tober Revolution”

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The Communist and pro-Communist officers of the District Council gained a measure of success which went to their heads. They grew arrogant in dictating the Union’s policy. Invariably, absolute power wielded by officials is dangerous, and in the case of the IWA led to corruption in some instances. All the while, it was useful for the Communist Party, then fighting for its existence, to control an organization which provided salaries for its officials. From time to time, it was found convenient to siphon funds from the IWA to Party purposes, or purposes which were coincident with those of the Party.

The break first developed in the International Conventions. Al Hartung and Jim Fadling, International officers, were alert to the danger. Unhappy about developments in British Columbia, the In- ternational Executive Board commenced its own broadcast and paper in Vancouver to reach the membership. Organizers, nominated by the B.C. District Council, were promptly fired when they engaged ‘in unconstitutional activities. Matters came to a head with the enact- ment of the Taft-Hartley Act in the United States, and union officers were required to take non-Communist affidavits.

The International Union firmly opposed the Taft-Hartley requirements. Finally, the Union in the U.S. was given the ugly choice of either signing the affidavits or surrendering certifications to the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union under rulings of the National Labour Relations Board. An International Convention ordered that the affidavits be signed.

The B.C. District Council officers violently opposed this decision, and openly flouted the convention action. International President Jim Fadling suspended the officers who refused to sign in accordance with the convention decision, including one from British Columbia.

This set the stage for bitter debates in the 1948 District Con- vention, held in March. For the first time the ‘white blocs,”’ which had been organized in a number of Locals, openly declared their op- position to Communist control. Leading speakers for the rebels were Fred Fieber, and the late George Mitchell who were supported by a solid delegation from Local 1-357. E. Dalskog, whoin some mysterious manner had become Acting District President, presided, with Harold Pritchett alternating.

International President Jim Fadling presented the position of the

_ International Union, but Karley Larsen, District 2, gained sustained

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applause in his attack on Fadling. Harvey Murphy of the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union lectured the convention at length in a barefaced intrusion into IWA affairs to justify Communist policy. Harold Winch, CCF Leader of the Opposition in the Legislature, was heard briefly. Nigel Morgan, Leader of the Labour-Progressive Party, former District Secretary, Editor of the B.C. Lumber Worker, and

International Board Member, was heard at length on the policy of the * LPP.

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One of the central issues was a resolution supporting District 2 in demanding the initiation of a referendum recall of International President Fadling for his suspension of International Trustee Jack Greenall, who hailed from British Columbia. A roll call vote was

, demanded with the result that 17,377 were recorded as in favor of the

resolution, and 4,370 against. This infuriated the ‘“‘white bloc’

_ members who claimed that the convention had been packed with pro-

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communist delegates, not properly instructed by their own Locals on the issue.

Communist opposition to the Marshall Plan, then in operation, provoked another bitter debate. ‘“‘White bloc’’ speakers got short shrift from the Chair, and were often shouted down.

Between March and October, matters came to a head, when complaints about the District Council’s finances required an in- vestigation by the International Union. This investigation exposed

_ Juggling of the Union's funds, and, in some instances, definite misap-

propriation. The auditors reported that over $100,000 had not been

. accounted for by supporting vouchers. Large loans had been made to

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District Officers and members of their families.

August and September were months of intense activity on the part of the Communist leaders to prepare for the October revolution. On October 2nd, a meeting of selected shop stewards developed plans to railroad a secession resolution through the District Council

* On October 3rd. WIUC buttons were in readiness. The Council’s

decision to disaffiliate was contained in the script of a broadcast

' delivered by Pritchett to Station CJOR at 2 p.m., hours before the

motion was carried by the Council’s delegates.

Upon the adoption of the resolution of disaffiliation, delegates from Local 1-357 walked out in a body. It was evident that the Council's meeting had been “packed” by pro-Communist delegates.

The officers of the International Union and the Canadian

Congress of Labour were prepared for some overt move by the

Communists. On the following day, Jim Fadling, International President, and Stewart Alsbury, President of Local 1-357, applied for a court order to

freeze the funds and assets of the IWA until the matter could be settled in the courts. : :

Fadling declared, “IWA charters in British Columbia will remain in effect. Likewise the present contracts in the B.C. wood industry are between the IWA and the employers, and the full resources of the International Union will be used to protect and preserve all the rights and privileges of B.C. woodworkers as members of the IWA, under their Local Union charters and industry contracts which remain in effect.”

Al Hartung, International 1st Vice-President, also entered the battle for IWA constitutional rights and stated, ‘We are really not surprised at this desperate new move. The tactics of the Communist Party, whose game Pritchett has been playing for years, is to rule or ruin.”

Provisional officers were immediately installed. They were: J. S. Alsbury, District President; District 1st Vice-President, Lloyd Whalen; District 2nd Vice-President, Jack Squires: District 3rd Vice- President, Gordon McEntee; Financial Secretary, Mike Sekora; Trustees, W. S. Lynch, Neil Shaw and Joe Morris.

The provisional officers pledged themselves to:

1. Calla convention at the earliest date to enable delegates from all B.C. Locals to elect their district officers and determine district policy.

2. Assist all B.C. Locals to transact the business of our Union and overcome the attempt to split our Union.

3. Build up the maximum bargaining strength of our Union and improve wages, hours of work, and working conditions.

4. Install strict accounting of district finances and restore full democratic control by the rank and file membership of district affairs.

They kept their pledge.

The weeks that followered were hectic ones in IWA circles. The membership in one Local after another rallied to the flag of the IWA, and rejected all appeals from the leaders of the new WIUC. Disloyal officers in the Locals were ousted. The International Union was sustained everywhere, despite the appearance of a few WIUC buttons on the job.

The IWA became involved in a complicated series of court actions to recover the assets of the District Council and the Locals. The WIUC officers barricaded themselves within their offices in an attempt to retain office equipment and funds. More than once the courts ordered the Sheriff to confiscate property in their hands. The Loggers’ Navy, property of Local 1-71, was discovered hidden in a remote bay, only after an extensive search in B.C. coast waters. Until the Union could recover control of the B.C. Lumber Worker, a special publication was issued weekly called ‘‘The Voice of the IWA.”

When the smoke cleared a few months later, the IWA, through a decision of the courts, had recovered some of the assets of the IWA. It was impossible to secure a proper accounting of the funds, formerly held by the Union. Office equipment disappeared. One of the Union’s most valuable assets, its records, were never found. Its most precious asset, the loyalty of the membership, was intact.

This record should include recognition of the all-out assistance rendered by the officers of the Canadian Congress of Labour to the International Officers and the Local Unions. A staff of IWA and CCL organizers travelled far and wide to inform woodworkers of the threat to their rights. This list includes many who have since been elected to office in the IWA.

For a brief period, the WIUC fomented trouble in the logging camps, until IWA organization was demonstrated as in command of the situation. WIUC units lingered precariously in the East Kootenays for a number of years, and had nuisance value only when negotiations were under way.

At the next International Convention, the traitors were named and debarred from membership in the IWA.

At the 1949 District Convention of the IWA, Stewart Alsbury was elected as District President, giving proof that membership loyalty to the IWA was steadfast.

As predicted by Fadling and Hartung, the upheaval re-vitalized the IWA. Membership control of the Union's affairs was upheld and more firmly entrenched. The lesson has not been forgotten, and membership control is today a rock-bound principle of IWA ad- ministration.

In 1949, the IWA faced a formidable problem. The whole organization was re-built from the ground up with the handicap of lost finances and records.

The housecleaning that followed the October revolution established sound administration and gave a marked impetus to the Union's growth in membership and strength to fight for better wages and working conditions. In 1949, the Union entered upon a new era in which it has consistently displayed a virile trade union democracy.

The Western Canadian Lumber Worker — Special Edition/11