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.C. LUMBER WORKER hed Bi-Weekly, Every Second Monday by

‘TIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO) * DISTRICT COUNCIL NO. 1

Managing Editor: B. J. MELSNESS

Holden Building — Phone PAcific 4151 — Vancouver, B.C. ike Payments to: IWA-CIO District Council No..1

Prepare For Labor Day!

By PRESIDENT HAROLD PRITCHETT are under way in Vancouver, New Westminster,

Port Alberni, and many ohter outlying places, for a d Labor Day Rally with the main slogan, “Collective and Signed Union Agreements.” With the Allies on the offensive and invasion of the con- imminent, Labor Day this year must be made a day ghty demonstrations demanding that labor be given its to bargain collectively and to culminate. such collective g in signed union agreements, thereby making labor true war-partner. _ Coupled with these mighty Labor Day demonstrations, the ternational Woodworkers of America has initiated a “Political ction Week” from September 1st to September 7th, in which rank and file delegations of every Local and sub-Local, together h representatives of other Labor organizations regardless of ation, will unite to meet with your representative legislators n each constituency. a __ Take steps now to see to it that Labor Day demonstrations, i. the form of parades, mass rallies, picnics and dances, are in your community; see to it that there are strong “ ntative united labor committees meeting during the Political Action Week with your M.P. or M.L.A., to ask your presentative in no uncertain terms to wire his sentiments to rovincial and federal governments and to make public his hear stand favoring democratic progress! The key to Canada’s war problem is labor and its right to bargain collectively, stabilized wage standards, and manage- _ ment-labor production partnership. _ ACT NOW!

How Time Is Lost

QResnz Labor has constantly pointed out that the major cause for loss of working time is not strikes, but accidents. The trade union. contention has been bolstered by __ statistics from an unexpected source. The Financial Post, in its fuly 10 edition, admits that industrial accidents in this country _ cause a time loss of five million working days per year. __ What is so important about this? The loss through accidents is five million working days a year. This is more than all the _ time lost through strikes and lockouts in the last ten years put “together. It is nearly six times as large as the time loss through disputes in 1937 (a record-breaking year for indus- trial trouble) when the loss was about twice as large as in any her year in Canada’s history. Canada’s workmen are not falling down on the job.

Release Labor Board Report

r ABOR has always contended that Canada lacks labor legis- lation and the Federal Department of Labor, including ister, Humphrey Mitchell, pursues the vacillating “milk ” policy leaning towards big business. his is more evident by the refusal of J. L. Cohen, member National War Labor Board, to sit on any future con- ‘ial questions because the Board lacks the backing of nt legislation to deal with such questions, therefore a vast amount fo time and effort. * strict officers of the International Woodworkers of Amer- ” with national leaders of the AF of L and CCL, pport of J. L, Cohen in his contention that the Board tive labor legislation to give it sufficient authority bility. . should dispatch wires immediately to Justice , chairman of the National War Labor Board, known the support of J. L. Cohen, and de- justice MeTague make his recommendations to t now, pursuant to the national hearings held blems, so there will be no further excuse for Mackenzie King and Minister of Labor Hum- ll to totally disregard Canada’s key labor problem, legislation making it compulsory by law for ‘to bargain collectively with unions of their em- oice, to stabilize wages and establish a sound basis

Island Film Circuit

Further dates for the National Film Board shows on the Island are given below. Featured on the program is FREIGHT- ERS UNDER FIRE, a dramatic episode between a German U- boat and a cargo vessel, and PEACE RIVER, an interesting color travelogue on the Peace River country to the north.

Sunday, August 29th.—Courtenay, evening, Bickle Theatre. Monday, August 30th—Fanny Bay, 12:25 noon, in Mill. Monday, August 30th.—V.L.M. Co., Camp 7, evening. Tuesday, August 3lst—Franklin River, Camp A, 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1st—Franklin River, Camp B, 7.00 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 2nd.—Port Alberni, B.C.W. mill, 7:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3rd.—Port Alberni, B.S.W. mill, 1:00 p.m. noon. Friday, Sept. 3rd—Port Alberni, A.P.L. Camp 1, 7:15 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 5th.—Port Alberni, evening, Victory Hall or

Theatre.

Tuesday, Sept. 7th—Great Central 8:00 p.m., Community

Hall.

Tuesday, Sept. 7th—Great Central, 12:30 midnite, in Mill. Wednesday, Sept. 8th. — Ladysmith, 7:30 p.m., Nicholson

Hall. Monday, Sept. 13th—Camp

9, Great Central, evening.

ent Production Committees,

A

ong the Skidroad

In the last issue of the Lumber Worker we announced the opening of the new premises for a hiring hall in 204 Holden Bldg. The club- room which is adjoining has been slicked up and painted and will be ready for installation of furni- ture in a few days. Maybe we should hold a grand opening. Any- way, members are invited to come up and inspect the new premises,

Well, to make this union hiring a success our members must take it upon themselves to support it and to boast union hiring at all times. Union hiring will be only as successful as the membership makes it. We have had 25 jobs available the last two weeks and only two men have been shipped out.

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We have just received a com- munication from a former member who is now in the Army Forestry Corps in Quebec. He informs us that there are two hundred former B.C. loggers there who would glad- ly come back to B.C. to help cut vitally needed timber. They all feel that they are doing less for the war effort by being in Quebec than they could do by being in B.C. where the bulk of Canada’s timber requirements is produced.

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Did you see the excellent piece that the Bulleook wrote in the last issue of our paper? If you didn’t, try and get hold of that issue and read it.

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I have just been looking over the contract that the employee is required to ‘sign when he or she ships out through the Loggers’ Association hiring agency (Blacks, to you). Clause 6 of the agreement reads as follows: “It is understood I have no right to invite or allow any person on the premises or in the camp without the employer's consent.”

In other words, a worker, in or- der to hold his job, has to sign away his individual freedom of as- sociation.

The boss loggers’ association is asking the workers to sign away a right that is granted by law to all of our country’s inhabitants except those who have committed crimes

and been incarcerated or those that by reason of mental deficiency have been confined to asylum. I wish I were a lawyer so I could find out if this is in accordance with the Magna Carta. We shall see.

Continued

Nomination

gers and mill workers along the rugged B.C. Coast.

May I make a suggestion regard- ing the Hiring Hall, that for im- mediate publicity purposes, a card- board poster—something like the small posters distributed by the Compensation Board — be sent around the mills and camps ad- vertising the opening of the Hir- ing Hall.

I would also suggest that regis- tration forms be sent to the camps and mills in order to register the loggers and millworkers, I feel that this will be a great push for the Hall. Of course, I realize that all this takes time and money. I will pledge a donation, as soon as pay rolls will permit, towards this, and you can be assured that I will do everything in my power to publi- cize the hall and the job of con- vincing woodworkers to hire: out through the union hiring hall.

With solidarity greetings and hopes for greater activity from this camp in the future,

CARD NO. 6983.

UNIONS BUY MORE BONDS

WASHINGTON.—Chalk up an- other merit award for unions’ out- standing support of the war effort. A nation-wide survey of public opinion conducted by a research group at Princeton University shows that union members are buying far more War Bonds than other people in the same income group.

About 90 per cent of the union members, ‘practically all of whom come in the lower 50 per cent in- come group, are buying bonds, compared to only 69 per cent for non-union members in the same income class.

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NEWS from LADYSMITH

By “JEEP”

Well, Brothers, here I am again after a lapse of a few weeks, during which time our sub-local in Ladysmith was going ahead by leaps and bounds. The membership had increased and everything else seems to be progressing favorably.

Since the last time I wrote in to the Lumber Worker paper, I have had the good fortune to visit what is termed “God's Country” and I might say I enjoyed my stay there. It was only for a short time and it also being my initial, visit there, I was all eyes and ears, no- ticing everything I could. One par- ticular item I did notice —when { went into certain stores or es- tablishments to purchase some- thing or another, and it was that the shop or store displayed a no- tice declaring itself to be a “union shop,” and you know, Brothers,

it made me think because, from where I came from I had not seen anything of that nature unless it was a barber shop or saloon.

You know, we have.a great time organizing the workers there, let alone organizing anything else, while our neighbors across the line are all’ organized and quite proud of it; in fact, you are not in “style” unless you possess a union card.

The feminine sex who have .ob- tained work there proudly wear their union button. It takes the place of the “orchid” of by-gone days. It proves, Brothers, that or- ganization is the main stay of our existence,

While on the subject of organiza- tion, I must congratulate the Ladies’ Auxiliary of Sub-Local 1-80, Lady- smith, for the manner in which _ they took over a room in the Lady- smith General Hospital, equipping it, and fixing it up at their own expense, and will maintain in every way in the future. Being an admirer of the fair sex in general, I must say that it is by far the nicest room you could find in any hospi- tal. It was through organization that this was accomplished, and it would show appreciation if our Brothers in the same sub-loeal, or any other local, visited the Lady- smith Hospital, and saw for them- selves the good work done by the Ladies Auxiliary. So again, ladies, congratulations.

On Wednesday, August 4, Brother Morgan addressed a large meeting of Ladysmith Sub-local, reporting on the negotiations with the local logging company here. He informed the meeting that the negotiating committee met the management of Comox Logging and Railway Com- pany, and that the Company agreed to recognize the union, adjust wage scales and cooperate as much as possible with the men, but stated emphatically that it would not sign a union agreément, ‘and that the meeting came to an end.

The next step to take, as Bro- ther Morgan suggested on the rec- ommendation of the negotiating committee, was arbitration, and the

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