ee ‘Time for labor to step out : | in front’ Buck tells city meet Safety rating high “The time has come for labor to step out in front on the political arena and develép a storm of demands on the Diefenbaker government to live u Tim Buck, LPP national leader, told an overflow day last week. ‘From the moment parlia- ment convenes on October 14 until the session ends the Dief- enbaker government will be on trial,’ Buck continued. Fhe labor movement is also ‘on trial, he pointed out. Never in history has, the working class in Canada been so highly organized, so conscious of its strength, so willing to fight, so prepared to take part in political action. “The main issue is not what form of political action labor should take,” said Buck. “The key task is to involve the en- tire labor =movement in a struggle for political action, in the face of rising unemploy- ment and the threat of depres- sion, and with another federal election probably coming up next year.” Jobless total will reach 700,- 000 this winter, the LPP lead- er predicted. Big business is worried by the recent catas- trophic slide in the stock mar- ket. There’s a downward trend in such irtdustries as electrical equipment manufac- turing, textile, auto, steel and general manufacturing. The base metal industry is already in a crisis. Lumber exports have dropped. ~The prairie - provinces have millions of bushels of unsold wheat. “This doesn’t necessarily mean there’s bound to be a depression,” Buck said. Eisenhower urged use powers firmly’ An appeal to U.S. President Eisenhower to use his execu- tive powers “firmly” to speed desegregation in U.S. schools was made over the weekend by delegates attending the welfth convention of the Labor-Progressive party, B.C. section, in Clinton Hall here, ~“The heroic fight of the Negro people in the U.S. for elementary human rights has won the admiration and sym- pathy of the people of B.C.,” said the resolution. “The southern §segregation- alists and race-haters are threatening to oppose desegre- gation with all means at their command, including force and violence. : “The convention of the LPP sends warm, fraternal greet- -adequate ings’ to the National Associa- tion for the Advancement of Colored People in Little Rock, Arkansas, and pledges to do everything possible to aid the U.S. Negro people in their: fight for equal’ rights, “This convention calls upon the president of the U.S. to use his executive powers firm: ly and in good time to afford protection to all Negro people seeking to avail themselves of the rights guar- anteed them by the Constitu- tion and Bill of Rights and by the historic decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.” Copies of the resolution were sent to the U.S. ambassador*to Canada, President Eisenhower and the NAACP. Pp to its pre-election promises,” audience in Pender Auditorium on Fri- ' “Whether there is or not de- pends in part on what the labor movement does — whether iit can spark a nation-- wide pressure movement that will force. the Diefenbaker - Sovernment to keep its prom- ises,” Diefenbaker had promised to increase "trade with Common- wealth countries — “and trade means jobs.” But to increase trade with other Common- wealth countries meant. that Canada must agree to accept payment in pound sterling— and the government would not do this unless labor headed a broad people’s demand for such action, “Then there:is the question of trade with socialist coun- tries,” Buck continued> “China with a population of 640 mil- © lions, is in the process of in- dustrializing its economy. It provides a limitless market for Canadian goods. The Diefen- baker government must feel the pressure from the work-’ ing class for development. of trade with China, the Soviet Union and other socialist coun- tries.” Canadians of today will never put up with a return to conditions that prevailed in the Hungry Thirties, said Buck. They won’t accept. un- > employment, foreclosures, the virtual destruction of a whole generation of youth. Today the idea of socialism has captured the imagination of people everywhere. The time has come when labor must raise - its political demands sharply and step to the front ag leader of the nation. SMELTER SPRUCED UP = — for official visit TRAIL, B.C. Recently a group of some 200 delegates from 22 Com- monwealth countries attend- ing the Commonwealth Mining and Metallurgical Congress paid a visit to the Cominco plants here, and the frantic preparations for their arrival caused caustic comment among union workers. Writing in The Commenta- tor, Mine-Mill paper published by Local 480, union safety rep- resentatives said: : “It sure would be wonder- ful if these mining officials would visit the CM&S opera- tions every month, as the clean-up which has been done for their benefit is out of this world. s . “The new sintering plant was built some four yearg ago and the windows had never been ‘touched up until last month. -Yes, they were all washed — in fact, steel wool had to be used to get some of the dirt off. ¢ “The road leading to the smelter area also received the black top which was promised the safety committee a long time ago as we complained about the dusty conditions when vehicle traffic used it. In fact, they even worked men time and one half to get it finished in time! Also the yard area in general is all gravelled. ‘ “The zine area was a real picture. Some walkways were roped off with a special cord of yellow and black. The melting room had a_ special platform for the visitors to stand on, and the sulphide leaching basement was nearly as clean as the generator room which was the touring area. A large mat was laid on the main floor to walk on, but was removed shortly after the tour ended. ae “The tramming tunnel was painted going under the Am- erican filters which looked real nice. (The paint wasn’t QUESTION AGITATES MINING COMMUNITIES What is future of coal By SAM ENGLISH Where do we go from here? Is there a future to the Cana- dian coal mining industry, or is it doomed to extinction? These are not academic ques- tions. They are live issues in every coal mining community in the country. Canada has proven resources amounting to 1,335,000 million tons, with more than 20,000 known byproducts. This tre- mendous reserve forms a vital part of the country’s natural wealth. While Canadian coal miners _are working as little as two and three days a week, large quanjities of U.S. coal are be- ing imported into the country. In the last three: years, coal imports from the U.S. have risen by 22 percent. This year production of Canadian coal is down by one third, Canada has the coal, the iron or and all the other resources necessary to develop large ‘steel industries in both west- ern and eastern provinces. De- velopment of a large steel in- dustry in Canada would assist in the growth of many secon- dary industries and would provide thousands of jobs for unemployed Canadians. Instead, Canada is exporting millions of tons or iron ore to Japan and the U.S, By so do- ing, it is exporting thousands of Canadian jobs. At Kimber- ley, 30 million tons of iron ore are lying on a slag dump. In the Crow’s Nest Pass, a short distance away, there are mil- lions of tons of the best coking coal in North America. A rational use of these resources would lead to the building of steel mills and smelters close to the sources of supply. District 18: of the United Mineworkers of America is making representations to the federal government and to the provincia] ‘governments of British Columbia and Alberta, to impress upon these authori- ties the necessity to take action mining industry? to solve the crisis in coal min- ing. The labor movement across Canada. should take up this question, because it involves thé future and welfare not only of coal mining communi- ties, but of tens of thousands of workers far removed from coal mining. In- British Columbiay coal production is down from 1,- 644,250 tons in 1952 to 469,791. tons in 1956. In the same year, Canadian production of coal was down to 14 million tons, as against U.S. imports of 22 million tons. Obviously fed- eral action is needed to, pro- tect Canadian mining. removed after the tour either.) “You may say it 1s aod sible to see oe roasters the highline clean. very aes compared t0 at other time. After the toU ust 2.30 p.m. the ee aa ings came out of a : it in the building which mage impossible to see the eee fect of the building about 100%) away. The following days the safety committee was spline roasters. and on the Me tiest ‘and the place was the | od i that we have ever notice ne “Many jobs were a wherever they were mas} zi dust and some cleanup Is were told to put thelt sight, away and keep out of a along with the tradesme® “The items that are ésr tioned are not meant < b They castic and slanderou ring are only mentioned work: out the fact that these ple: ing conditions are ee *What we want is to yen al with other people;-to t ¢ the the health and welfare om at men working in these are4 © all times. 5 d “If the safety committee ha inspected the plants oP ork day of the big tour, the eer ing conditions and house™ top ing would have all got # ~~ rating.” OFL fights injunctions TORONTO Plans for a campaign age use of injunctions in labor’ t putes will be mapped 3 by a conference to be calle¢ f the Ontario Federation Labor. ; - In announcing the OFL “i ecutive’s decision to hold Ar conference, secretary ~ ed: urer Douglas Hamilton ja “We re deeply concerned OV injunctions generally. campaign is a matter 0 most importance.” van It is useless, Hamilton, oe tinued, to “go through ree legal quibbling and endless He lays,” required by the Ontat Labor Relations Act, “only the have it all wiped out on ut whim of some judge with, giving the union the right. n pro‘est before the injuncll® is issued.” the . All unions affiliated to to federation will be invited the conference. the Other major decisions of t federation’s executive boa! its recent meetings were: © Establishment of a cO™* mittee to initiate talks on ™” provincial level with farm 0F8 ‘anizations. = © Appointment of Lioy4 Fell of Toronto as full ti® head of a new political actio® department, to gear labor activities in anticipation of an, early federal election. f ul - October 4, 1957 —PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE ?