IWA

One of the more important
of the numerous reports made
at the Federation convention,
was that of the political edu-
cation committee, whose chair-
man is Regional Ist vice-presi-
dent Jack MacKenzie. The

following is a partial text of
the report:

“Your Committee met on a
few occasions, but with very
limited success. It would ap-
pear that the vast majority of
unions affiliated to this Fed-
eration place the work of the
Political Education Committee
at the very bottom of their
required activities. When
Committee meetings are call-
ed the Canadian Labour Con-
gress representatives, the B.C.
Federation of Labour repre-
sentatives and one or two in-
terested unions attend.

The excuse usually given by
others for their absence is
that they were too busy. Sure-
ly, if a designated member of
a Committee is too busy, the
union has someone available
to take his place. It is ex-
tremely difficult to promote
Political Action when leader-
ship in unions appear to be
blind to the need for such ac-
tion. If the Committee is to

. successfully carry out its re-
sponsibility in regard to poli-
tics the membership of our
unions must be given an op-
portunity to participate in
political education projects.

How many of our members
are aware of the relationship
between the New Democratic
Party, its program, and the
program of the affiliated un-
ions of the Federation? How
many rank and file members
are aware of- what can be
done to advance the legisla-
tive requirements of the la-
bour movement? The answer,
of necessity, must be very,
very few; and the fault is not
that of the rank and file.

In 1883 a Committee of the
Toronto Trades and Labour
Council sent out a call for a
national convention to estab-
lish the Canadian Labour
Congress. This meeting in Tor-
onto .unanimously declared,
“The working class of this
Dominion will never be prop-
erly represented in Parlia-
ment or receive justice in the
legislation of the country un-
til they are represented by
men of their own class and
opinions.” Highty-three years
later the same voice is still
crying in the wilderness — a
sad state of affairs, enough to
make one weep in despair.

Your Committee is of the
opinion that in too many in-
stances different union lead-
ers failed to impress upon
their membership the reason
for political action and the
need to elect a New Demo-
cratic government, a govern-
ment that will ensure equal
justice for all, both nationally
and provincially, a govern-
ment that will prevent our
country from becoming noth-
ing more than a satellite to
other nations, a government
that will exploit the natural
resources of our country for
the benefit of all Canadians
rather than foreign investors
and coupon clippers.

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

POLITICAL ACTION

Many of the Federation
affiliates are highly critical of
our provincial New Democra-
tic Party. These critical trade
unionists and unions, how-
ever, are not willing to help
pay the costs of making trade
unionists aware of the need to
take political action. It is past
time when we in the leader-
ship should stand and be
counted.

Can there be any doubt in
any delegate’s mind that there
are two types of laws: one for
the establishment and one for
the working people? A Minis-
ter of the Crown can show
utter contempt for the judi-
ciary of this province, yet he
is only fined.

On the other hand, trade
unionists, fighting for common
justice for employees of an
international cartel, are
thrown in jail for up to six
months without option of a
fine. A Vancouver lawyer,
discussing the jailing of the
trade union representatives,
said, “I hope they rot in jail!”
Consider the type of legisla-
tion on the books in this pro-
vince and that some day this
same man might sit on the
Bench. What kind of justice
will he dispense towards the
working people?

On September the 12th
British Columbia held a pro-
vincial election. The trade

union movement of this pro-
vince can take no pride in the
fina] results of that election.
If we had done the job that
could and should have been
done our Party would have
been sitting in Victoria today
as the government of this
province. ;

Your Political Education
Committee suggests to every
affiliated local union that high
on their list of activities should
be political action, that a Poli-
tical Education Committee
should be elected or selected
in every local union and
where there are presently
Committees elected, they
should be immediately acti-
vated.

We ask you to remember
that the laws on the statute
books of this country, and
particularly British Columbia,
are the laws that enable
judges to put our people in
jail. In the year 1810, com-
positors on the Times of Lon-
don were prosecuted for the
crime of forming a union.
They were sentenced to terms
of imprisonment ranging from
nine months to two years.
The judge who sentenced
them, Sir John Sylvester,
known as “Bloody Blackjack,”
in sentencing them denounced
them for “a most wicked con-
spiracy” to “injure the very
employers who give you

JACK MACKENZIE

bread.” How many “Black-
jacks” sit on the Bench in this
province, interpreting the
laws on the statute books in
such a manner that the most
fundamental rights of trade
unionists are being denied?

This report is critical. It is
intended to be. The New De-
mocratic Party lost a number
of provincial seats and failed
to gain others. The fault lies
solely and squarely on the
shoulders of the labour move-
ment of this province. Time
is short. Our heritage is being
sold for a mess of pottage. The
trade union movement, shoul-
der to shoulder with the New
Democratic Party of this pro-
vince and dominion, can_pre-
vent us all from becoming the
vanishing Canadians.”

The following committee re-
commendations were unani-
mously adopted by the dele-
gates:

1. That all national and in-
ternational unions should elect

or appoint a Political Educa-
tion Committee and the chair-
man of the committee be a
member of the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labour Political Edu-
cation Committee.

2. That all local unions es-
tablish Political Education
Committees comprised of a
member from each plant or
operation.

3. That all locals participate
in the area conferences spon-
sored by the Canadian Labour
Congress in the Spring of
1967.

4, That all members be urg-
ed to participate actively in
constituency organizations.

5. That all local unions make
a monthly contribution to the
Provincial Education Fund to
enable the Federation to suc-
cessfully battle the bad legis-
lation that encumbers the
Trade Unions and allows men
to be jailed for defending their
rights,”’ ne