St. Laurent eats election speech it may choke him)

Solemn election pledges made by Prime Minister St.

—OTTAWA

Laurent

were shattered this week when Finance Minister Douglas Abbott an- nounced devaluation of the Canadian dollar.

“Devaluation would make Anglo-Canadian trade more difficult,

Dumpprotest brings result

BURNABY, B.C.

The uproar created in the Capi- tol Hill community by Burnaby

municipal council’s proposal to es- tablish its new garbage dump at the foot of the scenic residential hill has forced the council to re- treat.

*

A mass meeting of residents, which unanimously adopted a res- olution embodying former coun- cillor Harry Ball's proposal that the council be urged to establish an incinerator, petition and protests from many North Burnaby organizations, this week prompted Councillor J. D. Drummond to announce that coun- cil will investigate financing of an incinerator.

Drummond, who heads a com- mittee struck off by the council to survey dumping sites, admitted that the proposed Capitol Hill site would constitute a menace be- cause it was in a residential area and close to an oi] refinery. He also agreed that it was time Burn- aby built an incinerator.

backed up by a

increase the general cost of living

- and benefit those gold mines which need least help,” said St. Laurent in a national broadcast from Cornwall on May 31 during the federal election campaign. “If we accept the Tory policy and cut down the value of the Canadian dollar that would make it harder than ever for us to buy British goods,” he maintained.

VICTOR QUELCH (Social Cred- it, Acadia) told the Pacific Tribune that Britain was forced to devalue by the U.S. “Tt will assist the Yanks in buying the Empire cheap- ly,” he declared.

Members of the CCF group in the House were reluctant to admit that Britain was under the pres- sure of American imperialism and suffering the consequence of disas- trous Mai'shall Plan-Atlantic Pact policies,

Angus MacInnis (CCF-Van- couver East), second in command to M. J. Coldwell, made the cyni- cal observation that the Yanks had.gone “too far’, and that de- valuation would force increased trade with people’s democracies of Eastern Europe.

‘Miss America’ finalists

Here are the five finalists for the title of Miss America of 1949. Title was won by Miss Jacque Mercer (Miss Arizona), who is shown with runners-up (left to right) Joan Ann Pederson (Miss

California),

Trudi Germi (Miss Illinois),

Miss America, Katerine

Wright (Miss Mississippi), Sylvia Canaday (Miss Colorado).

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Here Philip Murray confers officials during negotiations.

NEW YORK

American labor’s drive for wage increases has been dealt a serious blow by CIO President Philip Murray’s acceptance of a wage freeze recommendation issued by a government board handling the. steel industry dis- pute.

The board’s recommendations, which it had been agreed in advance would not be binding on either side, advised the un- ion to withdraw its wage in- crease demand _ entirely on grounds that any rise at this time would upset the “stability” of the economy. On the other two demands, the board recom- mended that the industry pay the equivalent of 4c an hour in social insurance and 6c in pen- sions. The pension proposal, however, would not go into ef- fect until the 1950 contract.

Immediate gains for the steel- workers thus added up to an indirect 4c an hour at most.

Despite pleas by some other CIO unions not to accept the “peace plan,” which would sabo- tage their own attempts to win wage increases this year, Mur- vay accepted with alacrity. Pass- ing over the board’s rejection of the wage demand, he hailed the other recommendations as a tremendous victory. (In fact,

Murray capitulation weakens wage drive

with other United Steelworkers They are, seated (left to right): vice-president James G. Thimmes, secretary-treasurer David J. McDonald, and (standing) general counsel Arthur Goldberg and research director Otis Brubaker.

John L. Lewis’ United Mine Workers and a number of other unions have had welfare and pension gains for years.)

Murray’s hopes, however, were quickly dashed by a statement issued by the steel industry agreeing to resume ‘collective bargaining but rejecting the government board’s recommen- dations as too “revolutionary.” The steel union leader has thus been forced to set a strike date for September 25, although it is generally expected that the gov- ernment will devise some new scheme for averting a walkout.

By relying solely on the gov- ernment, Murray has lost wage increases sorely needed by his members and tremendously re- duced their demands even: in advance of actual collective bar- gaining. If the steelworkers are forced to strike now, they will be fighting for a mere pittance compared to their July strike objectives.

Murray’s policy was summed up acutely by a fighting left- wing union leader, Irving Pot- ash of the International Fur and Leather Workers !Jnion, who observed: “It is axiomatic that no ‘labor leader’ ever Says, ‘Down with the Communists and up with the wages.’”

Tito agents exposed at Toronto meet

TORONTO

Tito agents are being sent to this country in an effort to influ- ence Yugoslav Canadians that re- flects the increasing alliance be- tween the Tito regime and the anti-socialist and anti-popular Western imperialist bloc.

Recently, Tito agents newly ar- rived in Toronto organized a meet-— ing here. But, despite the fact that they attempted to exclude known progressives, the anti-Tito senti- ments of the audience were clear from the outset. Progressives vir- tually took the meeting over and the audience carried a resolution condemning ‘Tito’s terrorism in Yugoslavia and greeting those struggling against his “regime.

Main Tito speaker was Rudolph Bozanich, former Canadian who has been in. Yugoslavia for more’ than a year. Before leaving for Yugoslavia, there was considerable suspicion in the progressive organ- ization that Bozanich was associ- ated with the intelligence service of a Western power. It is known

that when he first arrived in Yugo- slavia he was equally under sus-

picion and was watched.

This suspicion, however, did not interfere with the selection of Boz anich for the mission to Canada, although all other Yugoslav Cana- diang are forbidden to leave Yugo- slavia and Bozanich’s own cousins are in jail in Yugoslavia because of alleged attempts to run away from the country.

While Bozanich _was speaking

some members of the audience ac- cused him of being an agent of the Yugoslav secret police and of another intelligence service at the same time. Another declared that an RCMP agent visited his house and, among other things, told him that Bozanich came to Canada to organize a Tito clique.

Yugoslav-Camadians are openly suspicious, although it is appar- ent to progressives why Cana-— dian authorities are so lenient with Titoites, facilitating their coming to Canada, and why U.S. authorities readily gave Yovan Djaich, another Tito agent, form- erly of Toronto, a U.S. visa to

carry on his activities.

7 7

‘Montreal workers organize $2 clubs in fare protest, —

hundreds ride free because of ‘change’ bottleneck

MONTREAL Two Dollar Clubs—a spontaneous movement against the proposed tram fare increase—are spreading like wildfire throughout Montreal. On their way home from the fac- tories and offices, workers have hit upon the idea of offering a $2 bill to the conductor to buy their tickets. After the first eight or ten straphangers go. through this routine, the conductor runs out of change. Result—everybody with a $2 bill rides home free!

The movement started out at the RCA-Victor plant where some electrical workers got together and decided they would use the $2 club idea as a way of voicing their anger at the profiteering increase in fares. On pay night last week about 100 men and women boarded their regular streetcar, a No. 49 St. Henri car, each armed with a $2 protest bill.

After selling tickets to about six passengers the conductor

threw up his hands “Okay, boys, you ride free. Climb on.” One hundred electrical work- ers rode home in triumphant style that evening. Excited at the suc- cess of their protest action, they spread the word.

Now $2 clubs are springing up in factories and offices throughout the city. The idea is taking hold quickly. Thousands of workers and

shoppers are letting the MTC know }-

of their anger through the use of $2 bills.

Members of the $2 clubs have let conductors know that the pro- test is directed against the MTC not against them. They point out too, that the movement is com- pletely legal, since there is a city by-law which requires that change be made on streetcars up to $2. In some cases the $2 clubbers have

‘added another touch—they ask for

seven cents in change out of their bill, instead of buying tickets!

and said,

LPP nominates in

two constituencies

TORONTO

Labor -|Progressive candidates will contest at least two of the eight federal by-elections set for October 24. This, week, LPP nominating conventions in Tor- onto and Montreal named Mfrs. Louise Watson to contest Tor- onto Greenwood, and Pierre Ge- linas to carry the party’s ban- ner in Montreal-Laurier.

Louise Watson, who will have former Toronto controller Stew- art Smith as her campaign man- ager, is a housewife who has played a prominent part in con- sumer organizations im recent years and in three elections has rolled up a substantial vote as a candidate for Toronto board of education.

Pierre Gelinas is the fighting | young editor of Combat, French- , Canadian weekly padlocked by the Duplessis regime.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 23, 1949 — PAGE 6