Formal expulsion of ast week made the official action Stating clearly that they were on eaderships were holding a gun to Scab paper had TLC ‘inside track’ CALGARY The 64th annual convention of the Trades and. Labor Congress °f Canada, now in session, got off to a poor start. Very little was ®ccomplished by the 1,000 dele- Sates in the first four days, with No evening sessions and no work °n Saturday or Sunday. The large number of delegates Can be attributed in the main to the mobilization job done by the L “roadmen” for a vote to ex- Pel the Canadian Seamen's Union. Final vote favoring the executive’s hatchet stunt against the fighting ; was no surprise. Scores of delegates voted with guns at their €ads—they had been told by their international headquarters to vote the “right” way, or else. A carpenter who attended the banquet of his union described it to me this way: “We had O Canada and anti-Communist Speeches. Then we had a meal and more anti- Communist Speeches, Then we had God Save the King.” : x * * The opening of the convention Saw the Calgary press all set for & bang-up fight on the CSU issue. Withdrawal of the CSU from the ongress took the wind out of their sails, The ouster vote carried but it did not set the tone for the convention. Key issues were Canadian autonomy and block vot- ing. Majority of delegates were °pposed to “red witch-hunts” and Were more concerned with ques- tions of wages, working conditions _ 4nd government legislation. x * * : President Percy Bengough, in is opening remarks, seemed very Weak—and under a great strain. is reference to our alleged demo- Cratic procedure, as opposed to the alleged murderous tactics pur- Sued pehind the Iron Curtain, brought very little applause. * x x In the local Labor Temple I Saw a sign telling me to buy . Union-made goods “to save de- Mocracy from communism.” In the same building I picked up & copy of the Trades Congress Journal, carrying an advertise- Ment from the notoriously open Shop firm of T. Eaton Ltd. aK * * Delegates were urged to buy Only one of the local newspapers, €cause the other is produced by € Southam chain. But the scab Paper carried the best-informed Teports of the convention, by Ross unro, who obviously had an in- Side lead to both the administra- tion and roadmen’s groups here. eee But with all the ballyhoo and ack-room ‘pressure, and despite all the talk of labor-management Cooperation, one fear hung over the heads of all delegates: the fear of another depression. Hence they tended to consider the is- Sue of communism as rather ir- _ Televant. Canada, steam-rollered through the convention here this week, f Commercial press had been gleefully pre Delegate after delegate added to the di ly voting to expel the Turple (Vancouver local 46, Brotherhood of Rail- seem anti-climatic. their heads. Said Wass Splitters! provocation fail at TLC parley, gun-at-head vote hit —CALGARY the Canadian Seamen’s Union from the Trades and Labor Congress of ailed to “‘highlight’’ proceedings as the dicting for months. Withdrawal by the CSU from TLC scomforture of the Congress brasshats by getting up and fighting CSU because their US international way Clerks): “I have been threatened with expulsion and loss of my job. The members of my local are not in favor of the suspension of the CSU, and I will have a hard time convincing them why I voted with the executive. “Is there no democracy or freedom in this trade union movement, ‘to protect us against this sort of thing? “If this was a vital issue, and not something already decided by the seamen who withdrew, I’ would vote against the executive, even though there is a loaded gun against my head. But the main issue is trade union democracy, not the CSU. If I voted against the execu- tive, my membership would back me, but we might lose our char- ter. This would cause a furthe1' split in our Congress, over a dead issue.” Alex Gordon (United Fisher- men and Allied Workers’ Union, Vancouver): “I cannot agree that it is not a question of jurisdic- tion. The Seafarers’ International Union has been given jurisdiction over all seamen, fishermen and shoreworkers in Canada. If an international can make a chink in our armor of solidarity and get away with it, a bad precedent/ has been set. . “Our Congress is a joining of in- ternational, national and federal unions, A proper balance must be struck, with protection for all af- filiates.” Charles M. Stewart of Division 101, Street Railwaymen’s Union, paid high tribute to the fighting seamen: “The CSU had made mis- takes, but it has carried on one of the most glorious struggles in the history of the Canadian labor movement. In Victoria the disrup- ters and splitters were vanquish- ed, They are back again this year. But the CSU has withdrawn to! Norman Penner. to tour Coast Norman Penner, youthful head of the National Federation of La- bor Youth, will visit British Co- lumbia next month to report on the recent world youth congress in Budapest, which he attended as leader of Canada’s Beaver Bri- gade. On October 8-9 Penner will at- tend the NFLY provincial con- vention, which meets in Clinton Hall. Sunday evening he will ad- dress a mass meeting in Pender Auditorium. Pender’s other speaking dates are: October 10, New Westmin- ster; October 12, North Burn- aby; October 14, Port Alberni; October 16, Nanaimo. save the unity ot this Congress.” *Bruce Magnusson (Lumber and Sawmill Workers, Port Arthur): “I am going to vote for the executive recommendation but under protest. The seamen have left this Congress and the most important question we have to discuss now is the ad- vanement of the economic inter- ests of our membership, through unity and determined effort.” Jack Phillips (Vancouver Civic Employees): “Our union has con- sistently supported the CSU, with- out intimidation or interference by any group, inside or outside the union. We did so after thorough discussion by the rank and file. “T regret that the question was not deleted from the report. It shows a spirit of vengeance. Ref- erence was made in the report of internationals refusing to pay per capita unless the CSU is kicked out. I hope this will not establish a pliecedent to be used whenever a situation or combination of cir- cumstances is not to the liking of those who can crack the interna- tional brokerage whip. Referring to charges that sym- pathetic strikes in Britain were lips said: “The British workers struck because they hate black- legs, and if the CSU had received the same down-at-bottom support in Canada and the U.S., the strike would been won by now. We have heard a lot here about the Brit- ish way; we should try some of 1h”? On Monday, Joseph Hall, official of the Yorkshire Miners and fra- ternal delegate from the British Trade Union Congress, addressed the convention. While he attempt- ed to whitewash the suicidal for- eign policy of the British Labor government, he did express the un- easiness of a growing section. of the labor movement over the de- pendence of theiijy country upon the United States. Pressure from the executive and AFL roadmen caused a majority of delegates to reject several pro- gressive resolutions calling for a change in Canada’s trade. policy and urging greater trade with the Soviet Union, the New Democra- cies and Free China. part of a “communist plot,” Phil- . Fitzgerald welcomed Officials of Jamestown, N.Y., welcome President Albert J. Fitzgerald of United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers (CIO) at a banquet sponsored by the local UE joint board to honor the union leader. Standing (left to right) are City Council President Carl Fagerstrom and UE joint board chairman James Fisher; seated are Mayor Samuel Stroth and Fitzgerald. Women to seek why, wherefore of bylaw The Women’s Committee for Peace Action this week announced its intention of sending a delegation to Vancouver Parks Board this coming Monday to demand an explanation why the committee was dis- criminated against this summer. The delegation is followmg up a protest lodged immediately afte city police prevented Mrs. Effie Jones from reporting to a tea in Stanley Paitx, sponsored by the committee, At that time, Park Superintend- ent Stroyan told the Committee that the board intended to enforce Clause 8 of the Park Board bylaw which he quoted to Mrs. Jones in a letter last May. Using this quo- tation, the committee circulated all organizations in the city asking for protests against the clause which prohibited anyone to “|. preach or pray aloud, o1' make an oration, harangue or any politi- cal or other demonstration. .. .” Mrs. V. Bianco, secretary, in a statement issued by the commit- tee this week stated; “We were subsequently informed by Mr. Stroyan that we had quoted the bylaw incoriezctly. After we point- | ed out to him that we used his own quotation, Mr. Stroyan wrote, ‘I am apologizing for having mis- led you in the first instance by an incorrect quotation of our bylaw’.” Mrs. Bianco continued: “How- ever, knowing that there had been other speakers at the park this summer, two members of our or- ganization examined the minutes of the Park Board and found no consent had been’ given to anyone to speak. We feel that this defin- itely proves discrimination against those who speak for peace.” Delegate to speak on peace congress Mrs. M. Bladen, a Vancouver delegate to the recent Peace Con- gress in Mexico, will speak on hei experiences at a public peace rally in the Labor Temple, 307, West Broadway, at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Sep- tember 27. The meeting is sponsored by Van- couver, Peace Council, which plans to hold a series of panel discus- sions on questions related to peace, | during the fall and winter months. TOM McEWEN Songs — Poems Sponsored by: Women’s PUBLIC MEETING | _ “GREECE BETRAYED” SUNDAY, SEPT. 25-8 P.M. PENDER AUDITORIUM (Lower Hall) 5 — SPEAKERS — — Entertaining Program Committee For Peace Action VI BIANCO t =RUS EVERYBODY WELCOME SIAN BALLERINA= MUSIC — COMEDY — BALLET Russia’s Foremost Dancers and Artists FILMED IN A MAGNIFICENT BACKGROUND RUSSIAN DIALOGUE SHORTS SILVER COLLECTION ENGLISH TITLES ' CARTOONS Monday, September 26 at 8 p.m. - Pender Auditorium ‘SPONSORED BY: & VANCOUVER CENTER LPP — 4 PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 23, 1949 — PAGE 7 .