Ist Issue, October, 1961 WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 3 JACK MOORE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Ist Vice-President "Peterson's Threat Clubs Trade Unions” Labour Minister L. R. Peterson Wednesday threatened labour with “fur- ther protective legislation.” peaking to a booing, cheering, hissing and pepene audience of University of B.C. students who crowded into Brock Hall, Peterson said the govern- ment may have to take such action against labour if the CCF political activities weaken the unions. He added the government was not considering any right-to-work legisla- tion. (News item, The Vancouver Sun, Sept. 28, 1961.) The further “protective legislation” again threatened by the Labour Minister has an unmistakable meaning for trade unions. His _ “protection”, while in office, has meant nothing but protection for the employers and the Social Credit Party. It has meant little to trade unions except loss of political and bargaining freedom. We have had too much of such “protection”. Now we are warned to expect more underhanded attempts to sabotage trade union action. If the Minister thinks that he can browbeat trade unionists into “run- ning scared”, he will be dis- appointed. In- stead, he has made it clear that the Social Credit Party is “running scar- | ed” because of ‘a the appearance | of the New Democrat- ic Party. His statement ends all pretense that he is acting solely to preserve industrial peace and to ensure even- handed justice in labour-manage- ment relations. The truth is that he is playing politics with his powers as a Minister of the Crown It is without parallel that a Min- ister of Labour should wield a club over the heads of workers, whose confidence he is expected to com- mand, He already has an arsenal of legal clubs, so he should know by now that industrial workers resent clubbing. Clubbing is not the way of a political democracy. We have good reason to accuse the Minister of political double- talk. We received him courteously at our Regional Convention, paying respect to his office. We were frank, but he was not. He complimented the IWA on reaching settlements without work stoppages, evidently with tongue in cheek. He could have explained his policies, but he backed away from the real issues. Later, he chose to take the university students into his confidence P imply that he intends to make the trade unions toe the Social Credit line. Evidently he ~ is frank only when he has a Social Credit claque to cheer him. His weak excuse was that the CCF has plotted to weaken the trade unions. There is no evidence of this. The trade unions have considered political action of their own volition, and solely because of the denial of their rights, and social objectives. If the trade unions have been weak- ened, it is because of his failure to deal with unemployment, and his restraints upon free collective bar- gaining. What value was his so-called pro- tection when the IWA was engaged in negotiations this year on behalf of 28,000 workers? At every turn the IWA was faced with threats of legal blocks to democratic trade union action. What may we say about compulsory overtime during an unemployment crisis? The law, as administered by his department, has been used to stop any effective protest. What value is his protection to unions now on strike? The employ- ers are allowed to publish advertise- ments for strikebreakers. The unions may do no more than post a few pickets in restricted areas. Every- thing possible has been done to en- courage strikebreaking. Unions have been forced to appeal to the courts for protection of their most ele- mentary rights. Does the “protection”, now threatened, offer any reward for compliance with the law? The unions protested his curb on political con- tributions and took the issue to the courts in a law-abiding manner. While they await the results of an appeal, he threatens political re- venge. Trade unions seek to avoid open industrial strife. The Minister’s underhanded tactics have done more than anything else to incite industrial unrest. What we need is not merely a new Minister, but a new govern- ment, which will mean what it says about even-handed justice. | DELEGATES LOCAL 1-71, IWA (LOGGERS’ LOCAL) "Don't Call A Scab A Scab” “Don’t call a scab a scab”. That’s the legal advice given the United Steelworkers in the six-weeks-old strike against Westeel Products Ltd., Vancouver. This is a _ precaution made necessary by the more frequent use of injunctions under the proy- ince’s shackling labour laws. The Steelworkers have reason to be angry. The law forbids them to publish a newspaper advertisement in order to tell their story to the public. The employer was allowed to advertise for strikebreakers. The firm claims to have received 300 applications for the jobs of the 85 strikers but the plant is still Steelworkers Gain New Wage Increase STEELWORKERS’ WAGES in the U.S. rose on an average of ten cents an hour October Ist as a third and last round of increases scheduled in a thirty month contract affecting about 500,000 workers. The total cost is estimated as $200 million. But for Presidential pressure, in slang “jawbone control”, the steel corporations would have seized upon the wage increase as a pretext for another boost in steel prices and steel profits. closed down. The applicants were not aware that they would be work- ing behind a picket line. Strike action was approved by the employees, almost unanimously, when their contract terminated seven days after the employer rejected the award of a Conciliation Board. They refused to work without a contract. Negotiations Refused The management of Westeel Pro- ducts Ltd. has refused to negotiate any terms of _ settlement. The appointment of an Industrial En- quiry Commissioner has brought no peace-making results. On other strike fronts held by the Retail Clerks and the Retail, Whole- sale and Department Store Union strikers have been compelled to appeal to the courts to uphold the most elementary rights of picketing. The facts about these strikes will be before the Annual Convention of the B.C. Federation of Labour as evidence to show the need to repeal Bills 43 and 42. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE INSIDE? Good eggs and bad eggs look alike — until you crack the shell. With Paris Quality Controls first instituted in 1907 there’s never a shadow of doubt. There are three generations of family craftsmanship in every stitch — and this kind of quality is built in even where it doesn’t show on the outside. The proof’s in the wear. | Certificates approved by | For further information communicate with THE INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID a aaah ASSN. OF B 152 West Hastings Street . This the OF SUPPORT i is given by Labour to the United Red Feather Appeal. encouraging message campaign chairman Rod Hungerford (right) re- members of the Red Feather’s Labour Co-Ordinating Council— ves from two Fatale we (left), Community Chest feries, ical Union. Red Feather goal this year is $2,775,000— Vancouver Typogra; labour representative, and Bob Jef- a seven per cent increase over the amount raised [ast year. INSTRUCTION IN INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID available through Correspondence Courses leading to Industrial First Aid the Workmen‘s Compensation Board of B.C. Vancouver 3, B. & PIERRE PARIS & SONS 51 WEST HASTINGS ST. UNION-MADE BY THE SAME FAMILY IN B.C. FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS VANCOUVER 3. B.C.