WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

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IWA BEAVERS OF THE PRINCE GEORGE PONY LEAGUE. Local 1-424, IWA, has sponsored a team in a ihe Pony ie

for the past seven years with Steve Spicer, Local Third Vice-President as the

team’s Coach

and Manager. While the team

did not win the cup this year the Local Union is highly pleased with their playing. The boys reached the semi-finals and won

six of their eight final games.

From Page 1

“PRESIDENT"

with the things that are written and
the facts that surround them. And
this, of course, has been the saving
grace of your profession.

I think that you should know that
the Canadian Labour Congress and its
affiliates are concerned about many of
the problems that affect us as workers,
whether we are the kind of worker
described as the blue-collar type (the
worker who works at the machine,
who learns a trade and produces a
visible product), or whether we are
workers of the white-collar type, such
as yourselves, who provide a service,
technical as well as physical.

There is a growing realization on
the part of both groups that the time
has come when we must use the same
organizational procedures, build the
same kind of trade union organization
amongst the white-collar workers that
we have built in the basic and manu-
facturing industries.

Two Groups

In raising the question of the two
groups which comprise the main body
of the labour force, I do this only to
call your attention to the very great
change that is taking place in the
working society of North America. I
think we should consider these
changes, because they may have a
great bearing on the entire future of
our movement and of our country.

There has been a steady drop in
the number of people employed in
agricultural pursuits. There has been,
oo, of course, a drop in the pro-
portion of manual workers, particu-
larly amongst the unskilled and semi-
skilled. Combined with these two re-
ducing factors there has been a rapid

rise in what is normally described
as “white-collar” occupations, techni-
cal, clerical and so on, which have
increased at an average annual rate
of approximately three times that of
the increase in the total labour force.
This, of course, has started to create
problems of shifting emphasis on the
policies of the trade union movement
as such.
Radical Thinking

During the early organization of
the craft and basic industries, some
rather radical thinking developed
with regard to the needs of the
workers and the manner in which
these needs should be satisfied, and
these workers, because of the very
nature of the problems encountered,
developed a much more radical
approach than would probably satisfy
the white-collar people. And _ this
shifting of the emphasis between the
two groups is going to have a very
great impact — not only on our or-
ganizational position and strength—
but also on the manner in which the
future policies in the broader fields of
legislation, political activities, com-
munity affairs and such are developed.

One doesn’t have to be a keen stu-
dent of the labour movement to
recognize that we have been con-
tinually finding the answers for more
and more of the needs of our mem-
bers in the legislative field. The use
of pressure to achieve by legislation
what we have not been able to
achieve in the collective bargaining
field of hours, wages and working
conditions has not, in any way, de-
tracted from the strength of the col-
lective bargaining weapon. It means

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BRITISH COLUMBIA

Engineers
Back In
Congress

Claude Jodoin, president of the
Canadian Labour Congress, today
announced that the American
Federation of Technical Engineers
has again been accepted into
affiliation with the CLC.

The Federation of Technical
Engineers, with about 1,500 mem-
bers in Canada, was expelled from
the CLC on charges of raiding.
The expulsion was by decision of
the CLC’s national convention at
Winnipeg in 1958. Recently the
union re-applied for affiliation and
an understanding was reached con-
cerning its jurisdiction. Approval
of the re-affiliation followed.

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simply that we have learned to use
the techniques of legislative bargain-
ing to supplement those of collective
bargaining.

Public Image

One really serious problem that I
think should be given consideration
by most of the trade union leadership
is the question of the kind of public
image that we are creating. Because
we are not naturally addicted to air-
ing our problems for public view, we
have underplayed one of the things
that is most important to us, and
that is the use of the medium of mass
communication to make the citizens
of our nations aware of the objectives
of the trade union movement.

I believe that, in creating the kind
of image that we want to reflect to
the public, we should start to talk
about some of the good things that
labour has done—its contributions to
the development of a sound, demo-
cratic form of government through
the use of its political education
machinery, its never-ending struggle
for improvement of legislation gov-
erning hours of work, Workmen’s
Compensation, Social Security, Pen-
sions, free Hospitalization and medi-
cal care, etc.

International Affairs

Its interest in the International
Affairs programs of the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions
and the substantial contributions that
are made through that organization
for the education of, and assistance
to trade unionists in the under-devel-
oped countries.

We should emphasize more strongly
the belief of the labour movement
that only where unions are free shall
we be able to preserve the basics
of democracy. It is safe to say that
the solidarity of labour throughout
the world must depend upon its
ability to function in freedom. It is
unrealistic to expect the trade unions
to function effectively for their
people without the ability to speak in
opposition to employers, to differ with
the government and thus to give sub-
stance to the whole concept of free-
dom of association.

We Are Free

We should constantly emphasize
that it is not enough to just talk
about freedom in the abstract as it
affects other countries. We must make
sure that our position with respect
to the specific freedom of association
of our own people is developed to the

From Page 1

the majority decision of the vote and
the loser would discontinue its or-
ganizing efforts among the loggers
employed by the A.N.D. and Bo-
waters Companies.

Their Own Choice

“In the opinion of the Congress
this procedure is a reasonable and
effective method of ensuring the
workers concerned the exercise of
their legal and ethical right to select
a union of their own choice which
covers their jurisdiction.

“NEWFIE™

in advance that they would abide by

“It therefore calls upon both un-
ions, as well as the employers and
the Government of Newfoundland, to
facilitate the conduct of the proposed
supervised vote by extending to the
organizations concerned free and un-
hindered access to the private prop-
erties of the Companies and to make
available to them the necessary ree-
ords and data to enable the vote to
be held in a truly democratic and
representative manner.”

Consumer Survey Shows

Research Center.

ture and household appliances.

groups.

purchases of used cars.

percent, respectively.

Brent appliances in any one

less than $500.

Americans Spending More
On All Durable Goods

Americans spend more than $1 out of every $10 they receive
buying cars, home appliances, furniture and other consumer dur-
able goods, according to the University of Michigan Survey

Recent patterns in buying and financing of durable goods are
described in “1960 Survey of Consumer Finances,” a major new
publication of the center. Based on several thousand interviews
with families in their homes, the survey reaches these conclusions:
1—Early last year, more than one family in six owned more
than one car—but one family in four still owned none. While
multiple car ownership has risen rapidly in recent years, the
proportion of families without cars has stayed quite stable.
2—Two-thirds of those buying new cars and over half of
those buying used autos and major household appliances use
credit. The proportion of people buying these items ‘fon the
cuff”’ has remained very stable in the past three years.
3—Total spending for durable goods is not generally con-
centrated in upper income families. The richest 20 percent of
the nation’s families account for 40 percent of the total dollar
outlay on new cars and 36 percent of total spending on furni-

4—Low-income families devote a somewhat larger share
of their total income to cars and conventional home appliances
than upper-income families. When spending on vacations and
hobbies is taken into account, the share of income spent on
these items probably is stable across most major income

Trade-Ins Usually Involved
The U-M analysis indicates that 85 percent of the nation’s new
car purchases normally involve trade-in or associated sale of a
used model. Trade-ins also were involved in more than half the

For major appliances, the proportion of trade-ins varied widely.
More than one-third of those buying refrigerators, TV sets, and
washing machines traded in older models. Approximately one
family in four did so when it bought a range or stove. But for
furniture and air conditioners, the proportions were only 9 and

But where trade-ins of used cars often represented a substantial
part of the purchase price of a newer model, this was not gener-
ally the case for household goods. Usually, the value received for
trade-ins on refrigerators and TV sets amounted to only 10 per-
cent of the purchase Be for the new model.
Monthly Installments Common

Use of monthly installment buying for furniture and household
paen ces was most common on expenditures ranging from $200
1,000. Less than half of the nation’s families buy furniture or

among those who do, 30

percent spend less than $200 for this tides and 75 percent Spend

The fact that the share of income spent for these purchases does
not increase greatly among upper income families indicates that
major durable goods do not represent luxury items for the Amer-
ican consumer, “according to the center.

point where we are able to say that
we are free.

I believe that our very existence as
a trade union group and as a force
within the community is tied to both
and whatever we have done so far
to force governments to strengthen
both the political and economic demo-
cracy of the so-called free world must
be doubled and re-doubled. This in-
of course, the building up

that state of
strengthen public opinion for the sup-
port of the great objectives of the
free world.

This is an educational job in which
you, as members of such an impor-
tant section of the community, can
play a major part. While I realize
that there are many people through-
out the length and breadth of North
America who are trying to confine
the activities of the Trade Union
movement purely to the organization
of workers and to the collective bar-
gaining fronts, we must make them
realize that we are just as important
as members of the community as any
other section. The welfare of our
people depends upon the welfare of
the community.

We must wage the fight for collec-
tive security—not only of the labour
movement — but of the nation, on
several fronts, if we are to strengthen
the values of the free societies that
we believe in, if we are to strengthen
the economic security and to help

to keep the world free from the threat

of war and annihilation.”

Committee

Opposes
Tariffs

An article in LABOR, big-
circulation U.S. trade union
weekly published there, quotes a
study by the Committee for a
National Trade Policy to the
effect that “low labour costs per
unit of output, rather than low
wages, are what may give a
country an advantage in inter-
national trade.”

The study says further that
“The United States has never
been at any general disadvantage
in foreign trade because of its
high wage levels . the high
productivity of the U. S. economy,
reinforced by high capital invest-
ment per worker, usually offsets
lower wage levels abroad.”

The Committee which pre-
sented the report opposes tariff
increases and import quotas as a
means of levelling differences be-
tween U.S. and foreign wage
rates.

Foreign competition, in the
opinion of the Committee, is a
challenge to U.S. ingenuity rather
than a threat. New methods, new
Products, new managerial tech-
niques can overcome foreign
competition based on low wages.

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