ie Neeeamnne = oases

Labor federation must tackle big
new problems facing B.C.’s workers

By LABOR COMMITTEE,
COMMUNIST PARTY
Delegates to the annual con-
vention of the British Columbia
Federation of Labor are faced
with a choice of two courses,

One was set out in June of last
year at a labor - management,
government conference in the
Bayshore Inn which proposed a
policy of peaceful collaboration
in dealing with the vast new
problem of industrialisation
brought about by automation and
mechanisation,

The other, adopted by the labor
movement this year, is one of
militant struggle to secure a
greater share of the benefits
from the technical revolution,

The events of the past summer
make it obvious which is the cor-
rect course,

And the strike of Port Alberni
workers at the giant MacMillan,
Bloedel and Powell River com-
bine makes it abundantly clear
that unity of the labor movement
ds the formula that gets results,

One of the significant develop-
ments of that strike was the fact
that the B,C, Federation of Labor
began to move into itsnatural and
essential role as the force that
‘should co-ordinate and muster
‘support from the labor movement
in key labor struggles,

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| The special conference held in
Wancouver on the eve ofthe strike
‘Settlement at least began to tackle
the issue in an organized way by
the central body of the B,C, trade
union movement,

But it was only a beginning and
the convention which opens Oc-
tober 5 in the Bayshore Inn has
the responsibility of keeping the
Federation firmly pointed in that
direction and away from the poli-
cies of collusion eagerly sought
by management and government
for peace on their terms,

Among other things, such poli-
cies will require strong leader-
ship, something that has been
lacking since the Federation has
been electing handpicked machine
slates,

AUTONOMY

Many militant delegates went
home from last year’s convention
feeling pleased over the firm
stand they had taken on theissues
of Canadian autonomy in the labor
movement, unity, and organiza-
tion of the unorganized.

But their pleasure over last
year’s decisions might well be
tempered if they look closely at
what happened to the good reso-
lutions they adopted,

One of the hottest debates at
last year’s convention was over
the issue of autonomy for the
Canadian labor movement, a de-
bate that carried over into the
Canadian Labor Congress in
Montreal last April,

The B,C, Federation resolution,
after twice being referred back
to committee for stronger word-
ing, was passed in the following
form; “That the B,C, Federation

of Labor urge the Canadian Labor
Congress to press for full autono-
my in all Canadian affairs for
Canadian members of interna-
tional unions,”

Ironically, however, despite
the importance placed on the
issue by delegates, the resolu-
tion was never submitted to the
Canadian Labor Congress con-
vention five months later,

But it did reach the floor in a
number of resolutions from in-
dividual unions and provoked one
of the hottest debates in Mont-
real, with an estimated 40 per-
cent of the delegates voting
against a committee recommen-
dation for non-concurrence inthe
autonomy policy.

LABOR UNITY

The 1963 B,C, Federation of
Labor resolutions on unity called
on the CLC to “set up a trade
union committee that will have
before it the objective of striving
to bring into the Congress all
unions outside the Congress that
are willing to abide by its consti-
tution and policies. ...”

Again, while the issue of unity
was debated at the CLC conven-
tion, the B,C, Federation resolu-
tion was not among those sub-
mitted,

The policy has been merely to
pay lip service to the principles
of autonomy and unity without,
unfortunately, practical action to
put them into effect,

It is true that the CLC conven-

- tion did take a stand for settle-

ment of Canadian jurisdictional
disputes by the Canadian Labor
Congress and took away the power
of veto that gave an affiliate the
right to bar another union in the
same jurisdiction from affilia-
tion, But these positive steps
don’t answer the basic problems
of labor unity as long as 25 per-
cent of the labor movement re-
mains outside the CLC as the
result largely of its own restric-
tive policies,

Refusal of the Canadian Labor
Congress to recognize the na-
tional rights of French Canadian

unionists has led to jurisdictional ,

disputes of major significance in
Quebec,

Organized labor in British Co-
lumbia must demand policies that
will unite rather than divide the

labor movement of that province,

ORGANIZATION
What has the B.C, Federation
of Labor done to implement last
year’s decision to arrange a
meeting of all unions willing to
assist in pooling their resources
for an organization campaign?

The organizing committee of
the 1963 convention described the

October 2, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 12

net drop in the number of or-
ganized workers in the province
over the previous five years as
a “dangerous situation that must
be faced and faced soon,”

The work force from 1958 to
1962 increased by 45,000 but the
number of organized workers de-
clined by 17,287, The percentage
of the work force in unions in
1958 was 53.9 percent but in 1962
it had declined to 45.2 percent,

It is to be hoped some improve-
ment can be reported at the Oc-
tober convention but a basic and
far reaching reversal of the trend
is necessary,

If the B,C, Federation of Labor
is to serve as the dynamic guiding
force of the province’s important
labor movement, it must get out
and organize the unorganized,
And it must do so in co-opera-
tion with the important unions
now outside the Congress,

Thus the Federation has these
three major items of unfinished
—in fact to a great extent un-
processed — pieces of business
that must demand renewed at-
tention,

And resolutions alone mean
little unless they arecarried out,

AUTOMATION
The fact that British Columbia
is in a state of relative ‘boom
tends to obscure the effects of
mechanization and automation on
employment but they are there

“and must be faced by the labor

movement,

The examples of the effect of
automation are many, particu-
larly in pulp and paper, wood-
working generally, mining, and of
course longshoring,

The IWA reported earlier this
year a vast increase in lumber
production during the period 1957
to 1961 with an accompanying de-
cline in the work force,

In the plywood industry, annual
production per employee rose
from some 200,000 square feet
to some 274,000 square feet, In
sawmills, the rise was 76,019
‘board feet to over 250,000 board
feet annually, with a jump of
66,231 board feet in each logger’s
production,

This trend, which is being ac-
clerated in new operations, points
up the need for a comprehensive

‘courageous

program by the labor movement
to secure some of the benefits
that booming profits indicate can
well be afforded, Be

There will, by and large, be a
general lull in 1965 negotiations
with many of the major agree-
ments not due for reopening until
the following year,

This then provides a clear op-
portunity and obligation on the
part of the Federation to lead and
co-ordinate an organized cam-
paign to break through on the six
hour day, Piecemeal attacks on
such a major issue won’t provide
the answer, but the type of united
action that won the eight hour day
will win the shorter work day that
modern productive methods com-
pletely justify,

To talk of retraining as the
answer to automation is ridicu-
lous—it is only a small part of
a general overall program that
must be developed and won
through militant trade union ac-
tion.

RESOURCES

The signing of the Columbia
Treaty in September and the fan-
fare that accompanied the occa-
sion should not obscure the fact
this was a gross betrayal of
Canada’s interests by the Liberal
federal government and theSocial
Credit provincial government,

Some sections of B,C, labor
conducted an honorable and
fight against the
Treaty but we cannot ignore the
fact that the Canadian Labor Con-
gress sidestepped the issue and
the BCFL officially offered only
token opposition in spite of the
firm stand taken by delegates at
last year’s convention to develop
the Columbia under the McNaugh-
ton Plan,

The fight has been lost butnew
struggles for protection of Cana-
da’s interests are in the offing,

The Pacific Tribune on Sep-
tember 18 warned of anew United
States’ plan now before a special .
sub-committee of the U,S,Senate
for which official support has
already been indicated in a recent
speech by Jack Davis, North Van-
couver MP and parliamentary
assistant to Prime Minister
Pearson;

This Parsons Plan would chan-
nel the main rivers of British
Columbia into the Rocky Moun-
tain Trench and funnel them off
into the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf
of California,

‘With the Pearson-Bennett poli-
cy of putting a “For Sale” sign

on everything Canadian, this pro-

yard workers, and by al yees i

ject could easily become ™
than a pipe dream, Cae

NATIONAL CRISIS —
The B,C, Federation of Lalt!
convention will be remiss |
doesn’t at least make abeg
on the crucial crisis of Confe®
ation which the Canadian L@
Congress sidestepped in
real last April, .

British Columbia is fat ‘
moved geographically from Que
bec but not from the events ©

are taking place there.

It is essential that the Jabot
movement equip itself with ©”
historic facts and the actual sit?
ation in Quebec today in order! é
the present crisis can be ze ;
with understanding and cout . 3
in place of the prejudiceandm™™ |
information that presently clou"”
the approach of many inthe tf"
union movement, :

o

POLITICAL ACTION Es

The enthusiasm that gte@
formation of the New Democt
Party three years ago has wan 1
considerably, partly pecs ae
the reverses suffered in ae |
eral election and in Saskat ia
wan, but primarily because ef
and NDP leadership have {4
to implement the policy of mak Bs
the Party “a broadly Pa"
people’s movement,”

ts
The B,C, Federation of at 4

convention has the respons
of reviving interest in 22 yf
thusiasm for the NDP, chiefly 7
encouraging all sections °
ganized labor toparticipatew
out restriction in the New f
cratic Party.

And it must advance @ 1esin
tive program calling for ® at’
pill of labor rights that will eae
antee the trade unions the con”
to strike, to picket, and t0 ext”
duct their affairs withoute°™
ment interference, eae

It is no longer a case of
ducting a defensive fight ae ot
increasingly repressive ind
legislation but a time f0F Fore
out on the offensive to ©
labor’s rights,

en
The past 12 months have Hash
the labor movement Of soto
Columbia win important ie ae ©
ies, many of them with"
necessity of strike action.

S di? f

In the cases where sty ere
take place, by the office Xe shir
in the Alberni Valley, bY anc :

ver’s Outside Civic EM
victory came primarily © yor
of the unity displayed by wee con”
movement, in some caseS7
siderable cost,

yiolse
Surely the lessons are oy