4 f i. “4 ea THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER CIVIL RIGHTS N the early days of IWA organization, a lumber op- erator ordered his scabs to fire on unarmed pickets who had assembled peaceably on the road leading to his property. A woodworker was seriously wounded. The real culprits were not charged; the victims were sentenced for rioting, so powerful was the company’s political influence. We now hope to rely on more civilized ways of settling industrial disputes. Evidently, the stubborn Joe Frolek of North Kamloops doesn’t believe in them. It’s an open secret that he has armed his watchmen. IWA pickets so report. For what purpose are scabs armed in a community policed by the RCMP? Is there one law for politically powerful employers and another law for trade unionists? One act of threat- ened disorder on the IWA picket line and the offending picket would face heavy penalties in court. By what political magic can this employer flout every law bear- ing on the situation, and then prepare to back up his lawlessness with rifles and shotguns? Is this another in- stance of “terror in the name of God’? Before we risk any return to the bloody scenes wit- nessed in the lumber industry before the [WA success- fully promoted collective bargaining, we call on Labour Minister Peterson to act. He is responsible to the public for the enforcement of laws which are supposed to re- strain employers and employees alike from lawless acts. He cannot treat trade union members as second- class citizens. A firm order from him to the North Kam- loops employer requiring obedience to the law would quickly settle the strike by negotiation and ease the mounting tension. Mr. Peterson should realize that the IWA in the In- terior is fighting before the Labour Relations Board and in the courts in an increasing number of instances for fundamental rights wriiten into the statutes of the prov- ince. The Frolek strike turns the spotlight on what many Interior employers intend to do in order to smash any form of collective bargaining. This is our special “civil rights” issue. DO IT NOW! THe publicity campaign promoted by the B.C. Fed- eration of Labour advocating a health charter for all Canadians is timely. It deserves the support of every trade unionist. Mr. Justice Hall in his Royal Commission report has squelched all the objections to comprehensive medicare. Canadians desperately need medicare, available to all, without any means test. Canada can afford medicare for all with the inclusion of prescription drugs and optical aids, etc. It is shown that medicare as outlined by Mr. Justice Hall is the least costly method of protecting the public health. All political parties now agree that medicare is in- evitable. Only the vested professional interests are putting the brakes on progress. The trade union move- ment must bring a mounting public support into focus to gain early action. If medicare is inevitable in the early future, its benefits are immediately possible. Nothing makes the Federation's campaign more timely than the evasive action taken by the Social Credit Government in B.C. Bill 36 is not, as claimed, a step toward medicare; it is miles away from medicare. It cannot possibly fit into a national plan such as proposed by Mr. Justice Hall. Bill 36 is of little or no value to the people who need medical care the most. They are the unemployed em- ployables who are so impoverished that they cannot pay even one-half of the premiums proposed or the deterrent fees to be charged by the doctors. Mail your postcards or coupons to Mr. Bennett and Mr. Pearson now! Published twice monthly as the official publication of the <