EDITORIAL.

VANCOUVER ROUNDUP:

WAC’s ‘ban’ or bust
aken at face value Premier Bennett's recent announce-
ment of possible legislation banning overtime work

sounds very good, particularly at a time when the “bloom is
off the boom” and the blight of unemployment again spreading,

A number of key union spokesmen have voiced a qualified
approval of the premier’s “no overtime” proposal, Similarly
quite a number of leading industrial “free enterprisers” have
expressed mixed sentiments ranging all the way from faint
praise to “strong disapproval”.

Despite all Socred “shadow boxing” with Ottawa, the Bennett
proposal for the ban on overtime work falls right into line with
Finance Minister Sharp’s “slowing down the economy” wage
freezing policies, which among other things can speedily pro-
duce a condition dear tothe heart of every monopoly tycoon, viz:
the creation of a large and growing “pool of unemployment”.
All under the guise of “curbing inflation”.

Nornfally a ban on overtime work should be productive of
more jobs. Had such a law been in operation four B.C, trade
union leaders would not now be in prison because of their aid
and solidarity with Lenkurt Electric workers resisting the
company’s arbitrary demands for overtime work. Now the
government that jails them for “contempt” of its court in-
junctions in the Lenkurt dispute. proposes that “overtime”
be banned,

So far only the IWA has come up with the best formula for
implementing the Bennett “overtime” ban — in the interests of
the workers on the job — and those looking for jobs, For
every hour of overtime worked — double time off with pay.
That would not only stimulate the hiring of more workers, but
would put an ultimate damper on all overtime work and all the
multiple evils that flow from it, including in many industries
a steadily rising accident and fatality rate.

Many labor leaders have placed the issue quite bluntly: what’s
the use of fighting for a shorter work week, if we are to cancel
it out by turning it into a 48 or 60-hour week by “overtime”
work?

Labor will be well advised to keep aclose eve on WAC’s over-
time ban, Coming from that source it could be a smoke bomb to
obscure new forms of anti-labor legislation designed to help
along Mitchell Sharp’s “anti-inflation” squeeze on the working-
man’s pay envelope — all done up in a fancy Socred wrapping.

Whose law?

In his summing up just before passing sentence upon Van-
couver labor leaders, Mr. Justice J, Macdonald quoted from
an eminent U.S, jurist. ‘Precedent’ they call it in legal jargon,

Thus we have a Canadian judge quoting ‘precedent’ from a
U.S. court in sentencing of Canadian workers on behalf of a
U.S. monopoly operating in Canada!

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Tom _ |
Mc EWEN

Powers, President,

Marine

estas 30, 1966 in Van-
couver wasn’t exactly whatis
sometimes described as “a red
letter day.’’ That definition just
wouldn’t fit the day at all at all,

For B,C, Labor with its 120,-
000 organized men and women
in their multiple trade unions,
the term *Black Friday*’ is much
more fitting,

Four trade union leaders. men
of sterling character. good citi-
zens. good family men, and good.
trade unionists were railroaded
to jail for terms ranging from
three to six months. while stiff
fines totalling some $3,100 were
levied against 15 other unionists.
many of whom. have been de-
prived of their jobs since last
May, and haven’t had a paycheck

- in the home since then,

The four trade union leaders
imprisoned “without the option™
are Paddy Neale, Secretary. Van-
couver and District Labor Coun-
cil (six months): Tom Clarke,
vice-president, Vancouver IWA
Local (six months): Jeffery J,

Workers and Boilermakers, Van-
couver (three months): and Art
O’Keeffe, former. business agent
of the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers (IBEW),
Local 213, (four months),

4
William Stewart, Secretary of
the Marine Workers Union and
Wm, Wells, business agent of
the Retail Food and Drug Clerks
Union were each fined $500, or
two months in jail, Thomas Con-
stable, former assistant business
agent of the IBEW Tocal 213
was also -fined $400, or two
months, Two other union leaders
whom the trial judge “opined”
had no “direct connection with
the Lenkurt affair” were cach
fined $200. with a $100 fine
clapped on all others charged
in the “contempt” cases arising
out of the Lenkurt Electric ex-
parte injunction dispute,

In a packed and tense court
room, spiiling out into the cor-
ridors. hundreds of union men
and women awaited the sentences

NPA plans big giveaways

if civic slate returned

On Wednesday, December 14,
Vancouver voters will head for
the polls to elect a mayor, ten
aldermen, nine school trustees
and seven park board members,

This will be atrying experience
for the electors. It is expected
that somewhere between 60 and 80
candidates will vie for the 26
seats and because ofthe city wide
electoral system operating in
Vancouver most of them will be
unknown to the voters,

There are 250,000 eligible
voters this year: more than half

: of these arenon-property owners,

Because this is the first year
that the mayor and entire coun-
cil, school board and parks board

. have come up for election it is

expected that between 40 and 50%
of the eligible voters will cast
ballots,

The Non-Partisan Association,
which has controlled Vancouver
politics since 1937, has announc-

ed that it will spend $60,000 to.
keep its grip on City Council,

to be handed out by the trial
judge, Mr. Justice James Mac-
donald, (brother of NDP-MLA
Alex McDonald. Vancouver-
East), RCMP and sheriffs’ offi-
cers were on hand en masse, all
in readiness for what they like
to term “incidents.” There were
no “incidents,?but there was a
mighty volume of suppressed
contempt, accompanied by num-
erous boos at this Ry of
elementary justice,

After the final defense argu-
ments were in by lawyers Tom
Berger and John Laxton and
Crown Prosecutor George Mur-
ray got his final two-bits in
once again for the “rule of law’’
and stiff prison sentences, the
court adjourned for a few min-
utes. the general assumption
being of course that after the
long legal” arguments advanced,
the trial judge should have a few
minutes to make up his mind on
the sentences to be meted out,

When Court resumed and Mr,
Justice Macdonald seated with a
vast array of voluminous docu-
ments before him, it soon became
evident that the judge's »mind”
had all been made up long before
the final “hearing” on sentencing
had got under way,

“My. my.” cracked a dear olc
union lady squeezed in the cor-
ridor, “the judge must be a fast

and millionaire Mayor Bill Rathie
will probably match that figure
to hang on to his chair.

Alderman Tom Campbell,
another million dollar man, has
announced his intention to chal-
lenge Rathie for the mayorality
and it is considered likely that
some sort of alliance will be
developed around him,

Social Credit, which took a
severe beating in the provincial
elections in the Vancouver area
is undoubtedly looking to the
civic political arena to mend
their political image and will
likely be encouraging the strong-
est possible political opposition
to the Liberal Tory dominated
NPA,

With Alderman Campbell run-
ning for Mayor and Alderman
Banfield and Bob Williams retir-
ing, there will be three vacant
spots to be filled on council and
with a number of parks board
members either retiring or step-
ping into the council race there

writer, Just look at all the pages
he got done in ten minutes,”

Disassociating himself from
the Berger-Laxton “line” of de-
fense which urged the convicted
union men to appeal to the “mercy
of the court,” thereby implying
“guilt” in the’ offense charged,
rather than a principled union
position against the use of court
injunctions in labor disputes,
Tom Clark of the IWA, in a
prepared statement, told Mr,
Justice Macdonald:

“I am not a criminal living
by nefarious means, but a citi-
zen with full respect for the law
and my country, but I will not
be intimidated by courts or court
action or people of your ilk, when
in my opinion IT am morally

\

right. \

Pacific

Editor — TOM McEWEN

Associate Editor — MAURICE RUSH

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will be a wide open fight to fill
their shoes,

Much behind the scenes atten-
tion is being devoted to the pos-
sibilities of independant candi-
date Harry Rankin who has been
knocking on the door for the last
couple of years andis considered
a good chance to make it this
year. The NPA which was brought
into being to keep labor out of
City Hall, will spare no. efforts

to defeat Rankin and much of the -

interest of this campaign will
centre around this contest.

Rathie, who will carrythe NPA
Slate, is expected to make his
pitch for re-election on the plea
for a mandate to go on with his
“big building plan for Vancouver”.
Block 42, Project 200 and the
Coal Harbor development are the
magic words he hopes to ride
back into office.

The fact that these plans all
conceal massive giveaways to big
business real estate outfits, and

that none of them are even off
See VANCOUVER, pg. 8

*T do not wish you, Your Lord-
ship, to be under any illusions
as to my actions, If a picket
line appeared around this build-
ing tomorrow and you were to
grant an injunction prohibiting
picketing, I would join that picket
line if requested to do so,

«In closing I will say that 1”

refuse to apologize to you. this
court. or anyone else for my
actions, What I did was what I
thought was right,”*

These are only a few excerpts
from Tom Clark's address to
His Lordship, but the chances
are this lumber worker's state-
ment will remain a labor classic
when His Iordship's voluminous
verdict will be long forgotten,
And the fight against anti-labor
court injunctions will go on until
final victory is won.

Txtbune

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