PACKING WORKERS ON STRIKE. Last Wednesday pickets took up their duties at Canada Packers’ plants across Canada. Photo above shows workers at the Canada’s Packers’ plant ot 750 Terminal Avenue in Vancouver. The workers are de- manding wage increases and other benefits. ONE-UPMANSHIP HIT ‘Break the deadlock over First Narrows crossing’ “If ever there was a case of the pot calling the kettle black it is the most recent disgraceful exchange between Vancouver City Council and Attorney General Bonner over a new First Nar- rows crossing,” said William Stewart, secretary of the Van- couver Communist Party. “Greater Vancouver needs another First Narrows Crossing and it is the responsibility of the Provincial Government and the Vancouver, West Vancouver and North Vancouver Councils to get together and work out the best possible solution,” he said, “Instead of this both the, Pro- vincial Government and Vancou- ver City Council persist in play- ing “one-upmanship” matter, If the provincial govern- Condemn use of chemical weapons A statement signed by some of Canada’s most prominent citi- zens, condemning the use of bio- logical and toxic chemical agents in Vietnam, was published across the country last week, Included among the long list of sponsors of the statement are Prof, Wilder Penfield, Montreal Neurological Institute; Dr. Brock Chisholm, Victoria, B.C.: and many professors from the uni- versities of British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, The declaration charges that the position taken by President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, condemning the use of biological and chemical weapons, has been abandoned by the U.S. It quotes a U.S, Army field man- ual (FM 27-10) now in use which instructs trainees that “the U.S. is not a party to any treaty, now in force, that prohibits or re- stricts the use in warfare of toxic or non-toxic gases, of -smoke or incendiary materials, or of bacteriological warfare.” over the ° ment has $27 million to spend on the crossing, let it sit down with the governments of the munici- palities concerned and competent authorities on traffic movement, and come up with a suitable plan, “In the meantime, City Council is correct in expressing concern over the effects on Stanley Park of another First Narrows cross- ing parallel to the present bridge. They are also acting properly when they pose the problem of costs involved for providing access to the new span, “The Provincial government, for its part, is opposed to rout- ing the Trans-Canada highway through Vancouver and feels that Vancouver-is angling for across- ing which would tie the Trans Canada Highway with the proposed waterfront access road and pro- vide the thin edge of the wedge for the building of Vancouver City Council’s multi-million dollar freeway plan, Premier Bennett has come out against this plan, “The whole sordid affair illus- trates the planlessness of Van- couvers growth, The Coal-Har- bor project, Block 42 dnd the Cemp, Woodwards C.P.R. de- velopment are all examples of the market (big business) deter- mining the plan, rather than forcing the market to fit into an existing rational plan for the city’s development, “This is why it requires mass public pressure to secure alogi= cal solution to the First Narrows crossing problem. : “Such acrossing must preserve the beauty and sanctity ofStanley Park, provide for expanding com- munications between the North Shore and Vancouver City and tie in with a sensible overall traffic plan without triggering anetwork of expensive freeways which will choke the city and encourage further urban sprawl,” said Stewart, . Se LABOR SCENE: Mine-Mill rolls up big contract gains Following a long and difficult period of collective bargaining negotiations between Cominco and Mine- Mill covering the com- pany’s operations at Trail, Kim- berley, Riondel, Benson Lake and other areas, a two-year wage contract was signed this week by Cominco and Mine- Mill rep- resentatives. The new wage agreement pro- vided for a ‘‘package’’ of 56- cents, with a 20-cents an hour across the board _ increase retroactive to July 1, 1966 and another 20-cents on July 1, 1967. Improvements in wage classi- fications account for an additional 8¢ per hour average increase, while new fringe benefits make up the remaining 8¢ of the over- all package, With the benefits won by the union in January of this year in a five-year pension plan, Co- minco estimates the overall in- crease will amount to a 65- cent hoist for its employees, Mine- Mill Vice President Har- vey Murphy stated ‘‘I am con- OBITUARY VICTOR VESTERBACK A long time resident of the Fraser Valley communities of Langley and Abbotsford, Victor Vesterback passed away this week at Comox while visiting his son, Mr, Vesterback was in his 75th year. For many years Victor Vest- erback was active in progressive farm and industrial movements in the Fraser Valley, and prior , to that in labor circles in Vic- toria and Vancouver, For many years also he was a member of the Communist Party, Mr, Vesterback is survived by two married daughters, Mrs, Brita Mickleburgh and Mrs, Greta Nelson, one son, and a numberof * grandchildren, Funeral services were held in Langley on Thurs- day, July 28. MINE MILL AND COMINCO SIGN. Photo shows officials of the Mine Mill signing a memorandum of agreement las’ Tuesday, after three months of negotiations. Seated are union leader Harvey Murphy and Cominco general mana- vinced that this is the best set- tlement made in British Columbia by any major union in 1966, and constitutes a substantial im- provement upon the Nemetz for- mula for the forest industry’’. Approximately 3,616 or 68- percent of Cominco employees voted acceptance of the new wage contract, this despite the fact that many were away on vaca- tion. : One of the important fringe benefits provides a measure of protection for miners who may by transferred to other jobs, In such cases after 4-years as a miner, that pay scale will pre- vail on the new job. An addi- tional statutory holiday has been added in the new agreement, bringing the annual total to eight, The new contract also includes substantial increases in shift dif- ferentials: 8-cents instead of 5- cents for afternoon shifts, and 16-cents instead of 10 for ‘“‘eraveyard’’ shifts, *‘This is a clear-cut victory for principled trade unionism and integrity in the trade union movement,’’ stated Mine-Mill president Robin McArthur ofSud- bury Local 598, following the Ontario Labor Relations Board hearing, which revealed that the United Steelworkers of America had for the third straight time failed to achieve the 45 percent sign-up of workers at the Fal- conbridge Nickel Mines, The 45 percent sign-up is required under Ontario labor laws before a cer- tification vote can be ordered, Mine- Mill counsel John Nelli- gan filed material in his posses- sion with the Board setting forth ‘“