WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

Indian Bush Workers’
“An Historic Turning

(Editor's Note: This report was compiled on-the-spot by David Orlikow, executive

secretary of the Manitoba Committee
member e Man
tights in Manitoba's fast-growing northiand.)

A short one-week strike by

or Human
of th itoba legislature and has offen fought in the legislature for workers’

Rights. Mr. Orlikow is also a CCF

150 bush workers in northern

Manitoba has become a cause celebre in Western Canada. David
Orlikow, executive secretary of the Manitoba Labour Committee
for Human Rights has called the strike “an historic turning point

in the way of life for Canadian Indians.’

The 150 strikers were Indians.
They walked out in revolt against
starvation wages and _ intolerable
working conditions.

Doubled Wages

On their return eight days later,
the strikers had not won a complete
victory, but they had doubled their
wages and forced a prompt investiga-
tion by the provincial government.

Also, “it proved that Canadian In-
dians are joining other Canadian
workers in their determination to
fight for what they consider their
rights,” Mr. Orlikow declared.

Grand Rapids, near the top of Lake
Winnipeg, is the scene of a $150,000,-
000 hydro electric development pro-
ject being constructed for the Mani-
toba Hydro Electric Board. Designed
to help meet Manitoba’s growing
power needs, the project was to mark
the first step in a new and bold
approach on the part of both federal

provincial g ts to give
the Indian population work instead
of relief.

Disregard and Contempt

“Unfortunately while the govern-
ments were assigning able and com-
petent staff to the area to help In-
dians work on the project at useful
and adequately paid jobs,” reports
Mr. Orlikow, “other government
agencies — especially the top officials
in Hydro — were continuing the tra-
ditional attitudes of white Canadians
towards Indians — attitudes of dis-
regard and contempt.”

Instead of arranging to clear 15,000
acres of brush by itself, Hydro gave
the job to two contractors at a rate
of $149 an acre to one contractor and
$160 an acre to the other. Hydro
specified in the contract that bush
workers must be paid not less than
$1.35 an hour. In addition the con-
tractors would have to feed and ade-
quately house their hired men.

Only Indians

But this would have cost money
for what were in the main only a
group of Indians, reasoned the con-
tractors. So instead they gave the
bush workers jobs as sub-contractors
at a rate of $75 an acre with a bonus
of $10 an acre if they completed their
contracts.

Despite the provision for an hourly
wage in Hydro’s contract, no attempt
was made either by the main contrac-
tors or Hydro to see that records
were kept of the time worked each
day by the workers.

“When I visited the men on strike
at Grand Rapids,” says Mr. Orlikow,
“T talked to scores of men, According
to their records they had been work-
ing from eight to ten hours a day
and their pay was usually less than
half of the amount supposedly guar-
anteed by the employers’ contract
with Hydro.”

Strike Action

Repeated complaints by the men
to the government officials on the
spot had brought no results and
therefore left no recourse but strike
action.

Mr. Orlikow relates what hap-
pened to a group of Indians brought
to Grand Rapids from one of the re-
serves!

“They had bought from the trader
on their reserve about $50 to $60 in
supplies — tents, clothes and axes. It
had cost them $40 each to fly to
Grand Rapids and back, They had
arranged to have the princely sum of
$15 a week sent home to their fami-
lies while they were away, they had

‘purchased supplies such as food from

the company commissariats and when

they went home at Christmas after

seven weeks of work, they were in

debt by between $40 to $50 each.
$50 for Saw

“T was told of a worker who was

all these are only. Indians who either
live like this, or else don’t know any
better.”

The living condifions are such that
it makes one who sees them some-
what ashamed of being a Canadian,
Mr. Orlikow confesses.

On the one hand are the hourly
rated employees of Hydro or the
contractors in the Grand Rapids
operation living in modern clean well-
heated bunk houses or trailers with
adequate sanitary facilities and show-
ers and eating in dining rooms or
cafeterias with well-balanced nourish-
ing food — and all this is provided
at the fairly reasonable cost of $2.50
a day for room and board.

Living in Tents

On the other hand are the poor
Indian bush workers, living in tents
without floors or decent stoves to
heat them. “I met some who didn’t
have a lamp and were using for a
light a cloth dipped in some lard. I
was told of one man who awoke on
the morning before I got there with
his ears frozen because it was so cold
in his tent. “The only water the men
have is melted snow. They cannot
keep milk or potatoes because these
would freeze,

“Man after man told me that they
were living on a diet of beans, bacon,
hamburger, bread and tea.”

Strike
Point”

No Sanitary Facilities

Sanitary facilities are of course
completely non-existent and if the
men want to take a bath or a proper
wash they have to visit the Indian
reservation about 20 miles away. No
facilities for washing clothes or even
getting the clothes dry so they can
be worn comfortably are provided.

And while all this is allowed to
happen, Hydro has dozens of vacant
or unused tents which they have con-
structed for the use of their hourly-
rated employees. The tents have
wooden floors and side walls with
large stoves which can keep both men
and food warm.

The Hydro, according to Mr. Orli-
kow, is in the process of selling the
tents because they no longer need
them.

Won’t Rent Tents

The bush workers could buy them,
Hydro says — but the men don’t
have the $75 Hydro is charging. “Of
course it would be too much to ex-
pect that Hydro rent the tents to the
men for a small fee of about $1 a
week,” Mr. Orlikow reports. “After
all, these are just Indians.”

Fortunately for the men, the people
of Manitoba are beginning to take an
interest in Grand Rapids. The press
is writing about what is happening
and pictures have been published
showing what conditions are really
like. The T.V. stations have shown
film shots of some of the intolerable
living situations; a number of minis-
ters representing the Religion and
Labor council have visited the men
and are reporting what they saw.

Nine-hour Day

After the week’s strike, the men

Quips
and
Quofes

“CCF didn’t seem to pay much
attention to union hours at the
Legislature the other evening”.
Or Vic.

* * *

Maddest Member in the Legi-
slative Assembly during the de-
bate on Bill 42 was the Attorney-
General.

He was suffering from a throat
infection which robbed him of
his voice. He gave the appearance
of a man shouting, but in spite
of his violent gesticulations, not
a sound was heard.

Most unkindly, Opposition
members cried, “Speak up, Mr.
Attorney-General”, but he finally
sank back into his seat, complete-
ly frustrated and very red-faced.

* * *

“Even by staying up all night,
some of those blankety-blank
politicians will never see the
light”, Overheard in the trade un-
ion delegation listening to the
debate on Bill 42.

* * *

“A legislative thinkathon might
have eliminated that there legisla-
tive talkathon,” said OI’ Vic of
the Colonist.

returned under a guarantee by the
government-appointed enquiry com-
missioner that nobody would make
less than $1.35-an hour for a nine-

hour day.
“And so who knows,” asks Mr.
Orlikow, “maybe public pressure

will make the government act with-
out another strike on the part of the
bush workers of Grand Rapids?”

Wonderful
World —
Ahead

Come 40 years hence and medi-
cal progress will make our lives
a virtual wonderment.

For example, we'll take a pill and
go to sleep on Monday night. We'll
wake up refreshed as can be on Wed-
nesday and then keep going without
sleep until the following Monday
night.

The common cold will be banished
and if we’re under the weather we'll
be diagnosed with the aid of a tiny
radio taped to the chest. The doctor
will get the radio beams and watch us
for whatever period he feels neces-
sary, while we go about our usual
affairs.

We'll have all kinds of cures and
with the aid of wonder drugs and
electronics, heart disease and other
dread killers will be brought under
control. Cancer will be conquered,
or at least so they say.

The “they” in this case is the drug
industry speaking through Dr. Austin
Smith, president of the Pharmaceu-
tical Manufacturers Association. Dr.
Smith has predicted an end to pain
and even the fitting of the body with
artificial organs to replace those dam-
aged by accident or illness.

Undreamed-of drugs will come
from the sea and from the same sour-
ces used by African witch doctors. -
These will work miraculous cures
that will greatly extend the human
life span and multiply the “golden-
years” of retirement.

It'll be a wonderful, wonderful
world indeed. However, in view o
the ever higher prices of today’s won-
der drugs, we can’t help but wonder
if despite medical progress most of
those living in the fabulous age ahead
won't be sticking to aspirin. _

I.,U.D. Bulletin

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