement. His let-
ter is just a lot of doubletalk to
evade the issue.”
~ Cruickshank, who was replying
to a protest letter from a farmer
in this area, indicated his agree-
ment with and endorsation of
the unjust treatment meted out
to Fraser Valley farmers by the
Pipe Line ‘Company constructing
the Allberta-B.C. pipe line. —
“Obviously no ‘help can be ex-

plies the farmer in amazement.

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Youth paper campaign nears deadline

Four hundred dollars raised in one day! That was the record set by Vancouver suporters of
Champion, fortnightly national youth paper, last Saturday. Up to now $1850 has been raised in
cash for the youth newspaper in B.C. This is two-thirds of thé way in the drive to raise $2,500 in
this province with. only two weeks to go until March 31, the closing deadline here.

AUXILIARY MEMBERS INTERVIEW MLA’s

pected from our MP,” said one.
farmer. “But there are many of
us who are prepared to face
expropriation rather than sign a
contract which allows us only a
dollar a rod for a 60-foot right-of-
“way.”
Farmers are becoming more
and more united in their demand
for a better deal and will remem-
ver when election day rolls
around that George ‘Cruickshank
was on the side of the company,
not the people he is supposed to
represent, .

C mpany into expropriation pro-
®edings,” the paper stated.
ae eir action was taken by a
eting of 55 landowners in the
ter Chilliwack’ hall after a let-
rej Was read from the company
i ting ithe prices set by the
Peuers |. > .
i Average price asked ‘by the
hee for easement ‘rights is

Pee ne to Frank Edwards, sec-
cony,, of the East Chilliwack
be ee average price offered

'the i . ”
—_¢ company is $70 an acre.

High transit fares hit
longshoremen hardest

threat evedores along the docks in the Port of Vancouver have been
atened with another wage cut by the proposed increases of
ay fare by the BCElectric,” says a leaflet issued last week by:
ayy aterfront club of the Labor-Progressive party. .
been orkers in this industry have
‘Bow_filling the coffers of the
‘dus more than any other in-
Work ‘by the very nature of
(ee ing conditions which exist in
continues the leaflet,

perts to give evidence at the re-
cent public hearings and the sub-
servience of ‘this commission to
the dictates of the BCE in not’
allowing an immediate necreare
‘ aH in existing ferry fares, calls for
‘long the en setae oe the replacement of the present
: “W. Z PUC by a new commission with
Public have been cursed with a | labor representation. ae
Which | - Utilities 'Commission| “‘Longshoremen should join in
the 2 bas a 100 percent score for | the demand to fire the PUC be-
Bopp any; it has granted the|ing made by many other trade
Made ert application it has unions and citizens’ organiza-
Berets fatlure of the PUC ex- | tions.

A Book Publishers Dared Not Print
Now 5th Printing (Total 30,000 Copies)

| “SPARTACUS”

By Howard Fast

s

$2.75, plus 3% sales tax - post free

Available at People’s Co-op Bookstore

337 W. PENDER) — MA. 5836

Lobby to Victoria was first labor
experience for fishermen’s wives

By MINERVA MILLER

In the fight for compensation

“We'll defend our righteous cause;

Our dependents need protection

So we'll have to change the laws.

We'll stand

For the union makes us

Sung to the tune of Solidarity,
this was one of several songs
which grew out of the recent fish- |
ermen’s lobby to Victoria, and its
sentiments were
heartily endors-
ed |

wives who join-

‘before the gov-
ernment. cry

“T haven’t been away from
home overnight for 12 years,”
said one of the women from Fort
‘Langley, “but I knew it was im-
portant to ibe in Victoria.”

So, like other women in the
delegation, she worked late and
long preparing to come, cooked
and baked ahead for the family,
made sure that there were enough
darned socks, and clothes laid out,
arranged for some one to look
alfter the children and, shedding
-a few tears privately at the

. thought of leaving them, came

along. "

“After all, we're deing this for
our children,” said women dele-
gates, encouraging, each other.
For it is a big thing for women
accustomed to the constant de-
mands of ‘home filling their days,
to find themselves for the first
time part of a big, impressive
labor lobby, proudly: wearing
their badges, cheering dn the fleet,
marching with placards to head-
quarters and joining their teams
in determined pursuit of every
member of the House.

After what seemed like count-
less journeys along Government

behind our union,
solidarity our song, .

strong.

Street, up and down the steps of
the legislature and along the
marble halls, they succeeded in
reaching every member of the
House. Women were a part of
every team visiting MLA’s apd
there were women spokesmen on
the delegation to the cabinet, and
to the Conservative and CCF
caucuses. 'They exercised an in-
fluence greater than their num-
bers and added a great deal of
Spirit, strength and color to the

entire delegation.

Their participation marked a
big advance for the fast-grow-
ing auxiliary movement. It
was the first time that the aux-
iliary. had played a recognized
part in any major campaign of
the United Fishermen and AlI-
lied Workers Union.

The rapid development of the
auxiliary in recent months is in
large part due to the vigorous
campaigning of the union on such
issues as the Japanese Fisheries
Treaty, which has been recogniz-
ed as immediately affecting the
fishermen’s livelihood, and other |
matters of urgent concern to the
fisherman’s family.

\

x * x

The compensation issue has a
particularly strong appeal for
women. No one is more aware
than the fisherman’s wife or mo-
ther of the hazardous nature of
the occupation. However well
she may conceal it, she is never
free of a nagging anxiety at the
‘back of her mind. She cannot
hear the wind in the trees’'on a’

| lovely day without wondering if

a gale is blowing in the Gulf or in
Johnstone Straits. A routine
weather report leaves her pictur-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE

ing a seine-boat crew in difficulty,
or seeing a lonely gillnetter hang-
ing on ‘his net in rough seas and
taking a ‘beating as he tries to get

|to shelter.

She is keenly aware of the
danger of accident. If a fisher-
man suffers an injury he may ne
unable to work during the two or
three months when the bulk of
his year’s income is made. And
in most cases he is not covered
by compensation. Or if, as hap-
pens to a number every year, the
fisherman is drowned, for her it
means not only the loss of a.
loved one. It also means that she
and her family may be left in the
worst possible circumstances, de-

nied the protection of the Work-- |

men’s Compensation Act which
covers the dependents of men in
most other industries.

The battle is not yet won.
Notwithstanding the promises
of support from some members

in all parties, and the willing. —
‘ ness of the CCF and Tom Up-

hill to introduce the required
amendments, they found Prem-
ier Johnson cagey and unwil-
ling to deal with the fisher-
men’s case, while Anscomb was
openly hostile.

But the women who were in
Victoria are more confident than
ever of victory. The lobby made
a deep impression on the general
public. The case for the fisher-
men is unanswerable. They know
that the men and women of the —
industry are more’ united than
ever in their’ determination to
win.

Part of this conviction” grows

out of a new wumderstanding of
the strength of the trade union
movement and pride.in the ach-.
ievements of their own union.
For many women of the group,

to whom the delegation was an

entirely new experience, this day-
to-day contact for the first time
with organized men and women
of the labor -movement opens up ©
a wider world of struggle and
advance.

— MARCH 21, 1952 — PAGE 7