nies Seton —Sean Griffin photo ‘Berna ; ? Chile rdo Arrano discussing his deportation appeal with Maria McLeod from the Canadians for Democracy in a By MAURICE RUSH Working Voice in the B.C. sti 2 Class movement was 12, et last Friday, April Dass William (Bill) Stewart Short i Way at the age of 61 after a Wi ness. His death leaves us ad loss “°€P Sense of sorrow and bie! Stewart's § 8ap in th Cinada ist Movement in B.C. and having grt 8S a national figure, Mtiong] jueuished himself at Stryp too? gatherings and in Chant able for a Canadian mer- leadin arine, for which he was a It is diff; €sman. Strong “ficult to believe that the Which sjritant and clear voice Wil not he > sade so much sense, of labor. €ard again in the halls i ~ €specially in these ng ti Movements for the working class r Sewareer® than 40 years Bill Wi man Mame was associated the won 0! the big struggles of better life © People of B.C. for a later 2 in S is moved, passing leaves a - Andrews, his family = ‘to Glasgow. At the age Son af 7 petated to Canada and he was invae wttival in Vancouver Bahize Volved in the struggle to Hote) ae bus boys at the old abilitie ev ouver. His leadership Carly Eye on him recognition at an already busi eu He Was 22 he was of tha wSiess agent of Local 28 e Natkers te! and Restaurant n 829 : Union ian the youngest trade ety Stites. Canada, Bill led © union tussles which saw largest on quickly into the “OuVven 4 St affiliate of the Van- cut Bill istrict Labor Council. ities iene not limit his ac- iecthe to Rae the Hungry Thirties der, yy, Ution of which he was ii me Tealized early in life Cir stg of working people in “OU of th gle was the heart and Wag, ef Sht for a better life. He &me, In all te Hine of that generation: On ietting faront of the workers the basic ®t union organization in ® strug av Service industries, in ahd in, Egles y reainst fa Struggle for peace and ®nking “'S™ then threatening the great th the eoreak of World War ding ; ©XPansion of the ship- Ustry on the coast, Bill € trade union and. of the unemployed, . Cc . ommittee. (See story this page.) TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM STEWART ‘A powerful voice st went to work as a plate hanger and joined the Boilermakers’ Union which grew rapidly from less than one hundred members to over 17,000. : Bill’s. leadership’ abilities soon rose to the surface, and when a new executive was elected in ‘December, 1942 with Bill as president and Malcolm McLeod as secretary, the Canadian Congress of Labor president A. R. Mosher moved in and placed the union under trusteeship. ; The struggle of the shipyard workers against the dictatorial action of the Congress officials and for trade union democracy shaped the whole labor movement in B.C. in the early months of World War II. It culminated with an open alr rally of 6,000 members at Athletic Park and saw the workers win a victory over bureaucracy. : In 1947, the B.C. shipyard unions united in the Shipyard and General Workers’: Federation of B.C., and elected him president, a position he held until his death. A measure of the high regard in which his fellow ‘workers held him: is to be seen in the fact that at the time of his death Bill was a vice president of the B.C. Federation of Labor, and executive member of the Vancouver and District Labor Council and chairman of its organizing com- mittee, as well as holding the post of secretary in his union, the Marine Workers’ and Boiler- makers’ Union. The workers knew and trusted Bill, a trust and respect they learned in over 40 years of labor struggle in B.C. They knew him as a militant champion of trade union unity, as a strong advocate of autonomy and democracy and for a sovereign and independent Canadian trade union movement, as a strong advocate of in- ternational solidarity of all working people regardless of country. E Bill grew up with a deep working class consciousness. Early in life he answered the question, “Which side are you on?” He knew he was a son of the working class and that his lot was with the working class. That deep class consciousness was the outstanding feature of Bill’s lifelong activities in the labor movement. It was this that enabled Bill to become a good working class leader, able to see 4a WILLIAM STEWART Arrano‘s fate hangs on May 15 decision When the federal immigration department announced some weeks ago, only days after agreement was reached to grant asylum to Chilean refugees, its intention to deport Bernardo Arrano to his native Chile seemed a decision without basis and without explanation. And now, after three im- migration appeal board hearings and entanglements of red tape, there is still no logical explanation for the immigration department decision which, if carried out, could mean death in fascist Chile for Arrano. . The Tribune, along with Maria McLeod from the Canadians for Democracy in Chile committee, interviewed Arrano last Saturday and although he seemed at ease as illed’ and understand the class nature of society. His understanding that the enemy of the working class was the capitalist class, and that workers had to use tactics which would defeat the bosses’ manoeuvres, made him a master tactician in labor’s struggles. Over the years many groups of workers and unions sought out his advice and got his help in negotiations and strikes to win their struggle with employers. * * Bill Stewart saw beyond the immediate economic struggles of the workers. He realized that labor had to wage a constant fight against the boss for a decent living, but that it also had to raise its sights in the political struggle. It was not enough, he often said, just to fight against exploitation. It was necessary to unite the workers and to end the system of exploitation itself. It was this understanding that brought Bill in his early years to join the Communist Party and work to end capitalist exploitation. Throughout his active life in the labor movement, Bill was a member of the Communist Party, often running for election on the Communist ticket, and when he died was a member of the Party’s provincial: committee. It was my good fortune to have known Bill both as a comrade and friend over the last 40 years. His active mind, warm sense of humor, and deep knowledge and ex- perience made any association with him a warm and rewarding one. We shall miss him dearly. Thousands of working people in B.C. and across Canada will join in expressing sympathy to his wife Barbara and his sisters Chris Stewart and Mrs. Margaret Haynes. Bill was proud of his Scottish working class ancestry. But it was no narrow pride. It was pride in the contribution of his native Scotland and its militant working class in the world-wide struggle of labor for a better life. Bill’s philosophy was best summed up in the lines of Robbie Burns which Bill so often recited at Robbie Burns nights. These lines are a fitting memorial to. Bill Stewart because they express the we talked in the sunlit yard, the thought of impending deportation was always with him. His fate is to be decided May 15 when the federal court will rule on - the latest recommendation of the immigration appeal board. The appeal board’s recom- mendation — to a large extent, the result of resolutions and letters of support for Arrano — represents a compromise on the initial deportation order but hardly seems any more logical. Essen- tially the recommendation is for Arrano to go to a neutral country and then reapply for entry into Canada. But it affords little consolation for him. “If the government is genuine in its intention to let me stay. in Canada,” he asked, ‘“‘why is it necessary to go first to another country?” The question is one that anyone in similar circumstances would ask — except the immigration department. Legally, immigration minister Andras argues, he has no jurisdiction over the immigration appeal board and its ruling must be carried out before he can grant readmission. The only alternative is to attempt to have the im- migration appeal board decision overturned by the federal court, the course which Arrano’s lawyer, Don Rosenbloom, has taken. A major problem plaguing the immigration hearings has been poor translation, a problem Arrano hopes can be overcome in the federal court case. In the first two appeal board hearings the translator assigned to the case was only partially fluent in Spanish and several inac- curacies were recorded. In ex- plaining the political orientation of MAPU — one of the parties of Popular Unity for whom Arrano worked as a community volunteer — Arrano was mistranslated and recorded as having stated that it was to the left of the Communist Party and did not support Allende. This in turn led to the impression being left that Arrano was a terrorist. A new translator, hired first by Rosenbloom and subsequently assigned by the court for the May 15 hearing interpreted in the third hearing and the greater clarity may well have figured in the modification of the immigration department’s position. But Arrano’s stay in Canada depends largely on public support. Already, hundreds of people have voiced their protest over the government’s bureaucratic ruling, coming as it did after public pressure had forced Canada to open its doors to refugees. Several organizations including the Vancouver Area Council of the NDP and the Canadians for Democracy in Chile have sent telegrams to Andras calling for the deportation order to be rescinded. FUNERAL SERVICE Funeral services for William Stewart is being held Wed., April 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the Legion Hall, 49th and Fraser. The PT will carry a story on the tributes next week. great goal to which he devoted his whole life. Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a’ that, That sense and worth, o’er a’ the earth, May bear the gree and a’ that For a’ that, and a’ that — It’s comin’ yet, for a’ that, When man to man, the warld o’er, Shall brithers be for a’ that. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1974—PAGE 3