Zz: Teachers Meet In Vancouver Take Strong Stand on Salaries How to get a living wage fer teachers occupied a ma- jor share of the deliberations of the B.C. Teachers’ Feder- ation in Hotel Vancouver this week, outcome of which was a decision to place the following demands before the provincial government: @ A minimum salary of $1200 for all rural elementary teachers, with ten annual in- ereases of $60- ; @ A minimum salary of $1500 for all secondary school teachers throughout the prov- ince, with ten annual in- ereases of $60. The only step taken by the provincial government towards establishment of a provincial salary scale has been to estab- lish a minimum of $840 for rural teachers, with five annual $50 increases. While this is an ad- vanee on most provinces, dele- gates felt it was not adequate. The meeting drew up six steps for guidance of the executive in formulating tactics as to how these demands are to be at- tained. These steps, imously, were: 1. The above demands to be presented to the government with a request for a definite answer. 2. If it should prove possible to negotiate on-the basis of the above demands, these negotia- tions to be carried on without Sacrificing the position of the federation to maintenance of “friendly relations” with the de- partment. 3. Efforts of the public rela- tions committee to be redoubled along the ilines of a pressure campaign to mobilize public Support. 4. Failing reasonable assurance of action from the government the BCTF executive to give con- sideration to calling of a teach- ers’ strike Guring the next ses- sion of the legislature. 5. Should the executive decide on holding the strike, this pro- poosal to be submitted to teach- ers in the form of a referendum, and the executive to give leader- ship in assuring the largest pos- sible affirmative majority and united support of the decision. 6. Failing acceptance of the strike proposal, intensive pub- licity to be carried on to as- quaint the public of B.C. with the true situation. Other policies endorsed by the meeting included: A demand that only those per- sons be allowed to teach who hold certificates of qualification and a membership card in the BCTF, this to be established hy provincial enactment. Retention of some form of locally elected school authority. Opposition to the provincial goyv- ernment assuming complete econ- trol of education. Small areas to be consolidated and unified for purposes — of teaching and for administration. The provincial government to contribute a much greater pro- portion of the cost of education in all areas, and financing of education to be based on more modern and equitable methods of taxation. approved unan- Nuttall, “TART TET AT TTARLETETE ETE Fund Sought | By Canadian- Soviet Council Deadline in the campaign f a_$15;000 sustaining fund foe he National Couneil for Ganadian- Soviet Friendship has been set April 30, it has been announced. The fund will be used during the coming year to carry on the work of the organization in broadening the growing friend- ship between the two countries. Plans have already been made by the council to prepare and send to the Soviet Union librar- jes on Canadian science, educa- tion, industry, agriculture, pub- lic health and ‘welfare, music and art in exchange for similar materials from the USSR al- ready received. A series of radio broadeasts, a regular press sery- ice, and the exchange of deéle- gations from special fields with the Soviet Union are also under consideration. Contributions to the sustaining fund should be sent to National Council for Canadian-Soviet Friendship, 80 King Street West, Toronto i, Ontario. SILICATE TCE Community GI Lead _ NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. — Heywood Community Council, first council formed in a North Shore Wartime Housing section to be elected by secret ballot in place of appointment by War-~ time Housing officials, is mak ing plans for a summer of great- ly inereased community activity. Emphasis will be placed. on es- tablishment of recreation centers to accommodate the many young people in the section. The North Shore councils, all of which send delegates to the North Shore Community Coun- cil, were all appointed until resi- Gents in the Heywood district, under the leadership of progres- sives and members of shipyard unions, demanded the right to a democratic election. This district is a project of 457 houses with 1,700 persons. A Heywoed sports committee under chairmanship of “Casey” Jones, member of Boilermakers Union, Local No. 1, and sports editor of The Main Deck, has been formed and has worked in cooperation with the Parks Board to equip Heywood Park as a children’s playground. And a utilities committee, headed by J. council chairman, has met weth Wartime Housing offi- cials in preliminary discussions of needed improvements in the district. Heywood Community Council intends to work closely with oth- er community councils in North Vancouver, and already a North Shore baseball league is being formed. The council is also publishing its own monthly newspaper, The Hightide, in which residents of the districts express their views on all community projects. eS UNIVERSAL NEWS STAND : 138 EAST HASTINGS STREET Mail your Order for all PROGRESSIVE LITERATURE MOSCOW NEWS WEEKLY week -by Turning their backs on what Dr. J. Morris Thomas termed “the appeasement policies we have followed in the past,” teacher delegates “marked the 25th Annual Con- vention of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation in Vancouver this charting a forward course for salary negotiations during the coming year~ Delegates disagreed with Edu- cation Minister H. G. IT. Perry’s assurances to them that the gov- ernment was taking every prac- tical measure to assure the wel- fare of teachers and pupils, and endorsed a salary cemmittee re- port which stated that “obviously. our educational system is on the downward trend.” The report stated that “1t must be the paramount concern of our federation to bring the present perilous position of education constantly and forcibly to the attention of the people of this provinee” and pointed out that out of the 1148 teachers em- ployed in rural areas in British Columbia, 393 do not have the aualifications demanded by the Provincial School Act, and our Normal Schools and University Teacher Training are not turn- ing out reeruits for the profes- sion in suffieient numbers to meet the demand. “Mere alarming still,” an- nounced Stuart Grahame, com- mittee chairman, “is that our best high school students will not train for the teaching pro- fession. ... ‘We, as teachers, know these facts, and we know where to assess the responsibility upon a system of school financing whieh cannot pay sufmcient wages to ettract employees.” Highlight of the convention was dissolution of the Rural Teachers’ Association (RTA), which has long fought to secure a more positive attitude on the part of the entire federation on the question of improving sSsal- aries and teaching conditions in rural areas. Bruce Mickleburgh, Prince Rupert, who moved the resolu- tion for dissolution of the RTA in the _interests of federation unity, explained that most of the objectives for which the RTA had fought now found their ex- pression in official BCTF policy. “Now, he said, “the need is for all teachers, rural and muni- cipal, to join in a united stand for implementation of the teach- ers’ demands. that could happen would be for past differences between differ- ent sections of the teaching body to weaken our common position.” This is the first ~ convention since the BCTF decided to af- filiate with organized labor, the first teachers’ organization in Ganada to take this step. During the past year, the Federation has affiliated with the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, and New Westminster teachers al- ready have delegates on Van- couver and New Westminster Trades and Labor Council. Birt Showler, president of the Trades Council, welcomed the teachers inte the Congress, and urged teachers’ locals through- out BC to follow New Westmin- ster’s example. “You teachers,” he said, “are now faced with the job of sell- ing yourselves to the public. Re- member that you can’t eat white collars. Labor-is horrified at the wages teachers are getting and we will do everything we can to see that you receive what you should get, remembering that there is no more important job in our entire community than the one you are doing.” The worst thing ~ ROY MAH Applications Under Review George R. Currie, federal in- dustrial relations officer, will in- vestigate certification applica- tions under the new federal labor code, affecting 25 companies and six unions, it was stated this week, 6 : Currie will inquire into tke membership standing of the fol- lowing unions: Shipwrights, Join- ers and ‘Caulkers Industrial Union, which last week affiliated to the Shipyard General Workers Federation, United Steel Work- ers of America, Deepsea and in- Jandboatmen’s Union of the Pa- cific, B.C..Seamen’s Union, In- ternational Asseciation of Ma- chinists, and Independent Smel- ter Workers of Trail. “Bargaining rights are being sought by the Shipwrights in five major shipyards and in 13 small- er yards which turn out wooden vessels. Roy Mah New IWA Organizer Canadian-born Chinese y, leader in Victoria, as C “ese international represe tive for British Colun was announced by Nigel 1 gan, IWA international b