The victims —

the Martinsville Seven and now Willie McGee

BOB LAXER AND PRISKA SLEMKO

N March, at the height of ne-

gotiations between Local 439, United Auto Workers and Massey- Harris, a machine operator ap- proached a supporter of the Workers’ Voice. “Can't you get those Wérkers’ Voice people to let us know what's going on in negotiations?”

This confidence in ‘Workers’ Voice, a monthly shop paper put out by a group of Massey-Harris workers who are nfembers of the Labor-Progressive party, is shar- ed by hundreds in the plant? When People will walk a considerable distance on a rushed morning be- fore 8 a.m. to ask for bundles of the paper for their departments, Under the company’s watchful eye, it’s certain they have ac- cepted the Workers’ Voice as their own.

What has led the business press _to abandon the “silent treatment” of Communist activities among workers? Simply that the Work- ers’ Voice, like’ other members of the. growing family of LPP shop and industrial papers, is hitting home, Among the workers it is helping to create that fighting Spirit of unity needed to win wage increases and a peaceful world. _ Big business fears the organizing Power of this and other LPP shop papers. mA :

What has given birth to this » new family of shop papers in the last few years? They follow in the tradition of many notable Predecessors, which as long as 30 _ jYears ago expressed the militancy of the rank-and-file in railroad, as in Montreal and Winnipeg shops, in mining camps, in big industrial Plants like auto in Windsor “and Steel in Hamilton.

Put out by a group of organized Communists or by a rank-and-file ' Committee have always voiced the

against the boss, for higher wages, ™mocracy and against the war Plans of the big shots.

x

_ Shop papers, whether they were

desire of the workers to do battle -

the 40-hour week, trade union de-

Saturday Night complains shop papers hit wher

In the earlier days when ,unions were not yet present in basic in- dustries they were the organizers and agitators (along with the Worker) meeting the intimidation of the mining and industrial bar- ons with the cry of unity, organ- ization, labor solidarity. When the history of labor is written the part played by these mimeograph- ed and sometimes printed papers will be recognized as vital in the

“creation of the one-million strong “union movement.

Of recent days it has been the reversal of the democratic mili- tant trend in unionism, so char- acteristic in the growth of the CIO union in the late thirties and early fonties, which has given birth to a new generation of rank and file movements.

In a period of increasing hard- ships thrust on the backs of the

workers by the profiteers work- .

ers militancy rises, and when they are blocked by the rightwing lead- ers of labor who go along with big business and government in their war drive, they must find indepen- dent ways of expressing their de- _ termination to carry on the cen- tury-old program of labor for a better life. eet he

oe :

The LPP: shop papers of 1951 carry on in the best tradition of the old papers. At the same time they reflect the giant strides tak- en by world and Canadian labor. The fight for peace, ‘which for de-

cades has been in real union pro-—

grams, now occupies the centre of the stage. In this sacred struggle the whole fight of labor on wages, hours, democratic rights, Cana- dian autonomy is merged with the crusade to keep our country at peace.

‘why do the big shots fear the 1951 shop papers even more than in the past? Because they hit at the solar plexus of the big busi- ness drive to war. When workers

fight for wages it’s “bad” enough; —

when they begin to challenge the war policy they are challenging the central aim of the monopol- ists.

when

e it hurts.

That’s when the monopolists really squeal!

You can see. where it hurts by the treatment given Workers’ Voide in the latest issue of Satur- day Night which tried to blow up the Communist shop papers as a sinister design of the “reds” to destroy Canada. And what is the basis for the great ‘“‘scoop’? It is a recent issue of the Workers’

‘Voice which carried these head-

lines, “The Peacemakers Shall In- herit the Earth” and “Keep Can- ada at Peace With China.” Could you imagine anything more “trea- sonable”?

And what sticks in their reac- tionary throat is that the workers: are.so friendly to the shop paper distributors. Try as he might Hal Tracey, assigned by Saturday Night to red-baiting exploits, could find no shred of evidence

F X \

CHURCH. PAPER ASKS:

and the petrol jelly bomb?

as a duty of absolute obedience.

before accepting orders.”

petrol jelly bomb.

an answer.

soldier.

cipline.

Can a soldier refuse?

H*. a soldier in Korea the right to refuse to obey when ordered

to use atrocious weapons such as the flame-throwing tank

This question is asked by The Church of England News- paper, commenting on a recent statement by Sir Hartley Shaw- cross, Attorney-General in Britain’s Labor government.

Sir Hartley was reported as saying that a soldier was bound only to obey a lawful order and that there was no such thing

“The question that Sir Hartley has raised,” says the paper. + “Ss that if British soldiers would deserve punishment for obeying _ immoral orders, they also have the right of disobedience, and the State should uphold them in the exercise that that right.

s “Tn, future wars, eVery man must consult his conscience

“Need we wait until future wars? There were, perhaps, no weapons more atrocious than the flame-throwing tank and the

“These are being used in Korea. this newspaper to advise British troops in Korea that they should disobey when ordered to use them?

«se La yf And what would be the fate of men who accepted the ad- vice? The public, and particularly the troops, have a right to

“This statement of Sir Hartley Shawcross places the re- - sponsibility for deciding whether or not the law of the land and the orders of his superiors conflict with the undefined principles of humanity fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the individual

“Tf the soldier exercises his new nignt of disobedience pre- sumably the courts will have to exempt him from military dis-

“By what standards the courts will judge in any case that might now come before them, the Attorney-General is entirely, silent. Presumably the whim of the judge will be absolute.”

: .

Does the law now permit

‘

that any sizeable group of work- ers had ever shown hostility to

.the Workers’ Voice. Those collec-

tions which are sent in by groups of workers, a $2 money order» in the mail, a $2 bill handed in by a friend prove that workers regard shop papers as their workers voice.

Saturday Night tries to argue that the real reason why the shop

‘papers are so well received is —

because of the “come on” of stories on negétiations which make the rest of the paper more palatable. that this is an insult to the in- telligence of workers, Tracey is forced to make a sizeable admis- sion: that the {Workers’ Voice played an important part in re- cent negotiations.

Even McKay, rightwing leader of Local 439, in spite of his best efforts, isn’t able to give this ‘part of Tracey’s story a convincing

Aside from the fact.

, <

L. WOBLON'T IT BEA LOT EASIER IF TRUMAN TALKED TO STALIN 2

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 11, 1951 — PAGE 9

out in his dingy, smelly plant?

' and guns too, their fears are well-

twist. McKay tries to damn the Communists’ role in the negotia- tions by charging them with giv- ing away “secrets.” Since when | are negotiatiens concerning the welfare of 4,000 workers the pri- _ vate property of the local presi- dent and his few cohorts?

Here is a revealing sidelight on why rightwing labor leaders fear these shop papers. As a voice of the rank-and-file they make it more difficult for labor big shots to keep workers in the dark, to _ “eool them off,” to scuttle mili- tancy. Shop papers are a chal- lenge to the reactionary policy of expelling Communists from un- ions such as the expulsion of the — Furriers from the CCL for push- ing a coordinated wage drive and ‘opposing German rearmament. <

What the Moshers, Millards and Bengoughs fear in the shop papers is that they are stimulating the: growth of the rank-and-file move ments in which Communists are _ participating but which will be as broad as the working class itself and as deep as their love of peace.

Tracey sneers at Workers Voice for saying that workers are “ex- ploited” by Massey-Harris presi- — dent, J. S. Duncan. Who, then, built that yacht in Which he will be spending his summer months, while workers sweat their. guts

Tracey failed to say why we personally help Massey-Harris — workers get out the paper. We explained that we had both been in the armed forces and hoped — above all that the next generation would never have to don a uni form as we had done. We. con- sider it good Canadianism to con- vince our fellow-Canadians to keep Canada at peace. ieras

What do the shop papers stand for? They say that all workers — should join hands, unite for better

living standards, for peace, for an independent and democratic ‘Canada. When Saturday Night — fears that workers who go after pay increases will begin to think that maybe we can’t have butter

founded: Workers are deciding that they want butter and life, which means peace. Shae

+