THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

vw thewestern Canadian

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Wor A.) 20 covies

—_—_——__—eueed printed in this issue

Published once monthly as the officia} publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA ; -

Western Canadian Regional Council No. 7

Affiliated with AFL-GI0-CLC

lumber worker

2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, 8.C. Phone 674-5261

Editor — Pat Kerr

Business Manager — Wyman Trineer

Forwarded to every member of the WA in Western Canada th accordance with convention decisions:
Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

EDITORIAL

NOT WANTED IN B.C.

rganized labour in British
Columbia has every justification
to view with alarm, rumors that the
provincial government is consider-
ing bringing in “‘right-to-work”
legislation. _
While the government denies
these rumors, it remains a fact that

_the Union of B.C. Municipalities -—

which has a close ear of the Cabinet
— endorsed a “‘right-to-work”’
resolution at its recent convention
and is now pressing the government
to bring it into law.

Unfortunately, there is a.-grave
danger that the Cabinet and the
Social Credit Party will be highly
receptive to the idea. Their hatred
and fear of organized labour might
force them to throw caution to the
wind and enact such legislation,
without considering the con-
sequences.

And the consequences would be
damaging for all. In every country
and every state in the United States
where “right-to-work” legislation is

in effect, the per capita income of |

the people is below the poverty level
and their economies reflect the poor
productivity of the workers.

Under “right-to-work” legislation,
union shops are outlawed and union
members are forced to work with
non-union members and scabs.
These parasites are entitled by law,
to all the privileges of a union mem-
ber without the necessity of paying
union dues.

Where this law has been im-
posed industrial chaos quickly
developed. The only group to benefit
were the unscrupulous employers
who used the situation to force
wages down and bring in Nineteenth
Century working conditions.

As Regional President Jack Munro
warned at the Regional Convention,
organized labour in B.C. is not pre-
pared to work under such unjust
‘legislation.

If the government contemplates
bringing in such a law it had better
be prepared to face the most violent

labour protest that this province
has ever seen.

VETERANS NOW HONOURED

- Your partners
should have their heads

Prime Minister Pierre,
I know you don’t care
How busy you keep
these taxpayers here.
You chase thru the province
like a hen in the hay,
not giving the people

a chance for their say.
But Mr. Trudeau

the time is near

for the people to vote
you right out of here.
And I for one

won’t be sorry for that,
because you remind me
of a hungry old rat.

But I know if you’re beaten
You won't give a heck

cause you've got all you want
fer yourself and Quebec.

And the metric system which
now

we have here

I wish someone would take and
stuff in your ear.

And Misters Basford and
Allmond,
in crime,

_ After years of being ignored,
the Canadian veterans of the
Spanish Civil War are now
being given the recognition
they so well deserve.

The National Film Board of
Canada has .made a film
honouring the members of the
gallant Canadian Mackenzie
Papineau Battalion for their
sacrifices during the bitter
Spanish war.

The film, entitled ‘‘Los
Canadienses”’, will be- shown
on TV sometime this fall and
later will be filed with the NFB
library where it will be avail-
able free of charge for
showing.

Few Canadians know it now
but Canada had the second

highest per capita number of

The Editor:

I take strong exception to
your editorial “‘An Apology
Due” published in the last
issue of the Lumber Worker. In
my opinion, Mr. Trudeau and
his government acted like
spoiled brats-over the Taiwan
incident and should be con-
demned for their conduct.

It’s not every year that -

je” to you. Canada has the honour of

satya ey

volunteers fighting the fascists
in the Spanish Civil War. These
volunteers, most of them
young men out of work, made a
proud name for their Battalion
for the fight they gave the
crack troops of Germany, Italy
and Franco’s regular soldiers.

They suffered staggering
losses for their courage in the
conflict and although even-
tually defeated, they made the
name Canada, an honoured
word throughout the civilized
world.

The film is one hour in length
and tells their story through
interviews with the survivors,
photos of Spain and shots of
Canadian relief camps where
many of them lived, prior to
volunteering.

staging the Olympics and
playing host to the nations of
the world. To have our idiotic
federal government make
Canadians look like fools in the
eyes of these nations over such
a petty issue ‘is a_ sorry
example of statesmanship.

I say the sooner they are
thrown out of office the better.

IWA member

OK... Now get th’ undercut in. . . we’ll figure out how
to drop her later.

FOR AND...

LETTERS

The Editor,

All labour, not just the
organized, should back the

CLC’s call for a ‘Day of
Protest’? October 14th. A
massive shutdown of industry
by labour would show Trudeau
and his gang that workers are
not going to be pushed’ around
any longer.

I for one, am tired of seeing
my take-home pay get smaller
each month because some dolt
in Ottawa thinks it’s better
politically, to hammer the
working man and let the giant
corporations pile up their
profits.

Why is it that every time

some problem develops to rock .

the boat in the economy, labour
is made the scapegoat? Only a
damn fool would suggest that
labour is responsible for the
present inflation or that labour
is to blame for the over half.a
million ‘unemployed walking
the streets of Canada.

And yet day in and day out
the working man is castigated
by every nut in the country for
daring to suggest that he has a
right to a decent standard of
living.

I say let’s take the govern-
ment on now before we are
beaten down so badly that we
won’t have the guts to stand up
for our rights.

IWA Member

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1976 —

AGAINST THE PROTEST |

The Editor:
Your editorial in the August-

September issue of the Lumber -

Worker supporting the CLC’s
call for a nation-wide general
strike, appears to me to have
glossed over too many major
points that should be brought
out into the open.

Before raising them I should
state that I’m also opposed to
wage controls. I believe they
badly hurt workers and I would
support almost any measure
which could successfully have
them removed.

However, I fail to see how a
one-day work stoppage as pro-
posed by the CLC could accom-
plish this. Perhaps I am naive
but I doubt that Prime Minister
Trudeau will knuckle under in
face of such a. threat.

It also appears to me that the
CLC in taking such action is
risking its reputation on a
mighty big gamble. If it fails to
win the support of its own
affiliates in the work stoppage
(and some have already in-
dicated they won’t take part)

the results can only strengthen
‘Trudeau’s position.

I think it’s bad strategy and
the CLC should either call the
stoppage off or take the
government on in a real
general strike and continue the
battle until one group or the
other admits defeat.

A one-day work stoppage
whether it’s called a general
strike or a general holiday, can
only result in a day’s loss of
pay for those who participate. I
believe the average worker
would far rather take the
government on in a fight where
there was some chance of
forcing Trudeau to capitulate.

IWA member

{RRR ERS RS SA

Marriage is a wonderful
thing, in Pouce Coupe Pete’s
opinion, it’s just the constant

living together afterwards
that’s so difficult!

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