2 B.C. LUMBER WORKER IWA OPPOSES COMPULSION Firm declaration of opposition to compulsory arbitra- tion was made recently by IWA District Secretary-Treas- urer George Mitchell in a recent Green Gold radio address. He predicted that any attempt to impose compulsory arbi- tration on Canadian trade unions and thus deprive them of the right to strike would incite open rebellion: The IWA official gave an em- phatie answer to the commenta- tors who have recently’ attempted to voice the desires of some em- ployers to outlaw strike action. The question, he stated, had been renewed as a result of the recent C.P.R. strike. Trade unionists should recognize the danger, he asserted that the situation might be seized upon to secure legisla- tive enactment, making compuls- ory arbitration general. He expressed the opinion that the IWA would never consent to loss of the right to strike, He said, in part: “Those who are conversant with the situation across Canada will agree with me that it was fortunate that the Federal Gov- ernment did not respond to the demand of the employers and im- pose compulsory arbitration on the Brotherhood of Firemen. It was hoped in some quarters that with such a precedent, a further resort only. But it is not only a weapon for the legitimate use of ir economic power. It involves il rights of the workers, involves their freedom to withhold their labor when they believe that the conditions under which they sell their labor power are unjust. Deprive the workers of this right, and you pave the way for outright economie dic- tatorship and oppression. “The first consideration is that the existing methods of concilia- tion, arbitration, and mediation, imperfect as they may be, do offer democratic means of settle- ment, Before we abandon these methods to make way for some- thing as dictatorial, as compuls- ory arbitration, we should at- tempt to improve the uses of the existing procedures, “I would be the first to express dissatisfaction with our laws gov- erning these procedures, but my complaint springs from a Imowl- edge of their inadequacies, and the belief that these defects can be remedied. Settlements Now extension of the design would re- sult in applying the same dicta- torial method to all trade union disputes. Every opportunity is taken by these owning interests to whip up a public demand that trade unions be deprived of the right to strike. “Let us make no mistake about the fact that behind all this propaganda for compul- sory arbitration is determina- tion of certain monopoly cor- porations to, as they say, ‘draw the teeth of the unions’. They know, as we know, that unions without the right to strike are completely at their merey. “At the very outset, I wish to state, that I am not expressing any desire to strike, for the sake of striking. I don’t know any trade unionist who does not be- lieve that every other method for the settlement of disputes should be exhausted before strike action is taken. Strike Action, Last Resort “Trade unionists, more than any other section of the commun- ity, are fully aware of all that is suffered by them and their fam- ilies when strike action becomes inevitable. It is a weapon of last Predominate “The failures of the present methods of conciliation are more widely advertised in the press than the successes. That is a point often overlooked. Every strike is widely publicized as a dreadful display of the belliger- ence of trade unions. Whereas, as the numerous settlements, re- ported weekly, indicate more ac- curately, trade unions always and consistently make an honest effort to settle industrial dis- putes amicably. “Those who complain most loudly, are those employers in our midst who hate to see progress on the part of any section of the community which threatens their monopoly use of economic power, and the un- restricted right to make as much profit as they choose out of other people’s labor. “The effort is now being made to introduce more fully into the present conciliation procedures those features which provide the PORT ALBERNI BUSINESS GUIDE MacGREGOR’S MEN’S WEAR We Con Afford For Everything A Man Weara + WORK, SPORT or DRESS * fullest possible opportunity for To Sell The... BEST For LESS! WOODWARD STORES (PORT ALBERNI) LTD. “Your Family Shopping Centre”. “Closed Wednesdays All Day” Phone 1600 Phone 1515 NANAIMO BUSINESS GUIDE IRA BECKER & SON VANCOUVER ISLAND DISTRIBUTORS FOR THE FAMOUS LEL. POWER CHAIN SAWS Hours: 9 - 5:30 Campbell River Phone AT 8-6742 | IWA VISITOR, Hans Jonsson, Local 1-85, IWA, (second from right) hears first-hand from U.B.C. students their plans to remedy the pressing problems of cramped campus accommodation. The stu- dent delegation in this instance includes his own two sons enrolled at the University. (From left) | Ken Brawner, President Fort Camp Students’ Council, Roy Jonsson, Hans Jonsson, Carl Jonsson. industrial peace. Representatives of labor and management are brought face to face around the conference table and encouraged to discuss their differences in a genuine effort to reach a mutu- ally satisfactory agreement. Both sides contribute to the result as they could not do under the dic- tates of a tribunal whose deci- cisions would be imposed with the threat of severe penalties if they are protected effectively. Democratic Methods Preferable “When the final result is reached, both parties to the dis- pute, voluntarily accept the ob- ligation of giving effect to the agreement. This has a greater weight in a democracy and among free men, than a decision with the force of law, which they regard as a loss of freedom. “There is provision for give and take in the present proce- dure, which is an inescapable feature of a democratic method. All the necessary checks and balances are provided to ensure full protection of the commun- ity interests, As a matter of fact, governments have gone too far in providing such restrictions, and have thereby curbed free collective bargaining which is the best known method of securing industrial harmony. “An indispensable feature of the collective bargaining pro- cess is that both parties should meet with each other under conditions, which, as far as possible, place them on equal footing. The employer enters the bargaining room with the full weight of the economic power enjoyed by him because of his rights of ownership. Be- cause of this right he can say that the tools of production which he owns can be used by the workers or not. In other words, he has the power to lock them out, and consign them to unemployment. “This is not the place to question that right. My point is that if he can wield this power in bargaining with work- ers who are shorn of all power by loss of the right to strike, the bargaining becomes a com- plete farce. If the bargaining union has in reserve, though, perhaps, never used, the strike weapon, the union can gain proper attention to the needs of its members. If the union is forbidden the right to strike under all circumstances, the employer can say ‘no’ to every single one of the union’s re- quests without any fear that he must be brought to book for his arrogance. Labor, A Commodity “The worker’s bargaining rights are, under the present in- dustrial system, based on the buying .and selling of labor power as a commodity in what is presumed to be an open labor market, For obvious reasons, the employer wishes to. cheapen the cost of labor, and thereby reduce his production costs and improve his profit position, “If free bargaining is elimin- ated, and he is given full permis- sion to cheapen the price on the labor power he desires to pur- chase, human lives are thereby cheapened. Human lives are at stake. This is a vital reason, why at all cost the organized workers must retain the right to strike, whether they decide to use it or not, It is a right of their citizen- ship. i “The attempt was made by some commentators during the recent C.P.R. strike to prove that DUNCAN BUSINESS GUIDE THE COWICHAN LEADER Published Every Thursday “The Voice of Cowichan District” DUNCAN, B.C. Duncan. Lake Cowichan LOUTET AGENCIES LTD. INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE J. Lindsay Loutet Gordon R. Loutet 131 Jubilee St. S. Shore Road HANEY HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE “ESQUIRE” MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” BRITISH COLUMBIA 1 5 i compulsory arbitration Had sue ceeded in other countries. | “The facts disclose that where- ever it has been tried, strikes have appeared as illegal strikes. Australia is the outstanding in- stance, and the reports providing a comparison with Canadian con- ditions on the same basis, show that Australia has had more See “COMPULSION” Page 10 Mourned ERNEST WINCH, MLA IN TRIBUTE The officers and members of District Council No, 1, In- ternational Woodworkers of America, join with all other trade unionists in paying tribute to the memory of the late Ernest Winch, MLA, and in expressing deep sor- row at his passing. We ex- tend to the members of his family our sincerest sym- pathy in their great loss, We will remember Ernest Winch as a fearless and un- tiring champion of the inter- ests of the workers and their. families, in all phases of his public activities, We will remember Ernest Winch as a fellow-tradesman who consistently identified himself with the workers? brotherhood of service. We will remember him as a man with a great heart, whose constant activity to re- lieve human distress and misery still shines as a bea- con in the workers’ march to- ward freedom. GEORGE H. MITCHELL Secretary-Treasurer