Continued from page 6

Big business backs Kuzych

RCMP and the fact that Terry
boasted of his “close association
and cooperation with the RCMP
and the FBI” points up the na-
ture and source of this “confi-
dence” game against good union
men. Arrogant and _ ignorant,
Terry also boasted that he was
a professional union wrecker
and could import “1,000 men here
if needed” to bring Local 213
to heel.

As an outcome of these
“kangaroo” trials, many IBEW
members were suspended from
their local union for terms
ranging from five to fifteen
years, deprived of voice and
vote, but permitted to pay dues
as the price of their liberty to
work in their own country at
their own trade.

Business agent George Gee, &
Canadian trade unionist of un-
impeachable integrity and devo-
tion to the interests of his union
membership, was so “tried and
ultimately expelled from his

union. Later we shall show at
whose command.

Many of these “charges
brought against Gee were SO
rdiculous as to be amusing, were
it not for the fact that they serv-
ed to bar him from working at
his trade and depriving his fam-
ily of a livelihood.

Among these infantile “charges”
against Gee to “prove” he ‘fol-
lowed the Communist party line
Were these:

@ He went to the Peace
Arch to hear Paul Robeson
Sing,

@ He attended the funeral
(in 1950) of the late William
(OY Bill) Bennett, veteran
labor journalist.

© Some one once heard him
refer to TLC president Tom
Alsbury as “Fearless Fosdick.

©@ He rented office space in

the union building ta Harvey

Murphy, then Western region-

al director of the International

' Union of Mine, Mill and Smel-
ter Workers.

' Members of IBEW Local 213
executive who, under U.S. pres-
Sure, had put their signatures to
the notorious document contain-
ing these “charges,” denied un-
der cross-examination any first-
hand knowledge of most of the
points they had attested to.

Under Canadian procedures of
common justice and the laws of
Evidence, such “evidence” would

promptly have been thrown out
of court. The U.S. McCarthyite
technicians of smear, slander and
“suilt by association,” doing a
job for powerful monopolies like
the B.C. Electric, and supported
by RCMP “dossiers” compiled
from the activities of stoolpigeons,
recognized* no such democratic
or legal procedures.

The Canadian Bankers Asso-
ciation and the Chamber of

Commerce had decided that
Gee had to go and that Local
213 must be purged — and.
placed their reliance upon trade
union bureaucrats to do the
job they could not do them-
selves.

The case of another IBEW
with a 15-year sentence of en-
forced silence is worthy of note.

Millions of people the world
over, from Pope Pius down to
the most humble housemaid,
prayed and pleaded with the
U.S. government to spare the
lives of Julius and Ethel Rosen-
berg. Teachers, governors, lead-
ers of great capitalist and social-
ist states; the world’s leading
scientists and scholars, all plead-
ed against the enactment of this
judicial murder, this human sac-
rifice to the mob hysteria of a
billionaire government.

Did that impress the vest-
pocket agents of Yankee imper-
ialism operating in the trade

‘| union movement—doing a hatchet

job on a Canadian union for the
bosses? Not at all, as the fol-
lowing “evidence” on which the
union. members was
shows: :

“The records show that you
admit offering and speaking at
a local union meeting in favor
of a motion supporting the Ros-
enbergs (convicted communist
traitors). This action on your
part, in my judgement, under
these circumstances of your
case, followed exactly the line
of the Labor-Progressive party
(Communist). Your actions are
such to convince one that the
action of the trial board should
be upheld, and I so rule.”

Now a little on the design of
the other side of the medal. If
the Finanncial Post, organ of big
business, spoke out of turn in
its January 22, 1955 edition, it
only said what was already
-known when George Gee brought
the B.C. Electric gas workers un-
der IBEW certification, much to
the discomfiture of B.C. Electric
president Dal Grauer.

The Post placed the case thus:
“Employers complained to the

convicted !

Washington headquarters of the
International about Gee. .. .
The union sent Alfred Terry
to Vancouver to take a look at
Gee’s record and operations.
After some weeks Terry took
the step of suspending Gee.”

That is plain enough for any-

one. The employer writes the
$30,000 a year bureaucrats in
Washington that he doesn’t like
George Gee and Local 213. The
bureaucrats respond with alac-
rity, and dispatch their profes-
sional wrecking crew — to get
things changed to the employers’
liking. :

In an article appearing in the
Kitimat Northern Sentinel, re-
printed from the Financial Post,
it is evident that other big mon-
opolies were having the “cooper-
ation” of the Yankee trade union
bureaucrats in helping to keep
George Gee and Local 213 out
of Alcan’s aluminum empire at
Kitimat.

The article said in part: .

“The choice of electrical
unions, the largest in the pro--
vince . . . George Gee’s Local
213 is known to have commun-
ist-line-thinking leadership. By
careful manoeuvering, the non-
political Local 344 of the IBEW-
AFL was installed. This suit-
ed Alcan which would have
fought against any. suggestion
of a Communist-line union
getting into the project which
has been given defense priority
by the federal government.”

It doesn’t require any occult
powers to determine who is “co-
operating” with whom in the
“choice” of a union and union
leadership. The St. Laurent gov-
ernment gave Alcan “defense
priority” which is always a good
excuse for discriminating against
progressive trade unionists; the
Socred government added its bit
by granting certification “prefer-
ence” to “non-political” Local
344, and the Washington strateg-
ists took over direction of the
“manoeuvering.”

Another important link in this
chain of events, specifically di-
rected at one union, but in actu-
ality against all trade unions, was
the notorious “Kuzych case.”

This case, which has been play-
ed up by the daily press over a
period of years, was directed
against the Marine Workers and
Boilermakers Union of Vancou-
ver on the issue of the “closed
shop” and Kuzych’s anti-union
activities. sie

The prime question among trade
unionists was, “Who was supply-
ing all the money?” Kuzych
‘claimed it came out of his own
pocket. The following*memor-
andum placed on the desks of
big business executives in this
and other cities and marked “Con-
fidential” (it is remarkable how
much “confidence” is required in
the union-wrecking business),
speaks for itself:

“Dr. H. T. James, managing
director of Pioneer Gold Mines,
who I believe is well known to
you, called and made the request
that the Pacific Sub-Section
C.B.A. (Canadian Bankers Asso-
ciation), or the banks individu-
ly, contribute to a fund that
he is assisting to raise to help
Mr. Kuzych with certain legal
expenses.

“Kuzych now proposes to start

legal action afresh, but before

~

doing so is requested to deposit Sub-Section and the object in
with the courts approximately | writing you at this time is to
$15,000 in settlement of costs ,Bive you an opportunity to con-
granted against him in the Privy sider the matter in the mean
Council judgment. I was also in- time.”
formed that mining interests in
Eastern Canada who have met a ith
portion of past expenses, are pre-
pared to finance legal costs of the Ce, :
new action if others will take care| The Canadian Bankers Associa-
of the $15,000 assessment. ition, the powerful monopolies and
;corporations, the RCMP and the

“Dr. James feels that the prin- ‘trade union bureaucrats, are

ciple involved is of sufficient im- joined in an unholy alliance to
portance to merit support. Dr.

James stated that $10,800 had al- |

wreck unions — under the pre-
text of “saving them from Com-
ready been raised either in cash

: : munism.” The bankers plan the
or firm commitments from var-' campaign and together with the
ious prominent business men, but '

about $4,200 is’ still required be-/™Onopolists supply the finances,
fore Kuzych can proceed. ithe RCMP compile the “dossiers”

;and the trade union bureaucrats
“He also stated that the follow- ‘swing the axe.

ing were some of the prominent
local men who have made dona-
tion: Harold S. Foley, R. Pybus,
Ralph Baker, W. J. Van Dusen,
W. C. Mainwaring. (Represented
in these names are such powerful
monopolies as Crown Zellerbach,
Standard Oil, MacMillan Export |
and B.C. Electric.)

“Tt is the intention to bring this
matter. before the next regular
business meeting of the Pacific |

Thus the chain is completed ‘in
e modernized technique of
/union-smashing.

To that kind of an unholy
“merger” for union wrecking,
trade unionists in this and other
provinces have only.one alter-
native: to fight it — with a
powerful and _ united all-in
merger of Canadian unions, ful-
ly autonomous, fully democra-
tic, and fully aware of the
threat to their interests — the
interests of labor and the
nation.

Indian films draw
overflow audience

An overflow audience flocked to Pender. Auditorium here last
Friday for the premier showing of Indian government documentary
films of Prime Minister Nehru’s goodwill visits to China and the
Soviet Union. : :

Half an hour before the showing commenced the small hall
booked by B.C. Council was fill- ERS NSE SEU me
ed and people were lined up in| Victoria this coming Wednes-
the hallway. The showing had ay, January 25; Nanaimo, Fri-
to be moved to the main audi-! dayy January 27; Alberni, Sun-
torium where close to 400 peo-| day, January 29.
ple saw the films. |

“We have never experienced
such a response to any film show- |
ing before,” said Ray Gardner,|
council chairman. “It’s an indi-|
cation of the tremendous interest |
in and desire for friendship with |
India, China and the Soviet
Union.” f

The films will be shown in

Midwinter festival : |

—-
LEGISLATURE

N
Ch

ganized by the Scandinavian L
Central Committee will be held,
this coming Friday, January 27,'
in Sunset Memorial Centre, 404 |

East 51st Avenue. Among ariel | LABOR-PROGRESSIVE
wh ill tribut t 2
fen ee ee POINT of VIEW by

panied by Harold Brown, Helen

gram are Arthur Polson, accom-
NIGEL MORGAN

Engblom and John Christenson. |
JANUARY 20, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 7

\

ome