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VANCOUVER, B.C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1942

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ED BAND SHINGLE AWARD WILL HELP

GET AMENDMENT OF B.C. LABOR ACT

Lake Log Production _ Com‘ttee To Give Prizes

ROUNDS, «B.C.—There will be:

few, if any, men absent when the Lake Log camp here opens on January 5 after the Xmas holiday shutdown, according to a pledge taken by the crew at the request of the joint management-union production committee last week. Manager H. W. Hunter has donat- ed a $100 Victory Bond, a $50 Vic- tory Bond and two $25 Bonds, to be drawn for the first day camp re- opens. All names of the crew at the time of the closure will be put in a barrel by the Production Com- mittee and kept until the drawing the day camp opens when the drawing will take place. The first name drawn who is in camp that evening will get the prize.

A number of meetings of the

_ Joint Committee have now been

jor

the greatly increased membership

held and the job of getting maxl- mum production for the war effort is receiving serious consideration of all. A number of new ideas, short -cuts for getting more lum- ber quicker to help luick Hitler,

have already ben submitted, and /4

the Company is offermg a $20.00 cash prize every month for the best suggestion submitted,

At last week's meeting, Interna- tional Executive Board Member Nigel Morgan, who with Manager H. W. Hunter has a standing in- vitation to attend any meeting of the Production Committee, ad- dressed the crew with the Com- pany's superintendent, Earl Olts. "Tn a war industry where the anti- labor attitude of many employers constitutes an obstacle to produc- tion (in the Queen Charlotte Is- Jands operators for the past year have been refusing the union's claim for recognition) good rela~ tions between the management and the IWA at Lake Log afford a striking instance,” Morgan said, “of what can be achieved when labor is given an equal share and responsibility in production.”

See’y Benidict Visits Canada

BE. BE. Benedict, secretary treas- urer of the Intertnational Wood- workers of America CIO, was a visitor to British Columbia this

week. Coming from Portland, Oregon, to confer with district officers, he expressed the hope that

of the IWA in district one, which takes in all Canadian locals, will ‘result in negotiation of union con-| tracts, from which greater stability and inereased production would re-

number of administration yblems were discussed at the ti with the district officers, arrangements made for the of supplies in Vancouver locals to speed up serv-

n the international office. ent of additional field

for B.C. was also dis-

Victoria Mill Girls Ask Wage Increase

Girls employed by Lemon Gon- nason’s Sawmill in Victoria paid at $2c per hour appealed to IWA local 1-118 to take up their case with the Regional War Labor Board. Local officers in co-opera- tion with the District Council and the Pacific Coast Labor Bureau have presented a brief to the Re- gional War Labor Bureau through

which it is hoped the wages for girls employed in this mill will be brought up to the standard of other plants in B.C. A petition cir- culated by the girls and letter pre- sented to the management brought a flat refusal to increase the scale.

Mayor to Open IWA Convention

MAYOR CORNETT

Acceptance of the invitation to officially open the Sixth Annual

Convention of IWA-CIO District Council No. 4 was received from

SEASON’S GREETINGS

IN THE threshold of the most critical year in world history, the Interna-

war industry.

VANCOUVER, B.C.— Another award from a provincial government Arbitration Board, which drew sharp. criticism from labor and progressive circles, was brought down last week in the Bloedel “Red Band” Shingle Mill dispute. The award, which clearly showed the urgent need for amendment of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, recommended an employees’ agreement for the Bloedel crew, which is 90 per cent IWA. The majority award against the union was signed by Mr. Justice Robertson and R. V. Stuart.

Herbert Gargrave, MLA, third member of the Board, took exception to the Robertson-Stuart finding. Mr. Gargrave said that “The attitude of the only witness of the company, Mr. Sid- ney Smith, vice-president, is astounding in this period of in- dustrial progress. In matters affecting labor relationship we

His Worship Mayor Cornett of Vancouver this week. Invitations to the Convention, which will com- mence at 10 am. on January 2, have also been sent to Interna- tional President Worth Lowery; CCL Secretary Pat Conroy; Minis- ter of Labor George Pearson; CCF Leader Harold Winch; IWA At- torney John Stanton; Pacific Coast Labor Bureau Director Bert. Mar- cuse; Timber Controller A. L.. Wil- liamson, as well as to the repre- sentatives of Selective Service and the armed forces.

‘A Convention Banquet has also been arranged for Saturday night,

stability in this great thirty-thousand man

January 2, in Chris, Grill, 872 Granville St., Vancouver, B.C.

tional Woodworkers of America extends best wishes for a successful and construc- tive New Year to all.

We pledge our united efforts with all of labor to intensify our program to or- ganize the unorganized, to achieve and maintain union security, to defend Ca- nadian living standards against profiteer- ing, against inflationary price increases and against everything else that threat- ens to lower morale and hamper labor from making the all-important contribu- tion it is eager to make, to win victory for freedom and democracy and to build a better post-war world.

The one hundred percent increase in IWA membership in District No. 1 during the last year clearly demonstrates the de- termination with which B.C. woodwork- ers are closing their ranks to play a de- cisive role with the CCL in winning this war against Jabor’s. greatest enemy, Nazism, and to thus ensure the winning of the peace that must inevitably follow. _ With unprecedented economic gains to its credit, which in turn have done much to improve worker-morale and thereby increase vital war production, the Inter- national Woodworkers of America has now grown to a point where it can be instrumental in the establishment of sound industrial relations, harmony and

nual aggregate wage hoists won last year, and negotiations proceeding today in 23 logging camps and sawmills in this prov- ince, IWA members are leaving no stone unturned to protect democracy at home while working with maximum energy to provide “aeroplane” spruce and urgently needed lumber materials for an immedi- ate second European land front in’ the fight for democracy and a better world abroad.

the battle for production, we are pressing for just collective bargaining rights and full partnership for labor in the councils of our nation, for the speedy destruction of Nazism.

and in the performance march forward to victory for Canada and the working people of every land. In achieving this goal a united labor movement has an im- portant role to play. A defeat for one is a defeat for all—and a gain for one is a gain for all. In the new year, let us unite our ranks as never before; let us cement the solidarity of our great union in unified action, in intensified effort, for a sound and purposeful program in this critical hour of our nation’s history. Vic- tory means our freedom and our right to live as human beings! Defeat means slavery and death!

With over half a million dollars in an-

In the interests of a total war effort in

This job we are determined to perform,

Ycannot afford to take the narrow

legalistic interpretation as it seems to me to be taken by the other members of the Board. The Com- pany recognizes the right of the employees to join a union but re- fuses to recognize the logical con- summation of such an act, that is, an agreement between the union and the company.”

The decision of the majority of the Arbitration Board is based on Section 5 of the ICA Act which requires the company-to-enter into an agreement with its employees but does not compell them to enter into an agreement with the union chosen by its employees.

Labor Minister George S. Pear- son, when contacted, explained that the Act provides only for col- lective bargaining between an em- ployer and the majority of his em- ployees, The Act lays no compul- sion on the employer to enter into an agreement with his employees as a result of bargaining or ne- gotiating.

The weakness of the Act is again

(Continued on Page 4)

One Sub-Local

At Duncan Now

DUNCAN, B.C—Four IWA sub- locals in the Cowichan district, namely Hillcrest( Mayo, Wellburn and Shawnigan Lake united to form one sub-local last week. last week. George Parlee of the former Hillcrest sub-local was elect- ed president, and George Maynard of the former Wellburn sub-local was elected secretary. Hjalmer Ber- gren, district vice-president, ad~ © dressed the meeting reporting on progress and organization of wood- workers in the Alberni area.

Last week sub-local offices were established for the Duncan area in the Patterson Block above the Is- land Drug Store at the corner of Craig and Station Streets, oppos- ite the Cowichan Merchant. Broth- er George Grafton who is acting as business agent for the Youbou- Cowichan Lake-Duncan area will make the new office his head- quarters. Said Brother Grafton, “The new sub-local will greatly strengthen the IWA in this dis- trict and make concerted action for agreements to consolidate our organization more feasible. It will also, cut out an unnecessary dupli- cation of work on the part of the

union and sub-local officers.”