©. lumber industry under “proud of its accomplishment biocking the attempt to dis- iminate against members of the brps by putting them to work #i(der such conditions.” Herhis attitude and policy was ‘Gide clear by Nigel Morgan, IWA lard member, in a statement re- “uaing to A. M. Nicholson, CCF Ye mber for Mackenzie, who pro- msed in the Ottawa house this ek that the men be put te work rho! lumber operations at army : SII es of pay. TPO "Such a policy would be a a NSS injustice to men who have 1 “dn overseas for three years do- SSG. their part in the fight against = cism,” said Morgan. “It would lermine existing wages, condi- (ae and collective bargaining AGE his throughout the industry.” At forgan stated that last fall the oppose the placing of members of the Canadian Forestry lorps, brought back from overseas last fall, at jobs in the army pay and discipline, and IWA, at the request of corps members who were formeriy in ihe union, took the matter up with Selective Service and labor department officials and gained _a ruling that Forestry Corps men would be given leave of absence to return to the industry on the same basis as workers on defer- ment, would be given free choice of jobs at the going rate of wages, and would -be allowed to jain the union and come under the pro- — visions of collective bargaining. “Regardless of the statements of Nicholson or any -others “in~ the Ottawa house, there: is no justification for a policy that would force men to work under - army regulations in uniform at $1.50 a day,’ Morgan Said. “It would only be logical if the em- ployers were conscripted in the same fashion.” hxis Representation “An gers British Unions By ANNE KELLY AB LONDON, Fng—(ALN).—The formal invitations to Accs : E tellites—especially Finland—to send delegates to the Inter- met tional Labor Office conference in Philadelphia next April le causing concern in British trade union circles. + fae ite : z il iderabl = ling. L am quite sure that there will be very considerable op isd@sition from British labor Si@-own, secretary of the Iron -qai.a member of the British fides Union’ Congress general ho minecil, declared here. “The mat- | will certainly be raised at the @eting of the TUC general Pincil, on February 23, he add- ixpressing the eagerness of inish government and labor ‘cials to’ be present at the ILO mS eting, Eero Vuori, president sti the Finnish Trades Union Fed- isl tion, declared this week that ine -erythins ought to be done” to ULI ke transportation possible and ec ijeq- “It would be indeed re- OW -ttable if the unfortunate diplo- off tic situation between Finland naiej ngland should keep us | sm the conference.” Jne Helsinki official stated a OL it Finnish representatives he @uld get to Philadelphia “eyen lly #@they have to use a submarine. or G@itinland is at war with Britain cold the Soviet Union, but not ee cS 3 = SHIPYARD WORKERS! { Eat at the :* SUGAR BOWL CAFE ce NORTH VAN or oe Bees ss 2s 0000S 013 oe = WHIST on EMBASSY BALLROOM ad Davie at Burrard td e if $5 IN CASH PRIZES on 2 4 Tuesday, Wed., Thurs. pal Sere $35 CASH PRIZE on sud Saturday , in ; On Starts at = = 8:30 P.M. DOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOG0O000 to FEinland’s presence,’ John and Steel Trades Confederation with the U.S., Rumania and Hun- gary, the other Axis: Satellites invited by the ILO, are at war with all the United Nations. William Hodges, Victoria, Dead VICTORIA, B.C. — William “Bill” Hodges passed away Sun- day morning in the Royal Jubilee Hospital here after a phriof ill- ness. He was 72 years of age. -~Well known in Victoria as a left-wing literature agent, - Hod- eS was a valued and active member of the Victoria Club of the MWabor-Progressive party Since its formation. Although his death is keenly felt, it is realized he has left his Own imperishable mark on the development of the people’s movement in this city. The stead- fastuess with which he carried on at great sacrifice to himself will long be remembered by the host of citizens who knew him so well. He leaves to mourn beside his Widow one son and two grand- sons at the family residence. —— mz You'll Enjoy Our HOME COOKING at the Shelly Coffee Shop 121 West Pender ay =i MBC BBEtCeBexwrsereeeeutrEve GREETINGS to The People from ‘DR. W. J. CURRY: BeBBVVBeBeeewvesuevuesuweuuy MARY) BBBEBET Counci! Accepts Invite The New Westminster city council this week signified its intention of sending dele- gates to the B.C. Provincial Conference on Postwar Re- construction and the city councils of both Wancouver and Nanaimo have sent replies to the initiating committee’s con- ference call indicating their in- tentions of discussing the matter immediately it is announced by Charles Saunders. In, addition, the Vancouver Junior Board of Trade and a large number of trade union lo- cals in the provinee have already sent in their credentials signify- ing their intention of being pres- ent. The conference, which will convene in Vancouver on March 11, Was initiated by the Gon- tinuation Committee of the B.C. Shipyard Union Conference on the instruction of the last meet. ing of the shipyard conference last December. Prime purpose of the postwar conference, according to Charlies Saunders, member of the con. , tinuations committee, will be to draw all sections of labor, busi- ness and civie life in the prov- ince into a broad movement that will maintain industry at peak production in the postwar period. _ We believe it is not only pos- sible but vitally necessary to prevent a shutdown in industry and mass layoffs and unemploy- ment once the war is over,” Saunders states. “It is evident that both the provincial and fed- eral governments recognize this need in the main, as evidenced by their reform proposals intro- duced in the throne speech. _“These reforms will not be car- ried through, however, unless or- ganized labor and all sections of the community get behind the Proposals to carry them into ef fect. This is the purpose of the conference, and if we are suc. cessful in the initial Stages, then the ‘men returning from active service will have jobs — not breadlines—to return to when peace Is won.” It is understood that one of the main points that will be dis- cussed at the conference will be the establishment of: a steel in- dustry in B.C., one of the big omissions in the Hart govern: ment’s recommendations, and a basic consideration in any plan for, building industry in the prov- ince. CCF Wins Seat At Whitehorse WHITEHORSE, Y.T. — Con- testing elections to the legislative council of the Yukon Territory last week, Alex Smith; CCF can- didate, defeated R. G. Lee, Inde- pendent, in Whitehorse. Smith polled 308 votes, Lee 290. M. J. Comadina, CCF candi- date for Dawson City, lost out by 13 votes to J. F. Fraser, Inde- pendent, who polled 277. The third seat on the three-man Yu- kon Council was filled by Mayor -E. J. Corp, who was given accla- mation at Mayo. Election of the CCF candidate Was seen as an illustration of growing progressive sympathies in the Territory. CCF clubs were established in the Yukon for the first time six months ago. Labor Personalities—25 Charles Stewa rt By CYNTHIA CARTER Ces STEWART, business agent and recording-secretary. for Local 101, Street Railwaymen’s Union, and provincial executive member of the Labor-Progressive Party, sat in The People office one evening this week, and told me he didn’t see why he should be “written up” as a labor personality. “There’s nothing interesting about me,’ he said mildly. But to the hundreds of men and women who have worked with him during his many years of unselfish service to the elass he is part of and whose future he believes in, Charlie Stewart is known as one of the most steadfast supporters of the labor movement in the province. And since he joined the Communist Party of Canada in 1931, he has S never wavered, even in times when 4 progressive anti-faseist line of action could mean a one-way ticket to an internment camp: Charlie was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1892) When he was fifteen, and had to leave school to earn his own living, Charlie got his first “in- side look” at the Ways of the aristocracy. He was employed as a gardener on a gentlemen’s estate. In his twentieth year Stewart came to Canada and settled in Saskatoon where he worked in the CPR freight sheds. A few months later he moved to ~ Vancouver, took a job as a gardener with the Park Board; and joined the : General Workers Union which was organized at that time and of which he became a charter member. Three years later, Stewart and his young wife packed up anr set out for Butte, Montana, and he started work almost at once in the -eqgpper mines operated by the huge and power- ful Anaconda Company. There was no union in the mines then, and working condi- tions were terrible. The Butte local of the Western Federa- tion of Miners had just been ruthlessly smashed by the oper- ators, and the remains of the union hall, blown up by “vigil- antes” the year before, stood dark and deserted. a grim re- minder of the company’s attitude towards unionism. But in the minds of the men and their poverty-stricken families, there was a great resentment against Anaconda. ‘hose who had been members of the WEFM pointed out to the rest that the great number of accidents in the mines (there were three ambulances running continually from the mines to the hospital) were the result of the company’s total disregard of safety measures, and that safety regulations could only be enforced by strong union pressure. “The break came in 1917,” states Stewart. “Because of unsafe working conditions a huge fire spread through the mine, and 175 men were killed from suffocation and burns. Without any organization, without any plan, the men walked out. It was a spontaneous demonstration of a growing resentment which had suddenly exploded into action, and it laid the basis for the formation, while the men were out on strike, of the Metal Mine Workers Union.” AMONG leaders of the union were many staunch fighters, and Charles Stewart, through his close association with them, found himself being drawn closer to the progressive labor movement. There was Frank: Little, an IWW organizer, who was murdered in July, 1917, when he was dragged seven miles behind a car: with a rope around his neck. And there was - Bill Dunn, pioneer among labor journalists, the editor of the early labor paper The Butte Bulletin, then working as a ma- chinist. Not a miner himself, Dunn was the only surface ~ worker who walked out with the men. The strike ended after five months with a victory for the union, and shortly afterwards Stewart returned to Vancouver, thoroughly determined to spend the rest of his life in the service of the labor movement. He had joined the IWW in Butte, and he took out a card in the Socialist Party of Canada. lt was also around that time he started, to work for the B.C. Electric Company. (“And they were using the same cars then that theyre using now,” laughs Charlie.) He at once be- Came an active union member, and has supported progressive policies in that organization ever since. In every phase of work in the former Communist Party, too, Stewart was active. During the depression he worked with the unemployed movement organizing block committees. In pre-war years he was B.C. provincial chairman and member of the central committee of the party. ; “TJ joined the LPP, and before that the Communist Party, because a party which follows Marxist policies is the only -party which can represent working people,” declares Stewart. “M™he need for such a party is greater now than ever before as a guide to show where we are going after victory over Naziism is complete.”