> “a

* This was the headline carried in the special edition n of the B.C. Lumber Worker published after contract *sotiations between the International Woodworkers and

Forest Industrial Relations broke down. The IWA charged that operators’ approach’ to negotiations was “provocative,” and calculated to obstruct bargaining.

Re

UNKED TO TEACHER SHORTAGE

Salaries central issue at BCTF meet

The : of the eo annual convention 4 ‘C. Teachers Federa- tions - 74 up its delibera-

In Thurs ee Hotel

Tecop 4 at week with a iG et sos "solution a of decisions and

Prob on educational se and requirements. ~ ®enda os the convention

nS of and in the delibera- the ; lts 700 delegates was the ne € of teachers’ salaries, line .¢ to bring them into

with living costs, and

Vancouver ,

with the great responsibilities placed upon the teachng pro- fession.

BCTF president Mollie E. Cottingham told convention delegates that not only would B.c. “lose its best teachers unless they were accorded the prestige they deserve and paid the- salaries they need,” but “the shortage of teachers 1s a threat to the quality of edu- cational service in this prov- ince.”

B.C. Gillie, secretary of a BCTF committee studying the teacher shortage, told the con- vention that “by 1961 B.C. will be short 5,100 teachers in schools.”

Sharp disputes between the BCTF and the B.C. School Trustees Association this year over salary negotiations in some, 25 school districts and involving approximately 2,000 teachers brought the threat of “blacklist” by the BCTF, by

Burnab y Ratepayers asks council hot to increase taxes on homes

50. COns

ayers Chett on

ppomeowners, among them: Cation gg ATION: To raise edu-

Oney Standards more Naby pee be spent, but Bur- eens ike other municipali- share bearing more than its Eoverny the cost. The federal ee, is in the best fi- £0vern Position of the three Cia) 5 ments, federal, provin- eral Nd municipal, and “fed-

8ld to education is part © answer to the tax bur-

R °n the municipalities.” Bons: All traffic to: and throy the Interior now passes quae 8h Burnaby but inade- high>, of the five arterial palit 5 through the munici- Droy;, -Inaintained by . the “aoe government forces tained on to streets main- The by - the municipality. Shou] Provincial government d be pressed to build

BURNABY, B.C. — Burnaby Municipal Co ideration of a comprehensive brief on municipa Council. The brief, presented by a committee nd H. Vogel, contained a number of recommen

adequate highways through Burnaby and to classify munl- cipal roads used by through traffic as alternate highways, with special maintenance grants.

PROPERTY TAXATION: As- sessments should be équaliz- ed at true market value. Enabl- ing legislation should be sought to allow basic exemp- tion and graduated tax at the municipal level.

PUBLIC UTILITIES: Burn- aby consumers can profit directly from public owner- ship of the distribution of el- ectric power and the _ council should “institute a survey with the perspective of taking over its own electrical generating and distribution system.

uncil devoted its full meeting this week { finances prepared by Burnaby Rate- of three, Scotty Gordon, Harold Prit- dations for relieving the present burden

BUSINESS TAX: There is now no business tax in Bur- naby and the question should be considered by council.

LICENCE FEES: Revision, of the trade licenses bylaw to re- move inequalities is overdue.

In its general recommenda- tions, the brief urged council to lower this year’s mill rate “to the point where, with the increased 1958 assessment, the taxation on residential prop- erty will not increase.”

Reeve Alan Emmott told the,

delegation that business tax

and license fees were now un- der review and that Bart Mc- Cafferty, municipal treasurer, was discussing the assessment and other recommendations in Victoria,

having its membership decline to seek jobs in the disputed districts. May 31 was-set as the deadline for settlement. As in the trade union movement, teachers are strongly opposed to compulsory arbitration of salary disputes, as now re- quired by law. BCTF spokes- men “agreed” to give the gov- ernment’s inew salary concili- ation machinery “an honest trial.”

Convention delegates laugh- ed and some hissed when Edu- cation Minister Les Peterson told them that “the govern- ment has reduced the teaching load and shortened: the teach- ing day ...and done every- thing in its power to pro- mote tha jinterests of the teachers and the teaching pro- fession.”

Other demands of the BCTF were:

@ An end to school over- crowding, and _ effective control over size of classes.

®@ Increased pensions, from 40 to 70 percent of salary upon retirement. (Sharp protest was voiced against the government changing presént pension legislation without consultation, with some of the changes termed “detrimental.’’)

@ Strict adherence to BCTF policy of support for a non- sectarian school system in B.C.

Among many teachers there is a‘growing sentiment for re- affiliation with organized labor, in the belief that such affiliation would. enhance their efforts towards greater freedom, and flexibility in col- lective bargaining.

lay Day rally but no parade

“We can have jobs and trade, we can win an exten- sion of unemployment bene- fits until work is found, we ean beat back the attack on labor, we can stop H-bomb tests and win peace — IF WE ACT GIN, UNITY}

This is the message of Van- couver’s May Day Committee in a statement being widely distributed this week in thou- sands of leaflets calling on workers to attend the giant May Day Rally at Exhibition Park outdoor theatre Sunday, April 27 — starting at 2 p.m., daylight saving time.

The May Day Conference meeting in Pender Auditor- ium here on Monday this week, decided that instead of a parade this year, all efforts will be directed to organizing the traditional rally.

Lateness in getting organ- izational work under way be- cause of the federal election and the absence of many com- mittee members who will be attending labor’ conventions, will make it impossible to get full participation in the par- ade the committee had hoped to revive this year and the plan has been dropped.

The May Day message fur- ther states:

“Nearly 50,000 in Greater Vancouver are without work. Many face the grim prospect of long unemployment. Some have already beén cut off em- ergency benefits. Thousands more will be cut off supple- mentary insurance by mid- May. ;

“Meanwhile Victoria and O:tawa fail to act on a much needed public works program. Diefenbaker remains mum on

trade with China and other

Socialist countries. While nearly a million are without work, or trying to survive on small benefits, the federal government spends $2 -billion every year on arms.

“Wage standards and union rights are under attack. The bosses, their press and politi- cal stooges are trying to put the burden of economic crisis on the workers.

“All over the world and in Canada, too, the cry is being raised:: ‘Stop the H-bomb tests — start the summit talks now.’ British labor is in action. Canadian labor must act too..’

TED HARRIS Painters’ and Paperhangers’ Supplies Sunworthy Wallpaper Reg. 45c, Now 190 a roll

457 E, Hastings, TA. 1105

April 18, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 7