TRADES COUNCIL DISCUSSES LEGISLATION

MENTS TO LABOR ACT

s pouring more soldiers
)pain, cynically disrega
Lereement.

‘ortuguese frontier.
im addition,

There is no doubt that Musso-@
‘ol is intending to launch yet an-
s:her offensive in an effort to
yerwhelm loyalist resistance by
pieer weight of war materials, de—
ite the tremendous losses the
nuscists sustained in their yaunt-
fl drive on Valencia, smashed by
Sern resistance and brilliant re-
sublican coumnter-offensives across
ne Ebro.

| The story of FPranco’s “smashing
ictory”” which ended in defeat is
scaphically toid by the correspon-
pent of Cavaicade, news-comment
ry here.

“Down to the Sagunto area were
ashed 40,000 Italians and nine
‘ivisions of Spaniards and Moors,
srinkled with a fair number of
erman and fitalian officers,” he
. rites.

‘With 600 Italian guns the 20-
bule front became a line of bark—
ng iron, battering republican de-
mses, barrapine here and there
r attempted infantry advances
-d by Gozens of Italian and Ger-
tan tanks.

'“Qverhead the sky was black
ith 400 Italian and i150 German
lanes pepperinge bombs over re
ublican entrenchments, hamper-
ag communications in the rear.
eainst them popped the govern-
ient’s thin batteries ef anti-
ireraft guns, deterring rather
San destroying the raiders, but
Ow and then bringing a Junker
© Savoia down in flames.

ae

“As fascist infantry rushed from
over to cover, a more plentiful

upply of machinesuns crackled
3tol)6CG€OU the) 60h SUmmeEr air. Italians,
foors, Spaniards fell in thousands.
for three days the onslaught

ained in intensity, then with at
2ast 5,000 dead and other thou-
ands incapacitated, the fascists
yaused to clear up their line and
eorganize.

“Troubling the defense was the
paucity of material While fas-
cist metal came over in profli-
gate showers, republicans had
to conserve their munitions.
Every shot from their 200 guns
was carefully timed and calcu-

lated. They fired only when
there were objectives to hit,
wasted nothing on barrage; had

little to waste, were therefore
unable to attempt an advance be-
cause there was mo means of
preparing the: way.

TRANCO CANNOT WIN

“Eyen the machinegun had to be

ised sparingly. Cut off by land,
jockaded at sea by the WNon-
ntervention Committee, ammuni-

ion is scarce in central Spain. Un-
ble to silence the fascist batteries
Vith shells, republicans had to do
vhat they could with some 200
lanes, Sit tight till the flood of
netal subsided, meantime counting
he casualties in thousands.
“Wndurance of the defense in
hese heavier bombardments of the
var is due to the tenacity of bet
er <irained and more seasoned
roops than formerly and the
trength of their fortifications.

Commenting on the republic’s
suzprise offensive across the
Ebro River, Cacaicade’s corres-
pondent declares:

“That Franco can never win is
now common ground.”

ARMS FOR SPAIN

Italian Troops,
War Materials
Pour Into Spain

“LONDON, England, August 18.3 hopes. of
an early victory for Franco once again dashed by
successful loyalist counter-offensives, Mussolini

and war materials into
rding the Anglo-Italian

Italian reinforcements arriving at Cadiz are reported to be
reater than at any period since March last.
an destroyers transport new fascist arrivals and supplies up
iver to Seville, while other supplies and technicians from Ger-
lany reach the fascists through northern ports and across the

Every week Ita-

thousands of new Moorish mercenaries
have been brought across from Africa.

“‘Unshakeable’

Morale Of
Loyalists
Is Lauded

BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 18.—
The road that climbs out of the
fruitiaden Llobregat Valley, past
the shoulder of Montserat runs
through villages as peaceful and
cornfields as richly golden as it
did two years ago. Then it led to
Bujaraloz, far on in the barren
Aragon plain. and to the swash-
buckling Anarchists of the Durruti
column in their amateur encamp-
ment, amid the dwarf lavender.

Now the way is barred by a row
of empty oil-drums a mile short of
Lerida, and a khaki-clad sentry in-
spects passes before he diverts
tramic to the Commandancia of
the 56th Marine Brigade of the
Mixed Division of the Twelfth
Army Corps of the Republican
Army of the East.

Here. on the left bank of the
Segre, the People’s Army has dug
in where the left wing of the
fascist March offensive was
stopped dead, while the main tor-
rent rolled down the right bank
of the Ebro to the sea.

To all appearances, apart from
skirmishing in the Balaguer sali-
ent, this is a dead front, dead as
the finger of Lerida cathedral] that
points skyward above the buff
and-yellow houses of the empty
town. But in the silence both sides
are throwing up defence works,
building gun emplacements, and
improving communications, for it
is here or hereabouts that General
Franco’s German staff must de-
eide to strike if the time comes
for a blow at Catalonia and the
heart of the republic.

The marines, whose trenches
burrow beneath the villas on the
bank of the river in Lerida, carry
themselves with a swagger that
smacks of the sea. They are proud
of their achievements at Teruel,
and prouder still of their recruits,
levies from a recently summoned
“quinta.’’ Farther north, at Ter-
mens and Villanueva de la Barca,
is a brigade of carabineros, the
maids of ali work of the Spanish
Army-

The most surprising and the
most encouraging things that I
saw in Spain were the discipline

and the morale of these men,
volunteers and levies, who had
borne, many of them, the full

weight of the German and Ital-
ian air attack in the Aragon re-
treat. I did not see them in ac-
fion or under heavy fire, but
their spirit is unmistakable.

Twe years of war have wrought
@ psychological miracle. They real-
ize that searcity of war material
is likely to prevent them from
taking the offensive, but, as the
Levante fighting shows, they have
disciplined their ebullient spirit to
the necessity of a relentless and
unrepaying resistance. The triple
lines of trenches above the river
and the machine-gun nests of re-
inforced concrete which command
the fords will be pounded by heavy
artillery when the tide of war
swings to Catalonia, but the enemy
will pay a heavy price for his at-
tempt to pass.

PEOPLE'S
ADVOCATE,

British Columbia’s Progressive Home Paper

THE

7

VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1938

On the Levant Front in Spain

Lerida, on the Aragon front, w

oyalists held the fasci

loyalist sharpshooters on the streets.

offensive earlier this year, is again in the
news following lightning attacks by republicans at various places along the front. Designed te draw
fascist concentrations away from the Walencia front, the attacks
Franco's forces into confusion and once again upsetting Mussolini’s calculations.

were highly

successful, throwing
Above are shown

Alderman To
Attend Meet

Elected By Nanaimo
To Represent Miners

NANAIMO, B.C. Aug. 18—(Spe-
cial)—Ald. D. D. Knox and B. R.
Bell have been elected by Nanaimo
local of the United Mine Workers
of America to represent the union
at the conference to be held in Van-
couver on Sept. 18 by the British
Golumbia Federation on Unemploy-
ment.

At the recent union meeting, Ald.
Knox and the other three delegates
on the action committee were com-
plimented for their work on the
“Finish the Pipeline” campaign.

The campaign culminated in a
decision by the City council to apply
for a $200,000 loan under the Muni-
cipal Improvements Assistance
Act, after ratepayers voted 395 to
218 in favor of asking for the loan.

The loan will be used to finish
the concrete pipeline, ensuring the
entire district an adequate water

supply.

Langley Rejects
Text=-Book Plea

MURRAY VILLE, B.C, Aug. 18.
—Langley Council, for the
time this year, has rejected a plea
that relief recipients be given extra

work in order to enable them to
buy school text books for their
ehildren.

Opinion of the council was that
it was doing all it could at the
but complaint was
residents were

present time,
made that Surrey
working on the new highway while
unable to
stated

Langley residents were
obtain work. Reeve Hope
that he understood Langley
dents would be given jobs on the
road.

resi-

This advertisement is not pu

E CHOICE OF CONN

Government oO

blished or d

© a
isplayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the
£ British Columbia.

O1sSEURS 7

Fi

third '

sao Lully:

CG Co-op
Can Record
Big Gains

By KAY GREGORY

Starting seven years ago as a
small unemployed self-help group
in which all members pooled their
labor and shared profits, the CG
Co-Operative Store at 2706 McKay
Avenue today is a flourishing con-
sumer organization with approxi-
mately 200 active members.

The manager, C. G MacDonald,
when TI visited him this week, told
me all about the struggles of the
co-operative group in its early days.

“Co-Operatives have a very funny
complex,” he said. “They struggle
for about four years, and if suc-
eessful in holding out, then they
begin to go ahead.”

This was shown very plainly by
charts giving total sales for 1934,
three years after the Co-Op started,
as $4920.92, whereas the total sales
for 1937 were $15,374.04, paying a
two percent dividend to consumers_
on their total purchases for that
year.

In the back of the store is a small
but efficient cooler, made by a
member of the group and donated
for the common good. Cases of
canned beans and wild blackberries
were stacked around the shelves,
picked and canned by a small unit
in another district belonging to the
cooperative group.

There is also a small wholesale
department belonging to the store
which supplies goods to other co-
operatives in the province.

Several benefits are being con-
sidered by the organization. One is
a eredit system whereby a member
belonging to a “credit unit’ and
paying 10 cents a week may bor-
row up to $50 from the co-op for
special emergencies, repayment be-
ing made in accordance with ar-
rangements made to mutual ad-
vantage.

The other idea is a sick benefit
plan, with the possibility of estab-
lishing some means of cooperative
hospitalization and sick pay for
members. A special committee is
dealing with this matter and Mac-
Donald could give me very little
information on it.

Registration fee for membership
in the organization is 25 cents and
fledged member must
possess five $1 shares, to be obtain-
ed how and when desired. This
amount can be paid out of the divi-
dend payable at the end of a year’s
trading at the store.

The dividend to be paid by the
store is determined at the group’s
annual meeting on the basis of the
years profit. Representatives from
each unit are elected to this an-
nual meeting, one delegate for
every twenty-five members.

Honor Fallen

AUCKLAND. New Zealand, Aug.
18—On the first anniversary of the
Sino-Japanese war, 2,500 Chinese
observed a three minutes silence to
commemorate the sacrifices of
their countrymen.

Teachers Win
Salary Award

School Accommodation
Lack In Surrey Hit

CLOVERDALE, B.C. Aug. 18.—
(Special)—Salary increases total-
linge $5060 have been won by Sur-
rey teachers in their long dispute
with the school board.

By an arbitration decision hand-
ed down last weekend 66 teachers
in the 22 Surrey schools will re-
céive salary increases commencing
January i, 1939, ranging from $50
to $180 a year.

The increases were based on a
scale which the arbitration board
urged the school board to adopt.

“From the trend of the arbitra-
tion and evidence adduced it be-
eame apparent that the teachers
were entitled to an increase in their
salaries,’’ the board stated in its
findings.

The board also condemned lack
of school accommodation, declar-—
ing: “An important point brought
to our attention and utilized by
the teachers in support of their
application for increased salaries
was the inadequate school accom-
modation. This was admiuited, or
rather, there was no evidence to
the contrary.

“Support was afforded to this
contention by the fact that for some
years the school board, through the
council of the municipality, has en-
deavored to obtain the assent of
the electors to the construction of
additional school buildings and the
improvement of those already in
use. A majority of the ratepayers,
however, disapproved of a bylaw
for that purpose, and it was de-
feated. Thus, as far as school ac-
ecommodation is concerned, it re-
mains practically in the same posi-
tion.

“The overcrowding of the schools
must result in additional strain and
work for the teachers, and with a
strong probability of poor results
from an educational standpoint.
This situation does not require de-
velopment. It is self evident that,
to put it mildly, opportunity for
proper education which should be
afforded to the children of the
municipality is being seriously cur-
tailed.”’

Members of the arbitration board
were: Harry Charlesworth, secre-
tary of the B. C. School Teachers
Federation, for the teachers; David

Brankin, ehairman of Surrey
School Board; and Hon. W. A.
Macdonald.

Mosley Routed

LONDON, England, Aug. 18—
Singing and dancing Britain’s lat-
est popular dance, “The Lambeth
Wailk,” thousands of TLondoners
drowned out Sir Oswald Mosley,
fascist leader, when he tried to
speak at Clarkenwell Green.

When Mosley used loudspeakers
to carry his voice above the din
some one called the fire brigade

OUGHT

Guarantee
Of Rights
Demanded

Proposed Changes In

Labor Conciliation,
Arbitration Act Are
Endorsed.

SENT TO LOCALS

In a report of a special com-
mittee regarding the lWlLabor
Coneiliation and Arbitration
Act presented to the Vancou-
ver Trades and Labor Council

on Tuesday night William
Stewart, statistician for the
council, stated that the com-

mittee felt this Act must be
abolished, but that to adopt
such a policy, without first
submitting amendments to
change the Act, would work a
hardship on the unions and
place the Trades and Labor
Council in a negative position,
Since the Act would still be in ef-
fect while the struggle for its aboli-
tion was being carried on.

The folowing amendments were
proposed by the committee:

Clause 2 (gs) in the Act reads
as follows: “Organization when
used in relation to employees,
means any organization or associa-
tion of employees formed for the
purpose of resulating relations be-
tween employers and employees,
and includes a trade union: and
when used in relation to employers
means any organization or associ-
ation of employers formed for the
purpose of repulating relations be-
tween employers and employees.”

The amendment would read-
- - formed for the purpose of

se

regulating wages and workinse
conditions between employers
and employees, such ‘organiza-

tion’ generally designated as a2
trade union and recognized as
such, and when used ... or as-
sociation ef employers formed for
the purpose of collective repre-
resentative of employers’ inter-
ests.”’

An! addition to Clause 2 was also
suggested: “Under the Act a trade
union may be defined as follows:
Any association or organization of
employees whether employed by
one employer or more than one
employer, which is formed for the
purpose of advancing in a lawful
manner the interest of such em-
ployees in respect of the terms and
eonditions of their employment,,
and which is free from undue in-
fluence, domination, restraint or in-
terference by employers or associ-
ations of employers.”’

BARGAIN THROUGH UNION
Dealing with collective bargain-
ing, Section 5 of the Act, allows col-
lective bargaining through repre-
sentatives of the employees duly
elected by a Majority vote of the
employees affected. The suggested

amendment states that such bar-
gaining should be conducted
through the employees’ trade
union.

Clause 7, that “any person’ who
by intimidation tries to compel any
person to join or refrain from join-
ing any association, under the sug-
gested amendment would read “any

employer” and specifies trade
union in place of association.
The committee further recom-

mended that a new sub-section be
added to this clause reading:

“No employer or agent of em-
ployers, may be represented on
negotiation, grievance, or other
committees that may be set up
by union or association of em-
ployees to secure or implement
collective agreements.”

Dealing with clauses 11 to 17
concernins appointment of a concil-
jiation commissioner, the committee
stated that these clauses should be
eliminated completely.

“A conciliator serves no useful
purpose, and is merely a postpone-
ment of decision which tends to
favor employers,’ the report states.

This will mean that whenever

a dispute arises which cannot be
settled by the parties involved,
the matter must be put straight
into the hands of an arbitration
board.

Amendment to Section 18 of the
Act which requires seven days
notice to be served on employers
and employees to appoint an arbit-
rator would change the length of
time from seven days to three.

Wihile the whole council was of
the opinion that the act was of no
use to the trade union movement
and should be abolished, the com-
miittee’s report was endorsed and

and the arrival of five fire trucks
with bells elanging broke up the
meeting and prevented further use
of the loudspeakers.

referred to affiliated locals for
study. The question will come up
again at the first trades council

| meeting in October.

—