take union issue out of courts By BERT WHYTE An appeal to Vancouver District Labor Council to work out a compromise deal between International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a former IBEW official denied the right to work at his trade by an international ruling was made to delegates attending Tuesday’s Council meeting by Orville Braaten, Converters Local, Pulp and Sulphite Union. Without mentioning by name “no matter how the court case turns out certain parties will seize upon it to introduce phoney ‘right-to-work’ legisla- tion which will be aimed against the labor movement. Council should work out a compromise deal “so that the ease does not go through the courts,” Braaten said. (A court action against IBEW by ousted business agent George Gee, denied the right to work in the industry by 1n- ternational officials, is now pending.) Attempt to have a letter from Converters Local read to dele- gates was defeated, on the grounds that a previous coun- cil meeting had sustained an executive recommendation tha the letter be received and fil-. ed as the matter was “beyond the jurisdiction” of council. “Apparently. the executive feels this council is not fit to judge on the matter,” said Bill Stewart of Marine Workers. “The letter cannot be read,” said chairman Tom Alsbury. “Something should be done,” eontended delegate Bernie Keeley. ‘Delegates entering this hall were all given copies of a leaflet dealing with a situ- ation in the IBEW, so we can’t pretend the whole thing is a secret.” “We cannot control what :s done outside this hall,’ said Alsbury. Later in the meeting, while making a report from his union, Orville Braaten again attempted to read the letter, but was refused permission to do so. “Perhaps the only way we can reach members is to stand outside the door and hand out copies of our letter at the next council meeting,” he said. Reporting orally on the gen- eral contents of the letter, Braaten urged delegates not to “sit idly by and see a prece- dent established. We are watch- ing ammunition being built that will be shot against us. That’s why our union is ask- ing this council to take soine action.” Text of a petition signed by 321 members of Local 213, IBEW, and presented to the secretary of Vancouver Dis- trict Labor Council on May 7 was distributed to delegates outside the Labor Temple prior to the meeting. It read: “This letter is an appeal to the Labor Council to investi- gate undemocratic practices that exist in IBEW Local 213. -We feel that this is of grave concern to all trade unionists. “Some of us have been ad- vised by officers of the Van- couver Labor Council that we should file our complaints in writing with the council. As members and trade unionists our right to’ participate in our local union affairs has been denied in the following man- ner: ORVIELE BRAATEN He raised the IBEW issue GEORGE GEE Denied a job by U.S. heads “General elections suspend- ed since February, 1955. “No election of officers. “Union funds being spent without the sanction of the membership. ‘Delegates to the Labor either the union or the man involved, Braaten warned that who in turn are appointed by the International administra- tor. “IBEW Local 213 members have had the right to elect their bargaining committee. This right has now been de- nied. “Our International officers in the U.S. deny a Canadian citi- zen (George Gee) the right to work, “And furthermore the civil rights of members have been violated in the following man- ner: “A special meeting of em- ployees of Hume and Rumble and Peterson Electric was call- ed by Local 213 on March 23 to discuss a pension plan ne- gotiated with these employers in 1954. This pension called for contributions of four per- cent of wages from the em- ployee and employer (total eight percent). Notices were mailed to participants to at- tend a special meeting to dis- cuss the pension plan. Some members were informed the meeting could not proceed un- less they left. (It is under- stood employer representatives and insurance company repre- sentatives were invited to at- tend this meeting.) “In effect these members have been denied their civil rights as citizens to have any say whatsoever in a pension plan, approved by the Cana- dian government, and to which they contribute a considerable portion of their earnings. “It is our firm intention to establish our legal right for every member to have a say in the administration of our money in the pension plan. “It is our sincere desire to keep all these problems with- in-the trade union movement and we appeal to you for help in the belief it is as much your responsibility as ours to assure within the trade union move- ment our right as trade union.- eral deposits. Man uses up this natural wealth incompar- ably faster. The natural pro- cess of accumulation of min- eral raw materials is going on at present, too, but it-is un- able to compensate for the depletion. Can man replenish the natural riches; can he build up mineral deposits artificial- ly? Soviet scientists have given a positive answer to this ques- tion. The acceleration of some of the relatively slow naturel processes of the formation of Council and conventions are ists and Canadian citizzens be appointed by union officials upheld.” | Artificial mi " | MOSCOW useful minerals has already Nature has spent millions been accomplished in a num- * of years building up min- ber of Soviet laboratories and and research instituties. Now these laboratory investigations have been, or are about to ke, carried into natural environ- ments to continue the experi- ments on an industrial scale. The researchers expect tv start first with the develcp- ment of artificial deposits of such minerals as sodium sul- phate, soda and other salts (in which the salt and chemical industries are _ interested), building rocks knownvas lake stones, the creation of natural dyes (umbria, ‘mummy, etc.), natural sulphur, and curative hydrogen sulphide muds. - Broaten proposes Labor Council Kitimat will ack Arvida KITIMAT, B.C. . Members of the Steelworkers Union here will sup- port the strike of aluminum workers at Arvida, Quebec and may ‘eventually strike to win their own wage de mands,” union organizer Wally Ross said this week. “Unless Alcan demonstrates a much better attitude towards its workers and makes greater concessions then I be- lieve the workers here will eventually take strike action,” said Ross. Some 6,500 workers at the Aluminum Company of Can- ada ‘smelter at»Arvida struck last Friday to back demands for a 30-cent hourly increase and a master contract tc cov- er nine of the company’s op- erations in Quebec. LPP. wants B.C. in Asian building boom “Canadian trade with China would benefit NEW WESTMINSTER; B.C. all Canadian ports, and particularly the port of New Westminster,” Alf Dew- hurst, Labor-Progressive federal candidate for New Westmins- ter said at a banquet in Roma Hall, Queenborough, last Satur- day evening. “Before the war we exported more than 40 million board feet of lumber to China. Re- sumption of that trade alone would take up the present slack in the- lumber market. Just think what that would mean in terms of the IWA’s present wage negotiations with coast operators.” Unless the Liberal govern- ment is prepared to recognize China, however, trade will re- main limited to the present “bootleg” deals through Hong Kong,- the LPP candidate warned. “When External Affairs Min- ister L. B. Pearson calls for trade with China (as he did at Penticton last: week) and at the same time Ottawa refuses to recognize the Chinese gov- ernment, then the is talking with his tongue in his cheek,” said Dewhurst. ‘Canadians must insist that the federal government end its subservience to Washington and recognize China,” he con- tinued. “China is currently con- structing 500 million square feet of floor space. And India is building three million new dwellings. These housing plans represent only a fraction of the needs of these two countries. The government of China and India have expressed their de- termination to house their peo- ple in modern dwellings. “Canada can get a_ large share of this lumber trade if we act quickly. It would mean jobs and higher wages for our people.” Dealing with the housing crisis in Canada, Dewhurst said Ottawa’s policy is sending in- erest rates, mortgage bonuses and rents scandalously high. e “The prices of building lots ‘are soaring, and _ ordinary working families are paying thq shot for Liberal fiscal poli- cies,” the LPP candidate said. “The Gordon Commission es- timated that Canada’s popula- tion growth will continue at 400,000 a. year until 1960, with a somewhat higher rate after that. This means Canada will need at least 100,000 new dwellings a year with another 10,000 for replacements. Any- thing less will mean sub-stand- ard housing, overcrowding and rent-gouging ‘of the worst sort. “The LPP advocates the building of one million low- rental homes \over the next 10 years. It also calls for the low- ering of government mortgage money from the present high rate of six percent to three percent with loans amortized over a period of 30 years in- _ stead of the present 20 years,” Dewhurst concluded. NEW ZENITH CAFE 105 E. Hastings St. For the Finest in Good Eating “Everything in Flowers” FROM EARL SYKES 56 E. Hastings St., PA. 3855 Vancouver, B.C. PATRONIZE — CARNELES COFFEE SHOP 410 Main Street Under New Management Robbie & Grace Robertson MAY 24, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5 A