SEAMAN QUIZZED BY BOARD

‘Don’t you think
shooting justified?’

—TORONTO

Shooting of séven seamen by strikebreakers at Halifax last weekend
will probably be approved by the officials of an Ontario reformatory,
according to 4 statement made by a 22 year-old seaman who has just
been released from the reformatory after spending four months there

for his part in the Great Lakes
strike last year.

The young seamen reported on
his release that a board of officials
which examined him asked if he
did not think the chief engineer
of a Canada Steamships freighter
was justified in shooting five sea-
men last summer.

Partial text of the seaman’s
Statement, which has been sent to
Hon. G. A. Dunbar, Ontario minis-
ter of reform institutions, reads:

The type of questions they (the
board) put to me were as fol-
lows: “Are you a Communist? Were
you a Communist?

One other political question I
was asked which has nothing to
do with my sentence or what jail
I should be in, was, “Do Commun-
ists dominate the CSU?” My an-
swer to that was “no”—the rank
and file seamen dominate the CSU
and they run their own affairs by
more democratic procedure than
prevails in the jail I was in.

I replied that my political and
religious beliefs were my own per-

Classified

A charge of 50 cents for each
tmsertion of five lines or less with
10 cents for each additional line
ts made for notices appearing in
this column. No notices will be
eccepted later than Monday noon
ofthe week of publication.

Oldtime Dancing
To Alf Carlson’s Orchestra
Every: Wednesday and Saturday
Hastings Auditorium
Phone HAstings 1248
Moderate Rental Rates
“Sor socials, weddings, meetings

Russian People’s Home—
available for meetings, weddings
and banquets at reasonable rates.
600 Campbell Ave. HA. 0087.

Dance, Clinton Hall—

_ 2605 East Pender. Dance every
Saturday night. Modern and
Old-Time. Viking’s Orchestra.
Hall is available for rent,
HAstings 3277. .

WHEN BUYING OR SELLING
home, acreage or business, CON-
SULT CARLTON REALTY.
Auto and: Fire Insurance, 1749
Kingsway. Phone FA. 4610, or
Eve., DE. 3412-L. J. F. Woloshyn.

CRYSTAL STEAM BATHS
Open every day. New Modern
Beauty Salon—1763 E. Hastings.
HAstings 0094,

SALLY BOWES—

INCOME TAX PROBLEMS.
Room 20, 9 East Hastings:
MA. 9965. — : ree

MEETINGS—

_ Swedish-Finnish Workers’ Club
meets last Friday every month at
7:30 p.m., in Clinton Hall.

TWO CYLINDER KNITTING MA-
. chine in good condition. Apply
' C. Hendrickson, 2347 Brown Rd.
: Pig R.R.3, Langley Prairie,

FOR SALE: HAND SPUN AN-

_ Sora yarn $1.00 per ounce. .Ap-

* ply Mrs. C. Hendrickson, 2347

' Brown Rd. South, R.R.3, Lang-
ley Prairie, B.C.

RUMMAGE SALE: REMINDER:
Please bring your rummage to

' 855 West 8th before April 21 or
phone FA. 3650L and FA. 3459R.
Proceeds to Pacific Tribune.

sonal business. I still fail to un-
derstand why questions of this type
were asked us as they certainly had
no bearing on how we should be
treated while we were in jail.

This board also asked me: “Don’t
you think the chief engineer of
the Canada Steamship Linés
freighter was justified in shooting
the five seamen last summer?”

My answer was, “definitely not.”

This board then asked: “If five
men came into your house wouldn't
you shoot them?”

I replied that I would not, at
least without warning them. .Fur-
thermore, according to the Canada
Shipping Act, the only man on a
ship who is allowed to carry a
gun is the captain, and not the
chief engineer.

Why has no action ever been
taken to bring the chief engineer
of Canada Steamship Lines in
court for carrying a shotgun ille-
gally? f

During our time in jail seamen
were treated by prison guards dif-*
ferently than they treat other in-
mates. On one occasion when a
seaman wrote home and told his
people the food was all right, but
he didn’t get enough of it, he was
called before the superintendent.
Ordinarily the srison officials
would censor the letter and' tell
the inmate to rewrite it, or leave
that part out.

But no, this was a seaman—and
so he. was placed'in solitary con-

‘finement on bread and water for

seven days, with a meal every
three days.

We were also continuously asked
if we thought the strike on the
Great Lakes was worth it. Our an-
swer was definitely yes.

When the CSU didn’t exist, we
seamen went on ships with a plate
and a knife and fork in our pock-
et, and a bag of straw on our
back as a mattress. We worked 12
hours a day, 7: days a week. The
CSU has fought for us and now we
have spring-filled mattresses and
plenty of utensils, decent working
conditions and job security. This
is why the strike was worth it.

Brother's Bakery

Specializing in
Sweet & Sour Rye Breads

the past 15 years.

stitched up at St. Paul’s hospital
an hour before.

“Hello,” I said, “are you one of
the pickets that got slugged by the
cops at Lapointe Pier this morn-
ing?”

“You said it,” said Charlie.

We sat down and I explained what
I wanted. Pick a CSU striker at
random and let the public get to
know him through the pages of
the Pacific Tribune. Correct the
phoney stories -peddled by the com-
mercial. press about the strike.
Look at things through the eyes of
a union member for a change.

“Hell,” said Charlie, “I guess I
ain't your man. Not much at
shooting the crap, anyway.”

* x. *

Charlie wasn’t a fluid talker, but
with a little prodding he told me
his story:

“Used to work in logging camps
in Oregon and Washington. Work-
ed in California, too, on construc-
tion jobs. Shipped out about fif-
teen years ago and been sailing
ever since.

“The war? Yeh,I was in the war.
Merchant marine from 1940 on.
Went nearly everywhere, except
Russia. Mostly ‘to the United
Kingdom, and to Australia, New
Zealand, South* Aifrica. Got a
bunch of ribbons and things to
prove it—but no bloody hero or
any of that stuff, you understand.

“No, I was never torpedoed.
Lucky, I guess. Dive-bombed
though. You want to hear it? Not
much to tell. I was 13 months in the
Mediterranean in 1948, when she
was hot there. One day, we were
unloading the Fort Maurapass in
Sicily when some Jerries came
over and dive-bombed us. Put
some holes in the ship but did not
sink: her.

: * * *

Well, after the war, I came back
here. I’ve got a sister in Vancou-
ver, and I always call this my
home port. Shipped out from here
quite a few times. Two weeks ago
I left the Lake Lilloet at Baltimore,
when she was sold to some Greek
shipping company. They sent us
back here. ‘ wi

“‘T’ve been in the CSU since
1944; voted to come over from

‘ Castle Jewelers

Watchmaker, Jewellers
Next to Castle Hotel

752 Granville MA. 8711

: A. S ’ Et;

EARL SYKES

“Everything in Flowers”

56 E. Hastings St. PA. 3855
Vancouver, B.C.

ak ps
HIGHEST PRICES PAID for \

DIAMONDS, OLD GOLD
Other Valuable Jewellery

STAR LOAN CO. Ltd.

EST. 1905
719 Robson St. — MAr. 2622
OOQOQEOOOOOELDS

oF
CUSTOM TA

Fine
ILORING

RAST. 0340 766 E, HASTINGS

Hastings Steam Baths
| Expert \dasseurs In. Attendance
GFEN DAY and NIGH! |}

Vancouver, B.C.
——_— Se
¢ .EAST END

TAXI

UNION DRIVERS

ee HA. 0334 :
Insured Service

618 East Hastings, Vancouver

This is the story of Charlie Ohr, 43,

“who act as scab crews

Seamen tell own strike stories
| Dive-bombed in war, —
| picket; line

By BERT. WHYTE

ie

a EE ESS

ex-logger, ex-construction workers, deepsea seaman for

Charlie was sitting in the Canadian Seamen's Union hall on Powell street, gingerly feeling a bump
the size of a goose egg on his noggin, and cautiously running rough -fingers over the cut, so neatly

the Inland Boatmen’s Union at
that time. Better sailing since
the union, you ask? Huh! Used
to pack our own blankets aboard.
Never had water coolers, no mir-
rors. Hours four and four.. No,
wasn’t so hot before the union.
Now we work four hours on,
eight off. Better grub, better
pay—you don’t know all the
changes the union brought for us
guys,

“Well, I've been on the picket
lines here since we tied up the
first ship. This morning (Tuesday)
a guy sticks his head in the room
here at the union, hall and yells,
‘Come on, boys, this is it, they’re
trying to load scabs on the River-
side.’ We piled out, grabbed cars,
taxis, trucks, and headed for La-
pointe Pier. Just as we got there
a launch was coming alongside the
ship, filled with scabs. They start-
‘ed to climb up the Jacob’s ladder.
We started down the dockside but
some police stopped us. Just doing
their job, they told us. :

“We stood there, watching these
rats sneak aboard and getting mad-
der and madder all the time. Then
we couldn’t stand it any longer and

charged, but scores of cops seemed

to spring up from nowhere. One

policeman grabbed me and we fell

and rolled around, with me on top,

when suddenly another cop whack-

ed me over the head with his billy.

“I got up and staggered around,

like a regular rum-dum, with the

blood running down my head and
feeling so dizzy that I decided I
was no more good there, so one of
the fellows tock me down to the

union hall, then over to the hospi-—
tal to get a few stitches put in,

and here I am again, almost as good

as new.”

“The Riverside has been taken

out into the stream,” I said.

“So what, said Charlie Orr,
“Brother, this strike is only
starting. They'll never lick us.
We'll keep tying ’em up here, and
seamen and dockers will keep ty-
ing ‘em up in Halifax, St. John,
London, Liverpool, Rouen, and
Georgetown, Sydney, Melbourne, .
Hobart, hell man, all over the
world. We'll battle this thing
through to a finish and when
the finish comes every Canadian
ship sailing from both coasts
will be under a CSU contract.”

a

Seamen need help :
to feed 200 pickets

“The Canadian Seamen’s Union
soup kitchen at 55A. Powell Street,
next door to union headquarters,
is operating on a 24-hour basis and
feeding 200 hungry pickets daily.
That’s a lot of meals and the boys
are asking Vancouver citizens to
pitch in and help. Can you spare a
few cans of beans, soup, and the
like, from your home larder? If

so, it will be welcome, says Bert:

Bird, CSU chef. Drop it in to the
soup kitchen any hour of the day
er night. F cece

x * *

No sooner were 34 CSU pick-
ets arrested last week than local
merchants contacted union head-
quarters and offered to put up
bail... Several sympathetic citi-
zens also volunteered property as
security. The offers were grate-
fully accepted.

* * *

Support for the striking CSU
seamen is widespread in Vancou-
ver. Taxi drivers who rush union
men to the picket lines during

emergencies often turn back their
fares to the strike committee.
Bakers and butchers donate bread
and buns and hamburger. Restau-
rants in the vicinity send down
more grub. Housewives near the
picket lines supply hot coffee.
School kids bring along sandwich-
es for the seamen on the bricks.
A well-known merchant loaned a
cook stove to the soup kitchen for
the duration of ‘the strike. “Really
heart-warming,” comments Jimmy
Thompson, CSU vice-president.

* * *

“I don’t know how these finks
n stand
to look at themselves in the mir-
ror,” remarked one CSU picket to
his partner. a

“Yeh, and even the cops who act
as scab - herders are mighty
shame-faced about it,” said the
other seaman. “I guess they re-

4 Ul
member that their own union just
got them a raise in pay.”

oe eee

One 19-year-old SIU strikebreak-
er, Jim Shuster, told reporters that
he was living a “pretty soft life”
under police protection behind thé
picket line. “I eat goed steaks and :
sleep most of the time,” crowed the
youngster. cf

CSU members are putting out @
little leaflet beamed at Shuster
and his kind. Wake up and get wis
to yourself, is the gist of it. A few
of the SIU men are beginning t?
realize that their officials double- -
crossed all Canadian seamen bY
signing a fink agreement contain-
ing 25 changes for the worse i?
working conditions and a wage cut
of approximately $15 a month.
Half a dozen SIU men have refused
to cross picket lines. ae

* * *

At night the CSU pickets build |
bonfires and sit around them, but
they keep a sharp eye cocked for
any signs of scab-running. At th®
first sign of danger a call goes t@
union headquarters and scores ?
men leap from their mattresse>
and go into action. Most of thes
union men served with the mer
chant marine during the war. Many
have been bombed and torpedoed: ‘
It doesn’t take them long to &®!
to action stations. ei

ok ak
An American crew on 47
NMU ship in port this week took
up a big collection for their bro
ther seamen on strike here, a5 7

gesture of international labor
solidarity. ;

* * x

Loggers, longshoremen, carpen”
ters, civic workers and’ other }0”
cal unionists, both AFL and C10;

‘have turned up on the CSU picket

line to demonstrate their support:
Perhaps this support could be Pe

on a more organized basis duriB®
the coming week. ne ans

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — APRIL 15, 1949 — PAGE 6