[LABOR FRONT |

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

fs Now that the Canadian Labor Congress mass lobby to
Ottawa is over, what next?

A delegation of 600, representing unions from: all parts of

k ; the country, met the cabinet. CLC President Jodoin presented | _

it with a brief outlining organized“labor’s views on what needs
- to’be-done to cope with unemployment. The government listen-
’ ~ed but promised nothing. In fact, as one labor reporter indicated
to his paper, the government tossed the ball back to labor.

t This was spelled out by Labor Minister Starr: “The govern-
x Ba ir acted... . Now is the time for labor and management
: eb’ ; : .

The. governmeiit has certainly acted but not-in a way cal-

culated to decisively tackle the problem of mounting unemploy-

» Ment,

* ~ . Managenient has acted: too, for while Starr. was speaking
‘ General Motors Corporation decided to carry:through a one-day
. ayoff this month. A day later Public Works Minister Walker
: bere’ “Tiet us not’ deceive ourselves—it (unemployment) will
_ DE Worse before’ it is better as we go through the winter

ee. And to top it all off, he drew attention to the adminis-
‘ Wation’s frustration over rising unemployment.

* *

pages Apparently the government is so frustrated that it is con-

: Sidering cutting off married women who are compelled to work

erase benefits of unemployment insurance. It is so frustrated

~ that it is considering doing the same to seasonal workers, such

: as fishermen and loggers. It is so frustrated that one Tory back-

€ncher proposes to eliminate from the benefits of unemploy-
Ment insurance those earning over $4,000 annually.

FH Meanwhile, Financé Minister Fleming warns the workers
fot to Strike; in éffect, to accept a wage freeze this year, in

€ same way as it imposed a wage freeze on the’ railway
Workers, > 2 _

*

/ 2 * * *

a Both by its statements and its deeds the government clearly

: Hed not intend to do more than it has done unless mass pressure

_ Compels it to. Labor Minister Starr advises labor to act but what

: thee ernment has in mind‘is that the workers should tighten
ir belts; accept a measure of austerity, and thus carry the

€ntire burden of the economic crisis.

. This is implicit in the proposals of the government. It is
implicit in the proposals of mdnopoly. It is implicit in the line
Peng peddled by many capitalist newspapers.

h Bearing this in mind the organized labor movement will
ave to exert itself more than it has to date and begin to develop
“7 aSS pressure on an ever widening scale on the government to
@eal with the deteriorating economic situation.

«Phe lobby was a good beginning. It is unfortunate, how-
“Ever, that the right eee saw fa ahie as a manoeuvre to offset
tee ossible lobby of unemployed on Ottawa, rather than as some-
eat necessary in itself to focus attention on the problem. It
u as equally fortunate that instead of welcoming, in fact calling
lee the unemployed to join them in the lobby, the right wing
Pes like scared rabbits, scrutinizing every delegate to make
po © no “undesirable” person was present, and doing everything
Possible to make this lobby an anaemic affair.

This is no wa t that organized
mF ae y to show the governmen a g
= ang is fighting mad and does not intend to stand idly by
_ 4€ unemployment mounts.

* * *

What now?

fact This column has drawn attention more than once to the
that the present economic downturn is deeper and may be
inc Onger duration than previous downturns. This is being
this on nely recognized by many capitalist economists. From
fas Che Obvious conclusion that needs to be drawn is that more

ar- > ;
its effserne and basic measures need to be taken to cope with

a iene government needs to be pressed to carry through such
the ..caching program. At the heart of it is the need to curb
Sub es and the power of monopoly, to undertake a massive
arm i¢ investment program by curtailing funds now spent on
avste, and undertaking too a fully integrated social security
thea ot least there is the need to increase unemployment
dur tance benefits, to include all workers, and extend it for the
_)- "ation of unemployment.

* * *

this What is equally needed is that organized labor undertake
fey veet a united etrnagle for the seven-hour day. A half a
fishies eanized workers making this their central demand and
Ciable = to win it and wage increases would make an appre-
{ € impact on new job opportunities.

« to one least there is an obvious need to help the unemployed

menize to defend their vital interests and to unite their
ecide with that of organized labor. And if the unemployed
iS ould to lobby Ottawa, the entire organized labor movement
ould back them to the hilt.

Action such as this, combined with political action, can
Pel the government to act. One thing is certain: the workers
not and do not intend to go back to the Hungry Thirties.

_ com
- Will

LW.A. LOCAL URGES B.C-WIDE
STRIKE TO DEFEND LABOR RIGHTS

DONALD GREENWELL
«who was last’ week elected
president of the Hastings
Community Asso’cia'tion.
Greenwell was independent
candidate for parks board in‘
last’ December’s civic elec-
tion’ in Vancouver. His elec-
tion to’ head one of Vancou-
ver’s busiest community
associations is a tribute to
his activities: on- behalf of
the’ Hastings East commuh-’
ity.

A Big Sellout

‘The’ Columbia river treaty
‘Which’ Ike and John’ D.,

; signed,

Is quite the biggest sellout
‘That we've seen in our time.

The Hydro hungry Yankees,

Are out to take our land,

And all who believe in
Canada,

Must take a fighting stand.

To stop this bare faced sell-
out,

We must make our voices
heard, 2

For to be ruled from Wash-
ington

Is really quite absurd.

he let's all get together
And start in raising hell,
By telling those in Ottawa
Our rights they cannot sell.
By AL RANKIN

Marxist Forum

TOPIC—“The Congo—
Who Killed Lumumba”

SPEAKER—
Tom McEwen, Editor
Pacific Tribune

TIME—Sunday, Feb. 19,
2 p.m.

PLACE—Fishermen’s
Hall, 138 E. Cordova St.

Everyone is Welcome

FARM
NOTES

An’ editorial in the Vancou-
ver Sun, Jan. 31, states that
two Japanese canned baked
apples are selling in Vancou-
ver for 45c. The editorial writ-

.|er feels called upon to criticize

local growers for lack of
brains and laziness. He states
that these Japanese apples
were ripened in “transparent
paper bags to preserve an un-
blemished skin.” The best the
B.C. growers have offered, he
continues, is five B.C. apples
in'a cheap peach box retailing
at 75c.

This certainly offers no sol-
ution to the dilemma of B.C.
apple growers, and in our op-
inion this’ space in the éditor-
ial column would better have
been left blank.

Fruit growers have been
blamed for over prodiction,
poor quality, unattractive dis-
play of generally uneconomic
production: Now on top of this
he will be called on to go
through his orehard with an
arm full of little transparent
bags and ends of string tying
each: apple, then pack them in
gilded baskets.

He then sells them to the
packer and through the retail
trade to the consumer who
pays ‘a very attractive price,
with a very attractive profit
for the middleman. The grow-
er on the other hand will be
fortunate enough to get the
fancy packaging paid for.

1 PORT ALBERNI—The BC.
Federation of Labor’ should
call a province-wide strike if
legislation such as that indi-
cated by Labor Minister Peter-
son is introduced at the legis-

lature. :
This was the stand taken
unanimously - this week by

IWA local 1-85 at its membef-
ship meeting, attended by 400
members. t

The meeting also decided to
send up to 100 members “to
join the B.C. Federation of
Labor Unemployed lobby to
Victoria on March 6.

Discussing the forthcoming
IWA negotiations the Port Al-
bernie Local endorsed resolt-
tions recommending a 20-cent
across - the - board wage in-
crease. Vancouver IWA local
1-217 recently adopted a simi-
lar stand.

There are excellent apples
produced in B.C.; but there is
no brass band rolled out when
an exceptionally good product
is put on the market. As a mat-
ter of fact the grower receives
somewhat less for a forty
pound box than these twe
Japanese apples bring on the
retail market.

Through: no fault of the
grower apples are already
overpriced when they hit the
retail market. What kind of a
solution is it that adds fancy
packaging costs that will still
further gouge the consumer?

It is just as well that the
writer expressed his views
through the editorial page of
his paper, rather than present
them personally amongst the
interior fruit growers.

Large quantities of apples
are rotting in the orchards and
rotten apples can _ be very,
very messy.

photo shows an older work
on his experiences to young

February 17, 1961—

Albania has made giant strides in building socialism.
Rapidly becoming an industrialized country, the above

er in a machine shop passing
apprentices.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 11