B.C. labor has that ‘unity’ feeling.

The regular meeting of the Vancouver Labor Council Tuesday of this week could well
go into the record as a Victory-With-Thanks session. Delegate after delegate report
that, thanks to a high degree of unity and the help of the VLC and B.C. Federation
Labor, many a labor battle has recently been won.

Pease causes

—China News

Photo
YANKS PAY FOR AGGRESSION. Contrary te managed press report claims, the
U.S. is paying @ heavy price for its aggression against the people of Vietnam.
In the period frem August 5, 1964 to July 27, 1965 the armed forces and people
ef Vietnam brought down 412 U.S. planes. The photo above shows the wrec-
kage of the 400th U.S. plane shot down from the skies of Vietnam, this was last
July 24.

Vote probe welcomed

The Provincial Executive of
the B,C, Communist Party has
decided to undertake a study of
proposals for submission to the
Royal Commission eStablished
to redefine Provincial electoral
boundaries,

“Premier Bennett’s announce-
ment that recommendations for
redistribution of electoral boun-
daries in B.C, will be placed
before the next session of the
Legislature is long overdue,”
Nigel Morgan, Provincial Lead-
er of the party, declared.

“It is 30 years since any major
overhaul of representation has
been undertaken,” he said, “In
that period the population of the
Province has more than doubled
and there have been a number of
big population shifts.

“Where today’s population fig=-
ures would give 52 constituencies
of about 17,000 voters each if
the Province were divided even-
ly, we have constituencies like
Dewdney as big as 38,838 along-
side Atlin with as few voters as
1,574, Obviously, some scandal-
ous representational discrepan-
cies must be corrected.”

Morgan criticized the makeup
of the Commission, saying: “It
is highly regrettable that Pre-
mier Bennett hasn’t named a
study team that would be above
partisan question, particularly
since a major reorganization has
to be undertaken,”

Commission members include
H, F, Angus, Kenneth Morton and
F, H, Hurley.

Plan protest at La

“The La Macaza base repre-
sents a unilateral decision, un-
democratically arrived at by a
small elite in Washington and
Ottawa, Neither the people of
Quebec, nor the inhabitants of
the La Macaza area were con-

Tax relief proposed

Alderman Halford Wilson
has suggested Vancouver City
Council should get all the facts
about a Washington State plan
to reduce property taxes on
homes owned by pensioners,
with an eye to initiating tax
relief for the elderly in Van-
couver,

Under the plan, elderly re-
tired homeowners would be
granted a $50 a year tax re-
duction, Where the owner is
a male, he must be 65 years
of age or over; qualifying age
for a female owner is 62.

Combined income in the
ease of a husband and wife
must not be more than $3,000
a year,

Council is expected to dis-
euss Wilson’s proposal this
week, If it decides to act, it
would then have to request
changes in the City Charter
and B,C, Municipal Act,

sulted in the decision to make
Quebec a launching pad for Am-
erican missiles and a target for
nuclear devastation,”

“That,” stated Stanley Grey,
young Quebec student to the PT
last week, “explains why the
Student Union for Peace and the
Union Generale des Etudiants de
Quebec, representing some
70,000 students, are organizing
a monster demonstration at the
La Macaza base on the week-
end of October 1,”

Already there have been a
number of big protest dem-
onstrations at the La Macaza

launching site, demonstrations

-which, according to Grey, hada

very wide support and partici-
pation by the trade unions in
Quebec,

Leaflets distributed by the Stu-
dent Union for Peace Action on
the La Macaza Project empha-

Delegates from the numerous
VLC affiliated unions which have
been compelled to strike for im-
proved wage and working con-
tracts, as well as some Still
hitting the bricks, not only gave
brief reports of the contractual
gains achieved, but expressed the
sincere appreciation and thanks
of their respective membership
for the all round assistance and
solidarity they received from
the VLC and BCFL,

Grainhandlers, “Posties,” long-
shoremen, brewery workers,
bookbinders, etc,, all paid a high
tribute to the valuable support
and solidarity given by the two
senior labor bodies,

This assistance was further
confirmed in a letter to the VLC
from the B,C, Federation appeal-
ing for financial assistance to
help build up its Defence Fund,
considerably depleted because
of its generous assistance to the
numerous strikes now termin-
ated, Delegates voted $100 to
the BCFL fund,

The Call to the 10th annual
Convention of the B,C, Federa=
tion, scheduled for November 1-5
was submitted by the VLC execu-
tive. Nomination for delegates
was opened and will be concluded
at the next VLC session,

A Brewery Workers Union
delegate reported a government-
supervised strike vote taking
place at five brewery. and dis-
tribution plants in Vancouver,
New Westminster and Victoria,
These include Molson’s and
Pacific Delivery Services in Van-
couver and New Westminster,
Carling, O’Keefe and Pacific
Brewers in Vancouver, and Lucky
Lager in Victoria,

Macaza

size that Canada’s “participation
in the military alliance system
has taken priority over the social
needs of the people” and that
vast sums of “money has been
withheld from economic and
social development and has been
invested in weapons of mass
destruction,”

These points were elaborated
by Grey in a public meeting he
addressed in Vancouver last
Thursday, Because of this waste-
ful squandering of the nation’s
resources, “education costs are
far too high for most students in
this country, and thousands of
qualified young people are pre-
vented from attending uni-
versity.” &

The La Macaza Project has
for its aim “the withdrawal of
Quebec and Canada from the
cold war; the reallocation of the
money spent for military pur-
poses to economic development
and to free education, and the
right of the people of Quebec and
Canada to participate, in a gen-
uinely democratic manner, in de-
cisions of foreign and defence

policy,”

Those interested or seeking
more information on the La
Macaza Project are invited to
write to La Macaza Project,
3510 St, Famille, Montreal 18,
Quebec,

The strike vote covering these
firms, involving some 550 brew-
ery workers, is expected to be
announced Friday of this week.
The Brewery Workers Union has
rejected a conciliation board re-
port recommending a nine cent
increase over two years and is
demanding a 10 percei? wage
increase,

Reporting on the lengthy grain-
handlers’ strike the union dele-
gate stated that substantial gains
over and above the conciliation
board majority award had been
won, (The grainhandlers were
prepared at that time to accept
the board’s majority award, but
this was.rejected by the termin-
al elevator operators.)

Grainhandler wage gains in-
clude a 48 cent an hour wage
hike in three stipulated 16-cent
advances, Numerous fringe bene-
fits are also included in the new
contract, covering sickness and
accident, three days with pay in
the event of death in the family,
effective processing of grievance
procedures, etc,

Grainhandler strikers were
also awarded a $100 strike
“bonus” for being compelled to
take strike action. Grainhandlers

basic pay is now $2,64 an hour

with two more 16 cent hikes to
be added, The Alberta Wheat
Pool legal action against the
union for an alleged wildcat stop-
page in 1964 was also completely
withdrawn,

The delegate also reported that
his union is “low in funds” since
the union had paid out a straight
$55 per week strike pay for the

duration of the strike.
* °K ok

Neale

VLC secretary Paddy
actions

reported that the libel
instituted by Mitchell e
against the VLC and the BCF
have been dropped, but that he
Pat O’Neal, secretary of
BCFL, are still being sued
individuals, Others facing simi
lar action by the scab-opera”™
Mitchell Press include Wm. ©
Carthy, editor, Labor Statesm™
Local 105 Bookbinders Union
its business agent Wm. Dunsml
and the Broadway Printers.
* * *

VLC delegates unanimous!)

approved a motion pledginé \e
support to Vancouver steelwo! ys
ers, now on a_ walkout wor
stoppage at three ‘operations °
the Western Canada Steel CO”
pany. and affecting some
steel workers.

Refusal by the company tone
the grievances of the worker
which include extra work A
and serious hazards to Mi alt
provoked the walkout.
steelworkers,” declared #7", |
gate, “are going about ! or ’
right way and should be gf

every support.”
* *

The VLC session also una
mously endorsed a motion
mitted by Delegate spene
Postal Workers, strongly
testing the federal governm@
action in making deductions Oh
postal workers’ pay cheque? xe 4
the days they were on strike

“Even back in the 1918 post 7
strike,” said Spencer, “the not
ernment of that time did the
dare to try that stunt. All aid
striking postmen then wel ye 7
in full, Mr, Pearson said We
would be no discriminatio™
don’t know what he woul
this,”

chickenshit questions.”

Two notable quotes have been made recently by pres 56 eo
Johnson while talking to newspapermen, according to pr
reports received in the PT office recently, They are:

1, “In Vietnam, I feel like ajackass caught in a winds
2. “Don’t bother the leader of the Western worl

Bee oy
August 20, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PO9

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