THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER “1st Issue Jan. 1965 PROTEST! he hard to take the recent twenty percent car insur- ance gouge. Twenty per cent on top of the premiums already demanded really hurts. We’re a long-suffering race of drivers if we suffer this hurt without protest. This Union has protested to the Canadian Under- writers’ Association on behalf of its members. It has also demanded that the Members of Legislature conduct a full-blown investigation of the facts. The protest should get widespread support. The pap handed out by the profit-hungry insurance companies is not good enough. The gouge hurts because the careful, insured driver is asked to pay for the sins of the reckless, uninsured driver. Car insurance in B.C. is not compulsory. It’s more like a penalty system for the unwary. Increased premiums are more likely to increase the number of un- insured drivers and thus lessen public protection. The present system dates back to the days when cats‘ were considered a luxury. Today a car is indispensable for the average worker to hold his job. Increased insur- ance rates now become an unbearable tax on wage income. There’s no good reason why the facts should not be fully aired in the Legislature. Let us have public dis- closure of what this new tax means in terms of better protection. Even in the inevitable accidents due to weather conditions, the good driver has been at the mercy of indifferent insurance adjusters. Costly insurance gives only limited protection. Some have found this out when their cars have been wrecked by uninsured drivers. Accident victims have found it out when they are put through the ropes with claims against the unsatisfied judgments fund. The public should know what this extra tax means to the workers who already pay extra because their cars are used for “business” purposes. How much extra do workers in the below-twenty-five age group pay? What happens to the income of the worker unfortunate enough to have an accident record? The insurance companies hide behind the accident record in B.C. This is only part of the story. Car insurance is dispensed by over two hundred companies, each with expensive managerial overhead, each paying commis- sions to a host of agents. Public disclosure of the facts would point the way to the remedy. kt is compulsory government car insur- ance. It has worked in Saskatchewan. It gave the Sas- katchewan government a $3 million surplus in 1963. At the same time it lowered the rates and provided better coverage for drivers and victims alike. Let us prove that the insurance companies have killed the goose that. laid them a golden egg. SOME LOVE WORK? “Most Americans, unfortunately, think work is good in itself and we have guilty consciences when we are not work- ing. We think of the occupations of leisure as mere pastimes, self-indulgences. The occupations of leisure, however, include not only play, but also worship, the duties of a citizen, a neighbour, and a parent, enjoyment of the arts, and study. “There are lucky men, of course, who love their work above all other occupations, but for most people work is dull, boring, almost beneath human dignity.” —Prof. John S. Diekhoff, University of Michigan Published twice monthly as the official publication of the oc? INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, 15794 stern Canadian Regional Councit No. 1. Affiliated with AFL-C1O-CLC : Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 ... Grant MacNeil icine. 2 ie ET -nwee. Fred Fieber ES a sy eg every member of the IWA in Western Canada in Stelios decisions. Subscription rate for Ron-members Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa, in cash. copies printed in this issue, PRESIDENT'S DESK PLIB issue studied By JACK MOORE HIE 276 lumber inspectors employed by the Pacific Lumber Inspection Bureau, and who form Local 1-288 IWA, have voted by more than ninety per cent for strike action in a supervised ballot. The issues involved are of deep concern to all members of our Union in the coast. area. We have accepted the obligation to support this struggle with the warm approval of coast Local Unions..Again we are remind- ed that “an injury to one, is an injury to all.” Conciliation Officer, E. P. Fisher, has been named to |] mediate the dispute and has |% commenced discussions for} that purpose. Local 1-288 has ! given assurance that every | 4 opportunity to explore pos- fj sibilities of an amicable set- | tlement will be examined. : All that I can properly say at this point is that the whole question is receiving close and sympathetic consideration by the Re- gional Executive Board. Local 1-288 has faith- fully reported to the Board at all stages of negotiations. If necessary, special meetings of the Board will be held to deal with any crisis and ensure full consultation with the Local Unions likely to be affected. MEDICARE aoe B.C. Federation of Labour is keeping’ vigilant watch over the legislative inter- ests of the workers during the present ses- sion of the B.C. Legislature. It has spoken forcefully and emphatically on two issues which will be debated soon. As a matter of fact, the Federation is one organization that can be depended upon to speak for the wel- fare of the entire community. One such issue is medicare. In the IWA we accept the point of view expressed by the Federation that the partial form of medi- care proposed by Premier Bennett for some income groups is profoundly disturbing. The report of the Hall Commission de- clared that such patchwork schemes are in- adequate because “they fail to cover all citi- zens and increase the cost of medical serv- ice.” Trade unions in Canada have demanded the implementation of the Hall report on a national scale to provide, “an efficient uni- versal comprehensive health program in all ten provinces.” Premier Bennett’s plan would appear to make that desirable objective more remote. I agree with the Federation’s statement: “Premier Bennett’s plan appears to be tailored to meet the prejudices of the Medi- cal Association and not the needs of the people of British Columbia. The B.C. Fed- eration of Labour will never accept means test medicare as a substitute for compre- hensive medical care.” NO SLAVE LABOUR HE B.C. Federation of Labour was also on firm ground when it emphatically op- posed the proposal made by the Federation of Agriculture to admit Chinese workers on a temporary basis for farm work. As stated by Secretary O’Neal, the pro- posal smacked of irresponsibility in view of the large number of jobless men and women seeking work in this province. The inescap- able reasons for the alleged shortage of farm workers were the intolerably low wages and poor working conditions, it was truly said. Farm workers have been driven from the land to our industrial centres for these reasons. We have had experience with such plans. Indentured workers have been cruelly ex- ploited by employers in Canada to lower the wage standards of all Canadian workers. The proposal was based on the US. scheme to admit Mexican workers (bra- ceros) for seasonal work on farms in the Southwest States. Public indignation in re- gard to resulting conditions has resulted in suspension of the American plan. 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