we

BCER public ownership
|urged by civic workers

Vancouver Trades and Labor Council is being urged by Vancouver Civic Employees Union, Out-

Side W/,

orkers Local 28, to campaign for ‘public ownership of Vancouver's transit system, currently the

larget of widespread pubic indignation resulting fron the Public Utilities) Commission’s arbitrary. grant-
ng of the 10-cent fare and delaying of a public hearing until 1950. : : ;
Stating that a demand for public ownership of the BCElectric transit system in the city would be in

Tull accord with the Trades and
‘@bor Congress’ statement of prin-
“ples for “public ownership and
democratic management of public
Utilities” the Outside Workers
“dopted the resolution urging
Trades Council action at its Sep-
tember meeting.

The meeting also took action on
“te issue precipitated by the
Johnson - Anscomb government’s
"MNouncement of increased hospi-

insurance premium, calling on

© Trades Council’s legislative
“ommittee to study and investigate

€ government’s scheme. The
“solution adopted by the union
Voiced dissatisfaction over increas-
®d hospital costs and the govern-
Ment’s attempt to meet unexplain-
fd deficits by raising premiums.

ep tticers elected in the union’s
pect annual elections, as an-
°unced at the meeting, were:

. President, Tom Anderson; vice-
Presidents, Pat Kirkpatrick, Ed
mith, Frank Smith; trustees,
‘ Arbuckle, Ed Larson, A. Mc-
Dermia.

Donala Guise, business agent,
4nd Jack Phillips, secretary, were
by acclamation.

OA S€ven-point legislative pro-

: approved by the union,
Which is to be placed before every
— Candidate in the December
pe one and sent to the Van-
Ay ver Civic Federation for en-
“tsation, calls for:

®an Work in connection with
City construction and mainten-
8nce of roads, paving surfaces,
Sidewalks, sewers, water supply,
to be done by day labor under
direct city supervision. No work
to be given out on contract un-
less the job is of such a nature
that the city cannot provide the
Necessary machinery, equip-
Ment and personnel. Wages and
Working conditions for contract
Work to be no less than wages

Paid to union men working for
‘the city.

A vigorous planned program of
Susing construction in cooper-
ation with senior governments,
in Order to eliminate slum con-
itions and provide more work
Wages in this community.

» A more equitable system of tax-
ation so that more of the civic
Tevenue will come from public
Utilities, big department stores,

Chain stores, and large business

Nterests and property owners—

ay less from small homeown-

® An extension of the 10-year
an; money to be raised at the
West possible interest rates so
4 at Vancouver can be guaran-
fed the necessary services re-
luired by such a rapidly grow-

ne city and so that the back-

lo

8 of public works can be
‘liminated.
e ae
a employees of the city to be

peered by the provincial gov-
f ment superannuation scheme
1 Municipal employees, thus
faving the service open for
™en over 40.

® F
Granting of the tight to ne-
8etiate for union security to
8Ncouver civic employees.

A plebiscite in December on the

Westion of public ownership of
© street railway system in
ancouver,

JACK PHILLIPS

Peron jails
Slav leaders

By JOHN WEIR
MEXICO CITY,
Seeping through piison walls,
from a dungeon in Buenos Aires,

comes the cry for justice from 30'

leaders of the Argentine Slav Con-
gress who for months have been
imprisoned without charges. or
trial, and whose sole crime is that
they are Slavs and believe in peace
and friendship among the nations
of the world. .

The Argentine delegation to the
Continental Peace Congress spoke
with affection of these . Slavic
workers and with the gteatest
compassion for them in their long
torture. They stated that the labor
movement and progressive circles
in Argentina are working for the
release of these men and that their
efforts would be strengthened if
to thei: protest would be added the
voice of the Slavic communities
and progressive people in other
countries. i

Last year, they added, a similar

‘outrage was perpetrated when the

police raided a public gathering of
Slavic cabinet makers, who met to
mark the anniversary of the lib-
eration of their brothers in Europe
from tsarism. All present were ar-
rested and held in prison without
trial or charges until the indigna-
tion of Argentine public opinion
forced their release.

China policy
cutting jobs

ASTORIA, OR.

Benefits paid to jobless workers
in Oregon in July reached the high-
est midsummer total ever record-
ed, with the exception of 1946,
when veterans and war workers
hit the peacetime labor market in
droves. The figures vreflect twice
as much unemployment as last
year, when the Columbia River
floods were a factor, and three
times as much as in 1947. Indust-
ries hit hardest include fish pack-
ing, marine commerce, lumber and
the building trades.

Ih Astoria, a Federated Press
survey revealed that the huge Pills-
bury flour export mill was running
only two days a week, 2000 fisher-
men, ineligible for jobless pay-
ments because self-employed, were
out of work; hundreds of cannery
workers had no jobs; and 635
World War II veterans had drawn
their last 52-20 unemployment
cheques. In a city of 720,000, these
layoffs really hurt the whole econ-
omy.

At the heart of the rising job-
lessness is the U.S. state depart-
ment’s disapproving attitude to-
ward trade with new China.

The Pillsbury flour mill, for ex-
ample, was built “only because of
the China trade”, according to the
firm’s export department head,
Carl Schenker. This year the huge
plant has been running only spas-
modically.

According to secretary Law-
rence Fertig of the Columbia
River District Council, Interna-
tional Longshoremen’s and Ware-
housemen’s Union (CIO), “the
loss of the China market in flour
and lumber has meant a loss of
about $100 a month in the pay
envelopes of each Astoria long-
shoreman.”

ILWU Local 18, whose members
work the Pillsburty mill, hag called
on the U.S. state department to
“make speedy efforts for renewal
of trade relations with all parts of
China.”

Deportation-after 20 years

Hamish MacKay proudly holds his membership card in the
United Btrotherhood of Carpenters after learning that U.S. immi-

gration authorities have brought

deportation proceedings against

‘him in Portland, Ore., after more than 20 years in the country.
MacKay was a leader of the unemployed in the thirties.

City student, charges
deportation ‘political’

Sull another instance of U.S.

; Z 3 Fee .
immigration authorities persecution

of Canadians holding progressive views was recorded last week when
a Canadian student, active in the progressive movement here during the

war years, was deported.

The student, Roy Lowther, was arrested by U.S. immigration

UE obtains
12c boost

TORONTO

The United Electrical Workers
{CIO) has again shown the way
On wage increases in the fight to
maintain living standards of work-
ers in the face of increasing lay-
offs.

At Toronto's Willard -Storage
Batteries, UE has won a 12-cent
package, including a company-fin-
anced sickness and accident insur-
ance plan. ‘Their pay hike now
brings the basic wage at Willard
to $1.02 and the average pay for
all workers to $1.23.

The insurance plan provides $21
a week for 26 weeks sick benefit,
$5 a day hospital fee and other
security measures against the cost
of sickness and accident. A similar

increase was won at Exide Batter-
lies,

PRESENT 15 ARGUMENTS

Bridges’ lawyers ask dismissal

SAN FRANCISCO

Attorneys for Harry Bridges
have presented in federal court
here 15 major reasons and several
subsidiary ones why the indictment
against him should be dismissed.

The reasons ranged from the
fact that the statute of limitations
(three years for the alleged of-
fence) had been exceeded, to the
contention that the justice depart-
ment acted in bad faith, aiming
to strike at the CIO International
Longshoremen’s and Warnehouse-
men’s Association by prosecuting
its president.

Motions were also filed for dis-
missal of charges against Bridges’
two associates, J. R. Robertson,
ILWU vice-president, and Henry
Schmidt, international representa-
tive in Hawaii.

\All three were indicted in May.
The indictment alleges that

Buidges perjured himself when he
swore he was not a Communist
party member in his naturalization
proceedings. Bridges and his two
confederates, who appeared ag his
witnesses in the naturalization pro-
ceedings, were all charged with en-
tering into a conspiracy to defraud
the government by representing
Bridges as a non-Communist.

Against these charges a battery
of defence attorneys levelled a full-
scale barrage in Federal Judge
Michael J. Roche’s court. They
filed 31 legal documents in all.
There were 12 separate motions, 10
memoranda of considerable length
detailing legal argument and pre-
cedent to support the motions, and
8 affidavits offering evidence to
prove contentions set forth in the
motions, ~

Major arguments for dismissal
were:

@ The statute of limitations for
perjury is three years. Yet, the al-
jeged perjury was committed in
September, 1945, and the _ indict-
ment was not returned until May,
1949.

e Foimer jeopardy. Bridges had
on four previous occasions ‘(two
labor department investigations
and two full-length deportation
hearings) been placed in jeopardy
on the same charge—alleged mem-
bership in the Communist party.
e@ Former acquittal. On all four
oceasions, proper lega] authorities,
ranging f10m administrative offi-
cers to the United States Supreme
Court had found the allegation un-
substantiated.

e@ Denial of due process of law.
@ Presence of unauthorized per-
sons in the grand jury room during
hearings concerned with the indict-
ment.

authorities on July 28 in Berkeley,
California, where he was studying
for his master’s degree in philo-
sophy at the University of Cali-
fornia. At the time,_Lowther re-
quired only two months to go on a
three-year course of studies.

Despite this, immigration officials
at San Fitancisco refused to renew
Lowther’s expiring visa, and when.
in order to contest the case, he
overstayed his visa, he was de-
tained at immigration headquar-
ters for 35 days, while a hearing
was held’ and a ruling obtained
from Washington.

No reason was given by the au-
thorities for their refusal to renew
Lowther’s visa, but, back in Van-
couver this week, Lowther charg-
ed that their motive was political,
on the grounds of questions asked
him both by an investigator and
during the hearing.

The questions included what or-
ganizations he belonged to, wheth-
er he had helped arrange certain
meetings in the Berkeley campus
area, and whether he had belonged
to the Labor-Progressive party and
was then or had been a member
of the U.S. Communist party.

- Protected by the First Amend-
ment to the American Constitution
from answering such questions,
Lowther refused to do so, and al-
leged publicly and in the hearing
that the justice department, in de-
porting him, was violating both
academic freedom and the consti-
tution.

Recommendation of the “hearer”
—who was judge, jury and prose-
cutor together—was immediate de-
portation, which was upheld by
Washington.

“Five weeks,” Lowther said this
week, “in the immigration deten-
tion ward—honest men call it a
jail—will convince anyone that the
struggle for the preservation of
our civil rights in on in good earn-
est. Citizens of countries all over
the globe are being deported from
the United States as “subversives”
after being subjected to lengthy,
unofficial imprisonment under sev-
ere conditions. Canadian progres-
sives should speak’up in defence
of such persons in order to main-
tain their own liberties against the

American imperialist colossus.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 9, 1949 — PAGE 7

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