LUMBER

“We are withdrawing the char- ges,” said the WICU leaders, “be- cause we feel nothing should stand in the way of woodworkers win- ning their wholly justified demands of 17 cents across the board and union shop, and every effort must be made to unite and mobilize all woodworkers to fight to win these demands and offset the employers’ attempts to return to the 48-hour week.”

Committal to jail of John Forbes, WICU secretary, for failure to pay $11,000 of “IWA funds” into court was quashed by the Court of Appeal last week, thus ending this ill-ad- vised action of the IWA against the WICU. There is a growing senti- ment among IWA members to put an end to other costly court battles which are pending.

In the United States, 8,000 strik- ing IWA members have completely tied up the vast Weyerhauser op- erations for more than a fortnight, and are feceiving support from both CIO and AFL unions. :

AFL shift engineers in 15 B, C. lumber manufacturing plants are demanding wage hikes from 18 to 30 cents an hour. The case is go- ing to conciliation.

Employees of the Eddy Match Company plant at Mission went on strike last week and IWA pick- ets are on the job. About 50 workers are involved. .

The Labor Committee of the La- bor-Progressive Party issued a leaf- let to all woodworkers this week, calling on IWA, WIUC and unor- ganized workers to unite and pre- pare for strike action. “Show'the boss you mean business,” the leaf- let declared.

“Lumberworkers Strike Likely,” uwas the headline on last week’s is- sue of the CCF News. It reported that the IWA is dissatisfied with the conciliation board’s award, but failed to mention that, in rejecting the award, the IWA had also re- Ppudiated ithe CCF brain-truster, Dr. Eugene Forsey, who represented the union and. concurred in the board’s recommendatiions, which included return to the 48-hour week.

At press time, results of the go- vernment sponsored vote were not available, but. all indications poin- ted to a whopping majority in favor of strike action June 15,

RALLY ©

The rally was jointly chaired _ by Dick Allen, Vancouver, a pro- _inent member of the Student Chris- tian Movement, and George Star- kovich, Bellingham, an Internation- al woodworkers of America job steward.

Featured speakers at the rally included Dr. James G. Endicott, chairman of the Canadian Peace Congress; Rev. R. J. D. Morris, United Church Young People’s Un- ion, Vancouver; Robert Krahl. Wa- _ Shington State Director, Young Progressives of America; Hans Dor- ford, theology student and war vet- eran, University of Washington; Homer Stevens, United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, Vancou- ver; and Adair Sims, Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, Seattle.

Rev Frank Paterson, adult coun- sellor, United Church Young Peo- ple’s Union, Vancouver, gave a non-denominational religious invo- cation; and Dr. James Endicott dedicated the rally.

A Russian-Canadian young peo- ple’s orchestra from Vancouver d several numbers as ‘the crowd gathered around the Peace Arch at 2 p.m. The rally officially opened with presentation of the flags of Canada and the United States and the peace flag. Singing of the two national anthems and the United Nations song was led by the National Federation of La- bor Youth chorus of Vancouver.

Speeches were interspersed with other vocal numbers. Donna Kro- ener (U.S.) sang a calypso number, “Walk in Peace” and little Dot _ Weaver, Vancouver, delighted the audience with two solos.

Differing philosophical and poli- tical beliefs were voiced by the spea- kers at the great rally, but .all were agreed that there must be “No More War.”

SEAMAN TELLS HIS STORY

Ship transferred, seamen on beach

(On December 23, 1949, the Pacific Tribune revealed that Canadian shipowners were negotiating a deal to transfer $75 mil- lion worth of Canadian ships to British registry and throw thous- ands of seamen in this country out of work. The scandalous scheme,

. which will virtually scuttle Canada’s merchant marine, is proceed- ing. In the story printed below, a B.C. seaman tells how his ship was transferred abruptly to British registry while docked near Liver-

pool last week.)

“Well, it’s all over!” This remark by one of the ship’s officers left no doubt in my mind as to exactly what he meant. The crew mem- bers of the ss Lake Tatla, owned by the Western Canada Steamship Company of Vancouver, were now to be removed from this Canadian- owned ship and returned speedily to Canada to be thrown on the beach with the mounting thous- ands of unemployed already there because this company had seen fit, with the approval and consent of the Canadian government, to trans- fer the ship to British registry, place a British crew aboard and operate it at a considerably re- duced scale of wages and working conditions.

We had had previous information that this was likely to happen be- cause there had been some pub- licity given to the transferring of four ships belonging to this com- pany, and this was one of them. Our fears that we would soon be out of jobs were now confirmed and instead of making a trip that would last a few months and en- able us to eam a few ddllairs against the day we would again be on the beach, we were now suddenly unemployed. We had been away from Canada exactly 33 days, just the necessary time required to get the ship to England.

It was now also confirmed that the other three ships had also been transferred to British registry and that the crews had been or soon would be returned to Canada. This also included the officers since the arrangement, seems to be that only Canadian captains will remain with the vessels,

It wasn’t long before a British chief mate, chief engineer and chief steward arrived to check stores and to take over the ad- ministration of their departments.

Captain Clarke, superintendent for Western Canada Shipping, also arrived shortly and we were in- formed that we were to have our gear ready to board the bus which would be waiting for us at the ships side on the morning of Fri- day, June 2, exactly five days after our arrival at Ellesmere Port in

the Manchester Canal near Liver- pool.

It is useless to deny that many of the crew members were down- hearted and greatly demoralized at such a turn of affairs and this also included many of the offi- cers, one of whom stated that he felt like “tieing up the ship and walking off and leaving it without completing the necessary duties re- quired of him.” This statement de- finitely expressed the way we all felt.

At the duly appointed time, with- out having seen any of the British crew members except a few of- ficers, we were hustled into a bus and driven across England to the airport of Heath Row near Lon- don, placed aboard a chartered plane, and within .36 hours were back in Vancouver.

From the airport here we were delivered -to the bus depot where we were obliged to wait around before the appointed time when we could go to the company offices in the Marine Building, where they obligingly allowed us to draw $20 of our own money, which doesn’t aimount to much since the articles were signed on April 8. Our wages also ceased 0n the day of our ar- rival here,

We have yet to go to the office of the shipping master, sign off the articles and receive the balance of our wages. And then as we stand around looking at each oth- er, the common query will be, “What now?” ¥

Many of the officers and seamen who have just been rushed back to Canada like “a bunch of cattle” and “treated as such,” as one ship’s officer described at the airport in Montreal, sailed these very ships during World War II as well as contributing their - share of the

‘money which helped to build them.

We can sum it all up in the words of one of the seamen, who, looking out of the -bus window at the familiar scenery as we were driven into Vancouver from the airport, observed bitterly, “Yeah, we did our bit for democracy and security—and look what we get.”

SIU ‘company union’

plan blocked by CSU

TORONTO

Masquerading under an AFL, label, the Seafarers’ Inter- national Union is attempting to “legalize” company unionism

in Canada.

This was further revealed last week when a court

action made public the fact that Harold Banks and Frank Hall are attempting to blackjack the Upper Lakes and St.

Lawrence Transportation Company into signing with the SIU which has no membership on any vessels op- erated by the company. An in- junction issued by Mr. Justice Le- Bel of the Ontario Supreme Court temporarily restrained both men from interfering in the company’s affairs.

Banks, a SIU organifier, brain- trusted the importation of scab crews into Canada during the his- toric East Coast deep sea strike. Hall, vice-president of the AFL Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, has been con- demned from all quarters as a labor-spltter: he played a leading role in assisting the government and the steamship companies in their attempts to smash the Cana- dian Seamen’s Union.

The CSU, which is the legiti- mate bargaining agency for crews on all ships oprated by the Upper

Lakes and St. Lawrence Transpor- tation Company, is once again the target of Hall and Banks. In this ease they threatened that the com- pany’s ships would not be loaded or unloaded by Hall’s freight hand- lers unless it scrapped the CSU. The blackmail attempt also threat- ened that the SIU would tie-up the company’s ships when in U.S. ports. The injunction issued by Mr, Justice Le Bel restrains the SIU and Hall’s union “or any oth- er’ union in Canada affiliated with the AFL from inciting members to refuse to load or unload cargo from the plaintiff’s vessels at any port in Ontario.”

Lauding the judgment of Mr. Justice LeBel, Dewar Ferguson, CSU vice-president said that it was “completely justified.’

“The threatened action of Banks and Hall is nothing less than sheer blackmail,” said Ferguson.

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“foclaliem would mean the end-of elvinsation ae we know it”

pids Mine means loss of a $360,000 annual payroll and loss of jobs to 150 Nanaimo miners.

Robert Dunsmuir and his asso- ciates in 1884 received as a tax-free gift all the coal lands in and around Nanaimo. By 1911 they had made a coo] million dollars in profits. In later years the company has prom- ptly abandoned mines as soon as they could no longer be worked at a handsome profit.

“In view of the many lush years of profit-taking enjoyed, the com- pany can afford to temporarily for- go an operational profit from the White Rapids mine,” the LPP state- ment says. “Until a national so- lution for the present coal market- ing crisis is found we propose:

1, The company to’ continue to operate the White Rapids mine:

2. The provincial government to establish an independent com- missien to ascertain the opera- tional losses sustained in opera. tion of the mine.

3. The provincial government ‘ito underwrite ny opjrational loss sustained by the compamy in the operation of the mine, until a solution of the national mar- keting crisis is found.”

Future of Nanaimo’s coal industry depends on the future of the indu- try across Canada, the LPP points out. And Canada’s coal industry is being driven tc the wall by United States competition. This is the heart of the coal problem.

Last year Canadian miners dug slightly more than 18 million tons of coal. In the same period 24 mil- lion tons of American coal entered the Eastern Canadian market.

Free Spain Friends appeal for Barsky

The Friends of Free Spain here have sent a wire to Stanley Wood- ward, U:S. ambassador to Canada, urging President Truman to inter- vene and prevent imprisonment of Dr. Edward K. Barsky and 10 mem- bers of the U.S. Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee.

Barsky, who served with the Spanish Loyalists in a medical ca- pacity, and other members of the committee were cited for contempt by the notorious Un-American Ac- tivities Committee when they re- fused to submit lists of donors to

the Washington witchunters.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 9, 1950-—PAGE 6

Announced closure of White Ra- }

Continued operation of Nanaimo mine urged

NANAIMO, B.C.

Policy of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir Ltd.) in aban- doning coal mines before they are worked out was sharply attacked this week in a leaflet published by the Nanaimo committee of the Labor-Progressive party.

s s Will stay in CCL

Robert Haddow, Canadian Dir- ector, International Fur and Lea- ther Workers Union (above) said this week the union intends to maintain its affiliation with the Canadian Congress of Labor and “will vigorously oppose any at- tempt to deprive us of this right.” Haddow’s statement followed re- marks attributed to CCL president A, R. Mosher that he “wouldn’t: feel a bit sorry” if Fur and Lea-

ther decided to pull out of the CCL,

Steel's miserly strike aid hit

United Steel Workers spends more than $200,000 a month in raiding activities, but gives only: piddling sums in support of Steel strikers in Local 2756, Langley’s, a leaflet published by a rank-and- file committee of the union states.

“We demand that the national and inernational offices of our un- ion direct our finances towards the legitimate needs of our member- ship - - for strike welfare, to. or- ganize unorganized plants, and oth- er genuine trade union purposes,” the leaflet says.

Steel strikers on Granville Island are currently living on strike pay weekly rates which are lower than unemployment insurance benefits.

,