News of

the nation
LSWU asks pay boost

Or INS —A straight increase
$1 per hour for day labor and

& 15-percent i i
workers t increase for piece

; is the wage demand
mae will be placed before On-
© timber operators by the

pat Council of the Lumber and
wmill Workers’ Union.

on ne counell, which will speak
a a alf of 11,000 lumber work-
in aa three local unions situated
@ Port Arthur, Cochrane and
oma districts, is expected to
a discussions with the oper-
nia in July. The union agree-
ment terminates August 31.

Bunion discussions will center
i d a master agreement as
aie the issues’ of wages and
Be: The -union wants one

“eae for the entire indus-
‘ ‘present agreements are
pened between individual com-

YS and individual union lo-

500,000 sign petition

LA WASA petition sponsored
calling Witnesses of Jehovah is
es Bie on parliament to enact
a ill of rights to protect free-

hip Of speech, press and wor-

The petition, bearing more than

i = Names, was presented in

% ae of Commons last week

Ba stair Stewart (CCF, Win-
& North.)

Seamen taking ballot

GreoNTREAL — Three thousand
ing Lakes seamen are now vot-
Unio on a Canadian Seamen’s

M proposal to open negotia-

tions With the steamship com-
a for a 15-cent an hour in-
aoe This would add up to

a $36 a month wage boost.

Union officials say the object’ is

meet the increasing rise in
a Cost of living which has cut
*eply into the wage standards.”

. President Harry Davis
€d out that shipowners have
recently received a 25 percent in-
‘Tease in freight rates which has

to

Taised their rate of profit.

CSU asks new

tugboat pact

Negotiations opened here this
week for wage increases and im-

proved working conditions © for
1,000 seamen employed by 12
Coast : tugboat companies. The

men are represented by the Ca-
nadian Seamen’s Union (TLC),
and the. tugboat companies by
Stuart Research.

The CSU is asking for a $25
monthly wage increase, 10 days
off each month, union hiring, and
various improvements in work-
ing conditions, James Thompson,
CSU Pacific Coast vice-president
told the Pacific Tribune.

“Last year we won a $20 mon-
thly increase, seven days off per
month, and, for the first time in
history pf the industry, estab-
lished overtime rates,” Thompson
pointed out.

Deadline for settlement of ne-
gotiations has been set for July
1, and “we have every hope an
amicable settlement will be
reached,” the CSU leader said.

PREMIER DUPLESSIS

Duplessis buys newspaper

MONTREAL — Purchase
by Premier Duplessis’ Na-
tional- Union Party of the
French - language morning
newspaper ‘Montreal Matin‘
with a local circulation of
about 250,000, was announc-
ed last week.

Ownership of the paper
will enable Premier Duples-
sis to give French-speaking
Montrealers his day-to-day
views on political issues af-
fecting them. Reports were
current that the National
Union Party hopes soon to
get out three editions of the
paper: morning, noon and
evening.

Duplessis was the owner
of the same newspaper be-
fore the war, when he had
Adrien Arcand, the fascist
leader, as his foreign editor.
The Montreal Matin was
originally organized by May-
or Camellien Houde of Mont-
real.

T

Tim Buck sees new world rising
from reconstruction of Europe

An eye-witness account ‘of the tremend
and the political

devastated Europe

governments there, was given

people at Exhibition Gardens

TIM BUCK

Dionne professes concern
for ‘war-torn refugees’

By MARK FRANK

defe

OTTAWA—Ludger Dionne, Liberal member for Beauce,
nded his actions in contracting for 100 Polish girls for

textile mill in a 30-minute address in the House of

Mmons last week.

ne admitted, that the salaries
ay paid would be 25 cents an

for the first month. The

Secong
an he eee it would be 30 cents

ee He wanted the House to know
these salaries are above the
um imposed by the prov-
Vince of Quebec.” Liberal sup-
Porters thumped their tables
enthusiastically at this.

Studded throughout his: speech
re frequent allusions to the

fact that he had rescued the girls
“from Communistic dictatorship
and regimentation.”

Approached for comment, An-
gus MacInnis, (CCF, Vancouver
East), said Dionne’s remarks re-
vealed “it was purely a matter
of business” for him.

“Dionne would not have done
much rescuing of the DP’s from
Burope if it had not been to his
advantage,” concluded the CCF
M.P.

nA

POSSESS

PEO PEC

ee oh

Price, 50c

ae

rn.

EUROPE’S REBIRTH

An Eye Witness Account, By
TIM BUCK

PEOPLE CO-OP BOOKSTORE
337 West Pender

Order Now

ous progress being made in reconstructing war-
events. surrounding formation: of united, democratic

by Tim Buck to an overflow audience of more than 3,000

here last Sunday night.

The LPP national leader, who
recently returned to Canada after
visiting several European coun-
tries and conferring with top
government and political leaders,
refuted the stories of ‘red domin-
ation’ and ‘Stalin purges’ the Ca:
nadian press is circulating.

“What the daily papers call a
Stalin purge in Hungary is just
the action of the people in clean-
ing out the hangovers from Hor-
thy’s fascist regime from the gov-
ernment,” Buck said.

Commenting on the recent
speech of General George Mar-
shall, U.S. secretary of state, to
the effect that “Europe is dy-
ing,’ Buck declared: “The peo-
ple of Europe are not dying.
They have never been more
alive and dynamic for the past
100 years than they are today.
What is dying is the Europe of_
General Marshall, of landlord-
ism, of exploitation.”

Attacking American policy of
using economic pressure, in the
form of loans, to influence the
course of European politics, he
declared: “All the gold in Fort
Knox, all the planes, all the guns
and atomic bombs U.S. industry
can build, will not stop the dy-
namic idea of a new democracy

in Europe.”

Buck noted “a _ profound
change in the thought of the
people of Europe,” ,and pre-
dicted that “the new Europe
will be a socialist Europe,
and the turning point for the
building of a socialist world.”

\ * * *

Turning to Britain, Buck said:
“The people there are moving
steadily forward. The recent
crisis in Britain, which develop-
ed as a result of the coal short-
age, was remedied through deter-
mined action by the trade unions.”

As a result of special eppeals by
leaders of the British miners’
union, 116,000 coal miners worked
a seven-day week to produce suf-
ficient coal to restore production.

Buck attended the Empire con-
ference of Communist parties in
London, held during the time the

-|ecoal crisis was crippling the

country,

“There is a growing suspicion
of the United States throughout
Britain,” he asserted, adding that
“this is a fundamental factor in
the thought of the peoples of
Europe.”

During his visit to France,
Buck conferred with French
Communist leaders Maurice Thor-
ez and Jacques Duclos. He asked
Thorez for his opinion of the ef-
fect the U.S. loan would have on
France, noting that Leon Blum,

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1947

French Socialist Party leader, had

advocated excluding the Commun-
ists from the government to get
the loan.

“Thorez told me that Ameri-
car dollars would not get mar-
kets for French industries be-
cause the condition of the loan
was that France must not trade
with Europe’s new democracies.
‘There are some forces stronger
than the almighty dollar,’ Thorez
said. :

French Communists held that
France’s economy must be inte-
grated with that of Central and
Eastern Europe, Buck added.

Unity against
Bill 39 urged

Outspoken denunciation of top
officials of Vancouver Trades and
Labor Council (TLC) for their
inaction in opposing anti-union
provisions in Bill 39 (Industrial
Conciliation and Arbitration Act),
was voiced by council delegates
in a stormy 90-minute debate at

this week’s council meeting. Cen-

tral point of the debate was the
question of united action with
CCL unions in combatting the
new act.

William Rigby, United Fisher-
men’s delegate, asked that “any
union attacked by Bill 39 should
be supported by this council.”
Referring to the striking CCL
laundry workers in Nanaimo,
threatened with penalties by the
Coalition government, he warned,

“Our organizations can be de-

feated unléss we help these

people.” :
Gordon Smith, Machinists,

said: “If we think the govern-
ment is going to attack only

‘the CCL unions and leave the

AFL alone, we are sadly mis-
taken. If we are divided, we
play into the bosses’ hands.”
Resolutions from the Machin-
ists, and Division 101, Street Rail-
waymen, which were not put to
a vote, called for support of any
union attacked under the act and
for joint action with CCL unions
in combatting the act itself.

A substitute resolution submit-
ted by R. K. Gervin, council sec-
retary, pledged aid only “to any
affiliated union being discriminat-
ed against or attacked under” the
act, with the council taking “all
necessary steps to assist such
unions.”

This executive sponsored mot-
tion was passed by a 99-47 vote,
after an, amendment to include
the words “any bona-fide trade
union,” made by James Thomp-
son, CSU, was declared “uncon-
stitutional” by Birt Showler, the
council president. , =

Strong advocate of the sub-
stitute resolution was Tom Als-
bury, press committee chair-
man. Alsbury state1 that the
executive “has not indulged in

* * *

President Edward Benes of
Czechoslovakia told Buck of the
trade agreements signed between
Czechoslovakia and the other
European new democracies. “If
an economic federation of these
countries is carried out, they will
be as strong politically, if not
economically, as the United
States,” Buck predicted.

There is now a critical food
shortage in Yugoslavia as a re-
sult of the serious drought last
year, Buck reported, adding that
crop prospects are excellent this
year.

Among the leading government
figures the LPP leader met dur-
ing his visit were Hungarian
Vice-Premier Mattias Rakosi, the
Czech Premier Klement Gottwald
and Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia.

Buck doubted the probability
of a third world war. “It takes
two sides to make war, and
there is only one government that
is belligerent today—the U.S. gov-
ernment. The people of the world
are not inspired with the thought
of another war. :

“If given five to ten years to
rebuild their countries, the
European nations will be so
strong that even the United
States will think twice before
starting a third world war.”
On Monday this week Tim Buck
spoke with Nigel Morgan, LPP
provincial leader, at Port Alberni
and ‘Tuesday with Maurice Rush,
LPP provincial organizer, at Vic-
toria.

alLout condemnation nor all-
out support” of Bill 89. He said
the act contained “some reac-
tionary clauses” and these “can-
not be changed for a year,” un-
til the legislature meets.

- At this point Cliff Worthing-
ton, Carpenters, rose to his feet,
and declared: “If I did not know
better, I’'d think he (Alsbury) was
@ member of the Conservative
Party.”

Robert Cormack, Division 134,
Street Railwaymen, backed Als-
bury in his support of the substi-
tute resolution.

* * *

James Thompson pledged the
full support of the CSU to any
union attacked under the act.
Thompson claimed a government-
supervised strike vote would take
eight months to comolete in his
union,” because our ships are all
over the world.” : ;

Evidence of city firms attemp-
ting to cripple unions, knowing
companies are protected by the
act, was presented by J. Irving,
business agent for the Laundry
and Dry Cleaning Workers.

Irving claimed that the com-
panies, represented by Walter
Owen, corporation lawyer, had
refused to negotiate a new union
contract, but offered a wage cut
of “up to 60 percent, and loss of
union security.”

M. Kemmis, Bakers, announced
breakdown on negotiations with.
Master Bakers Limited. “We're
getting nowhere,” he said.

1 Wk. Start. Sun. Mid.
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PACIFC TRIBUNE—PAGE 3