EDITORIAL |

Unity —the key issue

te the. interests of labor unity in B.C. the return of
the four suspended IWA local unions is a gratifying
event, readily obvious at last week’s session of the Vancouver
and District Labor Council,

It is not necessary here to go into all the details leading up
to their suspension by the BCFL executive, or the inter-
cession by the Canadian Labor Congress and the parent
International Woodworkers of America, both of which enabled
the lifting of an unfortunate and ill-advised suspension, The
important fact is that these numerically and politically powerful
IWA locals are now back in the BCFL and labor unity in B.C.
immeasurably strengthened thereby.

\

But there are disturbing undertones stemming from the IWA
suspension edict, not at all conducive to trade union unity.

In his statement made at the VLC session, IWA Local 1-217
president Sid Thompson declared that “the people responsible
for the suspension (BCFL executive) should resign from their
positions in the federation , . . they no longer have the right
to hold their positions . . . and we intend to do everything in
our power , . . to see what can be done about it.”

While we do not presume to sit in judgment on the actions
of the BCFL executive, (the delegate body at its 12th Annual
Convention in October will do that), it is obvious that Thomp-
son’s implied threat of continuing feud with the BCFL or
the CLC is not conducive to a maximum labor unity, Quite
the reverse,

Almost simultaneously with the lifting of the IWA local
suspensions, the BCFL pledged “all-out support to the IWA”
in its Interior struggle for wage parity with Coast standards,
That is the welcome factor whichall trade unionists, concerned
with the unity required to meet today’s monopoly-government
attacks on their economic and social standards should be con-
centrating upon, rather than issuing frothy challenges to con-.
tinue a disruptive vendetta — from which only the class
enemies of labor can benefit.

It was no accident that the September 20 edition of The
Province gave the Thompson challenge to the BCFL “people”
top priority in its labor news scavenging, That’s the kind of
news the commercial press always hungers for, with big
headlines; while news of a growing labor unity and action
gets the equivalent of a 4-line burial notice in the back pages
of our “free press”,

If changes are required in the leadership of the BCFL — or
in any other labor body — and we don’t doubt there are, these
should be based upon the idea of strengthening and extending
the policies, unity and fighting capacity of organized labor ...
not upon personal ambitions, inter-union vendettas, or cheap
“red-baiting” by either side!

Tom
McEWEN

t often happens with the
numerous and varied stor-
ies sent into this paper by read-
ers and others, some of them

gery, purporting to be issued by
the Communist Party. The pub-
lishers know it to be a forgery
of their own making, since they

real political hair-raisers, that
it becomes necessary for the
editors to check out the factual
content of some,

Not that we doubt the veracity
of the author and libel edicts,
but primarily because we are
mainly interested in giving our
readers all the basic facts of
the case,

Most everyone knows of course
that it is quite the style in our
“free way of life,” highly legiti-
mate in fact, to hurl any invec-
tive, any barefaced lie, any for-
gery, Slander or Ibel at Com-
munists or communism, and get
away with it, Nothing happens, ex-
cept the generally accepted con-
cept that it is always “open sea-
son” on communism,

For instance a monopoly-edit-
ed newspaper concocts and pub-
lishes an obvious barefaced for-

have already been supplied with
an authentic version by Com-
munists, Does that fact elicit
an apology, retraction, a re-
production of the authentic copy,
or any assurance of no repiti-
tion of the same? Not on your
life: it is always open season on
Communism,

Let someone, however, call
some highly “respectable” citi-
zen (respectable by his own stan-
dards) a Communist and see
what happens, He promptly gets
busy on a slander or lbel suit,
with little difficulty in getting a
court to uphold or confirm. his
claims to political respectability,

Some time ago we had an

-interesting article from a work-

er turned “scientist” who claim-
ed that all dogs, and he meant
all dogs, had a latent potential
for rabies, hence all dogs should
be destroyed as a precautionary

_ September 22,, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE-Rage 2

Qualified yes vote urged
in hospital bylaw vote

A call for qualified support
for the $51 million hospital by-
law being voted on by Greater
Vancouver property owners on
October 4th, came this week
from the Vancouver Committee
of the Communist Party.

A statement issued by the com-
mittee this week said:

“In our view the amount rec-
ommended is far from adequate,
It is estimated by those respon-
sible for providing hospital ser-
vices that $300 million is more
in line with present requirements,

“A number of requirements
are advanced as excuses to justi-
fy the inadequate assistance for
hospitalization, One is that local

* councils could not finance ‘their

share’ of hospital cost if it was
not for the backing of the new
Regional structure set up by the
Provincial government at the last
session of the legislature, Anoth-
er is that the Provincial govern-
ment sharing costs of 50% and
40% for district municipalities
is an improvement over past
sharing costs,

“There is an element of truth
in such arguments, but the end
results remain the same, The
Provincial and Federal govern-
ments, who control the main
source of taxation, are reneging

oe

re
3
:
4

=<
——— occuPANCY TAX

~ <— INCOME Tax

PLOYMENT TAK

Ke
ENTERTAINMENT “TAX,

—
Stare TAX

measure for saving the human
race, Our author contended that
all capitalist statesmen. of the
socalled “free west” had at one
time or other got the rabies virus
from the family pooch, and “just
look at what they are doing now
in Vietnam and other places”,
Well what they are doing now is
pretty terrible, but we just could
not go along with the idea that

Fido was or is to blame for that. -

Then there was the story phon-
ed in last week which this paper
has no way of checking out all
the facts, but even if only par-
tially verified, could be loaded
with political dynamite,

It had to do with the allega-
tion that certain members of
Vancouver’s “finest”, to wit, the
police, were doing quite a stint
of moonlighting; that is, doing
their regular police duties on
their prescribed shift, and in
their spare or off time engaging
in light trucking, home construc-
tion, house painting or other
renumerative work, normally
regarded as the prerogative of
other workers,

There is only one source by
which allegations of moon-light-
ing can be checked out — the
Police Commission and City
Council,

. Union men and women are often

on their responsibility to pro-
vide the necessary help for hos-
pitalization.

“The recently established Re-
gional structures are not de-
signed to help resolve such prob-
lems, but are rdther bureaucratic
structures set up to run inter-

ference on behalf of the P
cial government and pig busi!
to the detriment of the ™
palities, ;

“We say vote yes in the 1@
endum, it is better to get 0
sixth of the loaf than none
all. : P

Strange case of the

Japanese oranges

Ten large firms with extensive
operations in Canada have been
found guilty of price-fixing and
conspiring to eliminate competi-
tion in the Japanese orange trade,

These: include Birks Crawford
Ltd.; Kelly, Douglas Ltd,: W.H,
Malkin Ltd.; Slade and Stewart
Ltd.; McNair and Co, Ltd.: Chess
Bros. Ltd.; Consolidated Fruit
Co, Ltd,; Dominion Fruit Ltd.;
Macdonald’s Consolidated Ltd.,:
and Canada Safeway Ltd,

A 64-page judgement handed
down by Mr, Justice Gould of the
B.C. Assize Court last week re-
veals the extent of this price-
fixing conspiracy, aimed also to
prevent or unduly lessen competi-=
tion in the production, sale,
transportation or supply of Ja-
panese oranges,

The judge found all guilty of
price-fixing in B.C., but for the
rest of Canada the Scot’s verdict
of “not proven”, which implies
guilt which can’t be pinned down.
One of the longest hearings of
its kind under the Combines Act,
the judge’s lengthy summation
contains some queer conclusions,

After citing conclusive proof
of conspiracy to fix prices,

accused these days, especially
with regards to court injunction
edicts as having no respect for
the law. Such charges of course
are totally unfounded. If wage
earners in Canada have any de-
fects in this regard it is anover-
respect for the law, best illus-
trated in their almost universal
characteristic of legalism, The
starting point of a genuine re-
spect for the law must begin
with the law having a respect,
for itself, ‘

While we did not publish this
moonlighting story because ofits
shortage of facts, it might not be
a bad idea were Mayor Campbell,
presently starring in the role of
rat-catching Don Quixhote with
his four-legged feline friend in
the subordinate role of Sancha
Panza, to do a little scouting

Guilty as hell but ]}
judge sees no harm)

oti-
squeeze out all small ora
tors, assure their man
orange supplies with i
firms, in which the sae
refuse oranges to any 7". @
buyer not in the gang,
learned judge drew “the: CO”
sion that “the intention
co - conspirators have i
about an orderly and Be eal
profitable mandarin oranb® ij.
. . .revealing conduct $0 ~
nently sensible that i
with regret that one woU
template any significaM

”
eoecee

t woul

=" =. i? Se

out
The learned judge alse f
that the conspirators og
price contro! within. Be “pact
very well” but | “the Ar Jem!
some government off” fa @
their support to @ see affore
larger front of julegality, a” 7
no defense to the acct

gigantic price-fixing ©
is to the effect thei f
no evidence to pro ft
buying public had suffer’ at tHe Ih
result”, It would appea? 2 ol
monopoly-arrangers wer \
engaged in a harmless er ens

around the fore se
potential moonlighter?r

0% ue aN
If there aren’t any stil th
the better, If there ae a it!
they were advised that #e gt
modest pay-envelope 1
without cutting in on
tunity of some othe
right to a similar pa

0

On this assignments a
care to undertake it, 1 p38
wish the Mayor 2 pigee
in his rat-catchiné :
it is just possible |. w
might unearth the set Oh
a lot of other oftizent
lack, int 1
“Facts are stubbor td
wrote Thomas Bliob ogres

are the stuff of ¥
is made.

Pacific Tribu

Editor—TOM McEWEN

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