Pe

Y thinking Cana- 3, realizes the true ificance of the ike at Windsor.

tween organized la- he Ford corporation limgrad of the fight - peace for the com- | of Canada.

are mén who served ont where Canadians +d themselves in this e men who served vally by keeping the war rolling over-

shere it was most , war, they were a sorking team that

-ajor role in the de- _ axis. In peace, they “er as fellow work- -arades in the fight nie elementary rights

'") Canadians gave 3 for in this war: rity.

abor Veteran Unity teactionary employ-

Ford Company do 2h unity. They rath- fran against worker, } against veteran. It the interests of such

“2 organized veterans

nto numerous con- wups -and organiza- _lissipating their or-~ djength and legisla- jal. ;

n of the Canadian In Unity There Is - indicates the road \2ad for all progres- '. veterans and wor- -ut unity of organ- purpose, the peo- da will not be able -s, Homes and Se- ie immediate post-

reds of new veter- _.arched behind the -)f Local 200, UAW,

days ago, gave a -) all organized and | veterans across “cry veteran must do ower to support the =-s, because they are -s battle with the y that they sup- ' in war time. It is ght... for a bet-

but we have enter- -phase—the postwar

‘king demonstration Veteran unity was ‘1 gesture of solidar- ‘more than a physi- sympathy for the ue Ford strikers. It the fact that one ‘nal issues on which Sompany broke off $ was the union’s : full protection of seniority rights. the most. difficult € war, many reac- dloyers like the Ford pent tens of thous- lars to convince the they were the very the war effort, and zood friends of the Ttudgingly, and in ®s under pressure, concessions to or- ior. But now that the xx and labor is con- ith such pressing as union security, pay and the 40-hour my such wartime | are becoming 0 say the least. disclosures by the aper of New York / the Ford Company ly provided vehicles erman forces before = the war, and that

* side by side on the .

The Ford Strike And The

Veterans

this. company made“substantial donations to the Nazi funds. No doubt many of our brave comrades who died in Europe were killed by Germans who rode to war in Ford ve- hicles. Now that the war is Over, it seems that the Ford Company of Canada wishes to perpetuate the best traditions of Ford in Germany by dealing with their workers in an. ar- bitrary, Nazi fashion. But the people of Canada won’t stand for this sort of thing. It’s time to eall a halt! é

Why. is it that Union Secur- ity has been granted to Ford workers in Detroit, and not in Windsor? Is it because our governments are teo weak and spineless to settle the dispute fairly—or because they are a party to a conspiracy to smash the Ford strike?

VERSEAS, I attended several

lectures on rehabilitation. Quite a few of my pals were interested in the “Rein- statement In Civil Employment Act.” This act, administered by the Federal department of la- bor, provides that if the. ex- serviceman was a bona fide permanent employee, and with- in three or, in certain. cases four months of his discharge, he applies to his old employer, it is the duty of that employer to give him employment on terms no less honorable than would have prevailed had the period of employment not

been interrupted by war serv-

ice. He must be given the ad- vantage of any seniority rules which prevail. If their are no seniority rights, then he must be given preference according to first dates of employment.

It all reads very well, but my pals were practical chaps and they asked two questions:

@ How can a veteran be certain his employer will live up to his obligations beyond the specified period of guaran- tee . .. six months? And how ean he be certain the employer will not take advantage of an escape clause in the act, to low- er his wages, deny him seniority or put him on the street?

© What is to happen to the men and women displaced by returning veterans claiming their old jobs back?

The issue around which the Ford strike is being fought earries the answer to the first problem. Only union security can guarantee the veteran a square deal from his employer. The slogan raised some time ago. by the organized movement of Canada points to the solution of the second prob- Jem. Jobs for All .. . this is the answer.

A friend of mine, who is a member of a veterans’ organiz- ation, told me the other day that he was unsuccesful in intro- ducing a resolution of support to the Ford strikers at their busi- ness meeting. The motion was not carried because its most vocal opponents considered that the adoption of such a resolution would be construed as partisan politics. This inter- pretation, I am sure, is no re- flection of the official policy of organized veterans. However, it does demonstrate the fact that there are many organized veterans who do not understand the full significance of the Ford

ADVOCATE — PAGE 11

party .

labor’

strike. There are still those in veterans’ organizations who be- lieve that veterans should go to the government with cap in hand; and those who find it very difficult to sympathaize with organized labor; and those

poor, misguided souls who want

to achieve a Canadian Utopia for Canadian Veterans only, and through the sole medium of Canadian Veterans.

Clause L of the preamble to the constitution of the Canadian Legion—Canada’s largest and most <influential organization

- of veterans, declares that it is

the purpose of the Legion ‘‘to assist ex-servicemen to secure not less than the recognized standard rates of wages.’ It is precisely the. trade unions of Canada who have been the most potent force in establish- ing the standards that exist to- day—and it is precisely the trade union movement that is leaving no stone unturned to abolish sub-standard wages. If the Ford strike is lost, the green light will be flashed from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and from the American border to the Arctic for a general on- slaught on organized labor and

the wage standards of the workers.

e@ HE recognized standard of

wages is not a fixed standard -..a static quantity and qual- ity. Many factors and influ-

ences determine how much the worker takes home in his pay envelope, and how much he can buy for the meney he gets. The most significant influences in establishing a thigh standard of wages is the collective bar- gaining .power of the organ- ized workers. If a worker in a non-union shop or camp has his wages cut, there is very little he can do about it as an indivi- dual, except look for another job. But if there is a union in that shop, the employer will have to deal with the collective group of workers, and this group will have the full support of their parent organization. Thus organized veterans must support organized labor to es- tablish fair standards of wages . .. and all veterans who are eligible should join their re- spective trade unions for full protection on the job.

All veterans, through their

by J. Phillips

organizations and individually, must call upon the Prime Min; ister of our country to effect a speedy and fair solution to the labor dispute in Windsor. The settlement arrived at should make full provisions for sound labor-management relations by eontractual recognition of Lo- eal 20,.U.A.W., as the sole and effective bargaining agent of the workers concerned in the dispute. Union security must be granted and the contract en- tered into by both parties must make full provisions for the pro- tetion of veterans’ seniority rights.

This dispute highlights the necessity. of overhauling and modernising provincial and fed- eral labor legislation in keep- ing with the needs of the times. Unless such measures. are taken, the question of labor- management relations will con- tinue to dog the path of recon- version and aggravate rather than solve many outstanding grievances suffered by the workers of Canada.

If the Ford company will not come to terms, then the Feder- al- Government must use its special powers to seize the Ford holdings in Canada in order to effect a proper settlement and

end the Ford sabotage of recon> *

version. oar The Bovey Royal. Commis- sion which investigated the re- habilitation problems of vety erans stated “that governments recognized and state that labor is a full parnter in rehabilita- tion with definite rights and re- sponsibilities.’” The commission recommended “that there be just and equitable wages and working conditions in all parts of Canada.” @ VERY veteran who has to work by hand or brain wants to see and enjoy “equitable wages and working conditions. From this, there stems a deep going sympathy for the Ford strikers. The question of Labor- Veteran Unity is still some- thing of an _ abstraction to many of our new veterans. The following facts should be in the possession of every vet- eran: . @® The trade union move- ment of Canada was the back- bone of full production to keep the war fronts supplied, and

showed admirable restraint in living up. to their no-strike pledge, despite employer and government provocation.

® The trade union move- ment launched the campaign that increased the ex service

man’s clothing allowance froy $385 to $100. a

@ The trade union move- ment played an important role in winning an increase of basic pay from $1.30 to $1.50 for soldiers.

® The trade union move ment advocates that an ex- serviceman’s war service should count as job seniority, whether he goes to work for his old or a new employer.

® The trade union move- ment advocates enabling legis- lation similar to the Veterans’ Land Act for the erection of homes for veterans in urban areas.

@ The trade union move- ment advocates increased vo- eational training allowances. The $60 monthly for single men is held to be insufficient. —

@ The trade union move- ment advocates that War Ser- vices Grants be paid in lump sums to veterans requiring eapital for the purchase of homes, establishing them- selves in business or to meet pressing financial problems.

@® The trade union move- ment’s campaign for low rent, government subsidized housing \is the answer to the housing problem of veterans in the low income class.

@ The trade union move- ment’s program of “Jobs for All” offers a common program for dynamic, fruitful Labor- Veteran unity. A 40-hour week with 48 hours take home pay, a minimum wage of $25 a week, a more just distribution of tax burdens, health insur- ance, generous old age pen- sions, good housing and better all round standards of. living . .. . this is what, the trade union movement stands for . .. to make Canada a land fit for heroes to live in... to make heroes proud. to live in Canada.

Labor and Warrior Unity won the war against the dark forces of reaction abroad. Now, Labor and Veterans must stand together to win the peace. Every. veteran must support the Ford strikers in their battle for Union Secur- ity. The end of the. war has opened the page on a new chapter in the age-old struggle of the people for freedom, op- portunity and security. Let us mareh forward together ... with our feet on solid ground and our eyes on the great fu- ture that awaits the people of Canada in the not teo distant future.

In The Name Of Stalin — om.

and penetrating gaze was re- flected in the eyes of people, and the memory of his smile, scarcely noticeable under his moustache, and in the wrinkles about his eyes makes the day brighter as though clouds had been lifted and let the bold rays of the sun through.

For nearly four hours the mighty and living torrent of demonstration poured over the wet pavement of Red Square. In the demonstration marched old veterans of labor, fitters and turners from Stalin Works, the Dynamo Works, from the famous steel smelters, from the Sick-Leet Hammer Works, weavers and spinners, railway workers and aircraft builders.

In the demonstrtation marches scholars and writers, actors and artists, students and pupils of trade schools, enthusiastic youth and young girls with ringing voices. Young children sailed above the sea of theads on their fathers’ shoulders. Club workers sang, romped and tap danced.

The victorious people march- ed in clear bright consciousness of the great feat it performed, and after measuring its strength by the great measure of history prepared to work and create, prepared at a mo- ments’ notice to stand up like an iron wall and defend their joy, their happiness, their future.

This procession was magnifi- cent in its smooth progress, in its endlessness. Everyone felt the insuperable strength in those broad rivers which merg-

ed into the sea of heads, into .

constellations of eyes, into the mighty symphony of voices. And echoes of this movement arrived from Lenin- grad, from Kiev, and Minsk, from Stalingrad and Riga, from Baku and Bilisi.

A great and victorious na- tions is entering its twenty- ninth year. Its new life, full of inexhaustible energy, prepared for constructive labor for the sake of happiness and joy. Stal- in’s name directs the movement, and calls to new achievements.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1945

mighty .