Si ; ee The recent expulsion of Frank Foulkes, Former President of the Electrical Trades Union of Great Britain, for his part in a Communist conspiracy against the Union, turns the spot- light again on one of the most famous trials in trade union history. The trial recalls memories of 1949 court actions in B.C., when members of the IWA were compelled to sue for recovery of assets seized in a LPP-Communist conspiracy. The manner in’ which Communists controlled the ETU for the advantage of the Communist Party is told in C. H. Rolph’s “All Those In Favour”, an account of High Court action against the officers of the ETU for ballot-rigging in the election of union officials. The trial lasted forty days and cost over £90,000. Mr. Rolph’s account of the trial is based on the official court transcript. “All Those In Favour”, the ETU trial, by C. H. Rolph. Published by Andre Deutsch, London, Eng. Available at Duthies, handbook section, $1.50. Two members of the Union, John Bryne and Frank Chapple, proved in court that the elec- tions for the Union’s chief offi- cials had for some years been fraudulently conducted by un- lawful conspiracies to substitute, miscount, destroy or invalidate ballot papers. The two principal defendants, Frank Haxell, then Secretary of the Union, and Frank Foulkes, President, were also members of special committees of the Com- munist Party of Great Britain, whose alleged function was to secure the election of Commun- ists to key posts in the Union. Frank Foulkes had held the Presidency since 1951, and was also Chairman of the Joint Na- tional Industrial Council for the electrical supply industry. Run by Communists It had been widely known throughout the TUC that the ETU was run by Communists. It was also widely supposed that this was made possible because ‘of membership apathy, Actual trickery in election to Union office was not so widely suspect-. ed until the trial, when Bryne and Chapple secured legal aid to straighten out matters within the Union. The result of the trial has been a thorough house-cleaning inside the Union. The 1959 elec- tions were declared null and void and future elections will be in- dependently supervised. The approximate membership of the ETU is 250,000. The total estimated number of Communists in Great Britain is 25,000, about one-tenth of the Union’s mem- bership. Not all of these 25,000 are in trade unions. It was esti- mated that about 2,000 would be found among the Union’s mem- bership. The control was exer- ecised through control of key offices secured through fraudu- lent elections. The Presiding Judge said, “... it has been urgently submitted to the Court that if there indeed was fraud in the election the true motive for it was not mater- ial gain or personal ambition, but desire or obligation to serve the Communist cause, and to avoid such a loss of prestige for the Communist Party, and such a set-back in the trade union world, as would, in my judgment, have been involved in the defeat and removal from office of such a prominent protagonist as the Defendant Haxell.” Just “Double-Talk” The Judge found, “Not only was the ETU managed and con- trolled by Communists and pliant sympathizers, but it was so man- aged in the service of the Com- munist Party and the ideas of the Party. In my judgment it is nothing but what has sometimes been called ‘double-talk’ to speak of serving the ETU by aiming to achieve for its members the aims and objects regarded as optima by Communists. Simpli- fied, that means rallying the Union in the Communist struggle for these objects.” Communist Party policy as de- scribed in the evidence was, “It is therefore necessary to agree to any and every sacrifice and even, if need be, to resort to all sorts of stratagems, manoeuvres, and illegal methods, to evasions and subterfuges, in order to penetrate the trade unions and to remain in them, carrying on Communist activity inside them at all costs.” Rigged Elections It was charged that the elec- tions were rigged by the follow- ing methods: 1) By arranging that there should never be more than one candidate offering himself for election in any given position. 2) By arranging who that can- didate should be. 3) By ensuring that the candi- hae WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER "ALL THOSE IN FAVOUR” date was proposed by as many Locals as possible. 4) By sending officers to the Locals, ostensibly on Union busi- - ness, but actually to canvass for Communist candidates. 5) By making charges against non-Communist candidates, at- tempting to disqualify them for office. 6) By disqualifying non-Com- munist Locals, distorting the rules for this purpose. 7) By, altering the voting re-~ turns sent in by the Locals. It is recorded that as the trial opened the defendants admitted that irregularities had occurred. First Conspiracy Trial This is the first time that the law of conspiracy has been ap- plied to trade union elections. It took a few members several years to convince 703 Local Union meetings that something was drastically wrong. Complaints from the Locals regarding flag- rant “padding” of the voting re- turns were ignored by the offi- cials. The attempt of the TUC to remedy matters was rejected. The evidence of fraud was so conclu- sive that the ETU was expelled from the TUC and the British Labour Party. The members of the ETU, as a result of this court action, have regained the right to manage their own affairs withovt outside interference. Tee fee: ot yp ohare otto ae ho) CAMP DIRECTORY ISSUED BY PORT ALBERNI LOCAL 1-85 “The following list contains the names of all camps, sawmills and Plywood operations where all members will receive full Union Coverage both as to wages and Health and Welfare Protection. Before hiring out to West Coast Vancouver Island Camps, loggers should make certain that a Union Contract is in effect. Medical Coverage and Group Insurance Coverage can lapse where no Union Contract has been signed. UNION CAMPS: All MacMillan, Bloedel & Powell River Operations. All Tahsis Company Operations. . (Fedge), North West Cedar. Logging Ltd. Freifl Lake Logging. E. J. Eason Trucking, R. B. McLean Lumber Company, Milli- gan Brothers, M. & M. Pole, Taylor Way:Logging, Craig! & Bond Logging, Stoltz Logging, Green Logging, Mars Contract- ing, Hamilton Logging, Rayner & Bracht Ltd., J. W. Arden, A. N. Mangles, Wamac Logging, Grossleg and Trueman, Braithwaite & Son, Northern Hemlock, O & W Contractors Certifications granted but no contract: Brentwood Logging, Kyoquot Logging and A. F. Barker NON-UNION CAMPS: Inlet Contractors Ltd., Amai Inlet (Jorgenson .Bros.). Jorgensens’ want and are maintaining a non-Union Camp. Bunkhouse conditions poor; one building used as combination bunkhouse and repair shop; working facilities poor. Fallers not receiving daily guarantee. No Health and Welfare Coverage.” ee Ge FE Couri Almost every court in Canada runs days, weeks and months behind in handling cases of automobile accident claims. What is often forgot- ten in this situation is that these court costs are added to the cost of car accident in- surance: Insurance costs are going up steadily in Canada, noi only because of an increase in accidents, but also because of the great increase of liti- gation. This holds true for every province except Saskat- chewan, which has compul- sory automobile insurance, operated by the government. In this one case, bureauc- racy apparently has not made for waste. A study by the Consumers’ Union in the United States, a non-profit organization which evaluates products and services, shows the Automo- bile Accident Insurance Fund economical on the continent. Eighty-two cents out of every dollar goes to pay claims. The other 18 cents goes for expenses. By comparison, for every dollar paid into private US. plans, 52 cents goes for ex- penses and only 48 cents is available to reimburse claim- ants. In the average Canadian province (except Quebec where claims and insurance rates are _ astronomically high), 60 cents of every dol- lar collected by private in- surance companies is paid in claims and the remaining 40 of Saskatchewan is the most. 28 Carrall St., Vancouver 4, B.C. cents is eaten up by expenses. The Consumers’ Union Re- port says: “One of the rea- sons for this _ essentially wasteful and uneconomic system is the litigation sur- rounding the private plans. Companies collect for adjust- ing claims and often there are high legal costs for defending ‘themselves and their policy- holders against claims.” In Saskatchewan every car is insured when the licence plate is issued. In an acci- dent, both motorists are en- Costs Hitting Car Insurance titled to collect full damages less $200. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. Just a couple of months ago, Saskatchewan had six car accident cases before the courts. Ontario had 1,800. No figures are available for B.C. But it is not surprising that the cost of private insurance causes many motorists to look fondly upon the Sas- katchewan program. (The Vancouver Sun) Car Financing More Expensive Than Labour Production Costs Financing costs in the average car purchase now exceed labour costs in the production of the car, Murray Cotterill, United Steel- workers, told a recent consumers conference. Labour cost, both direct and non-productive, is about $400 per car in U.S. Costs of financing $2,000 over 30 months amount to $340.00 from a bank and anywhere from $427.00 to $473.00 from recognized ‘financing institutions. Cost-of-living Higher OTTAWA — Another breath of government mismanagement blew ‘across the economy with the an- nouncement that living costs had risen between May and June to a record high. It reflected higher prices for food, housing and clothing. Sole downward moves were made in recreation and reading —the least influential compon- ents of the cost-of-living index which at last report stood at 130.5 compared with 130.1—with the base of 1949 equalling 100. The costly dollar devaluation, which raises the prices of various imports, helped prices march up- ward. : A wide range of food costs were affected. has added to present sales facilities A NEW SERVICE SHOP for Fast Expert Service Western Pioneer Chain Saw Sales In fact, the food index itself gained more than a point—rising from 124.5 in May to 125.6 in June. Beef, fresh and cured pork, lamb, veal, chicken, flour, cheese, cake mix, coffee, most fresh vegetables, grapefruit and apples —items in- cluding the very bones of the every-day consumer’s shopping list—all were up. A handful of items including milk and eggs were lower. Housing costs rose .3 per cent, both in the rent and home-owner- ship category. So did clothes. Gasoline, train and bus fares also rose. t More changes appeared inevit- able in the near future, most up- ward.