He

roffs of women in

rtime industry is

dence of the need
government policy
transition period

MINERVA COOPER

“(E policy of discriminatory
layoffs in Wancouver ship-
ids challenges the status
2511 women workers from
Bser girls on the ways, to
“men in the professions.
BY it is far more than
“women’s
Dats.’’ The policy is a vio-
Fon of trade union prin-
ijeles and runs counter to
6%. demands of all demo-
a ‘Hc and progressive sec-
eGins of the people for full
") ployment in the postwar
 otiod.
i Gere is the background. The
leat majority of women work-
; are employed- in aircrait
tere the question of layottfs
mot an issue at the present
7; ne. The shipyards, however,
| nich employed aproximately
‘3500 women at peak production
we reduced that number to
arly half, and are serving as
le springboard from swhich cer-
in employers with the help of
slective Service are testing the
plicy, of discriminatory layoffs.

J | question of

te

Hamilton Bridge provides the
earest example. All remain-
ig women employees were
I yen termination notices, the
st of which went into effect
yer the weekend. Their num-
er included women who had
shieved a high degree ef skill
their trades. In North Bur-
ird, in recent weeks, women
‘aipwright’s helpers were given
4) rmination notices and new
: sen were being hired to replace
"hem, until the timely interven-
on of the Dock and Shipyard
Jorkers’? Union called a halt to
@ his procedure. Blecticians’
* elpers in the same yard were
= =-minated in this case with the
E greement of Bert Adair, union
| ecretary, according to the daily
Eiress.
In North Van Ship Repairs,
Iyomen workers, particularly
thop stewards, are under heavy
ire these days. A number of
oremen and sub-foremen who
ave resented and covertly ob-
tructed the
women from the beginning have
ome out in open attack and aré
oasting that the time is not
ar off when the last of the

HE women in British Colum-
‘pia’s shipyards are part of
sthat great army of Canadian
Nwomen which now forms ap-
) proximately one-quarter of the
total working force in Canada.

employment of.

Responding to the call for labor
power, when men were required
for service in the armed forces,
they came from the homes, the
cafes, the steres, ths farms,
lacking in skill and experience
but with plenty of energy, intel-
ligence and courage, to apply to
the job of winning the war on
the production front.

They have done a magnificent
job. As lathe operators, elec-
tricians’ helpers, cutting fabri-
cating, helping to imstall in the
sheet metal department on yard
maintenance jobs, as sweepers,
fitters, steam-hammer drivers,
rivet counters and passer girls,
they have turned in a perform-
ance that has won the respect
and good fellowship of the great
majority of their male co-work-
ers.

It is important to remember,
in estimating their achieye-
ments, that many carried the

When they came into the
to the labor movement.

double strain of caring for home
and children after hours, with
few of the community aids sup-
plied in other countries to ease

the burden of women war work
ers.

When they came into the
yards, the great majority of
women workers were strangers
to the labor movement. Some
have given outstanding leader-
ship as shop stewards and -ac-
tive umionists. It is unfor-
tunate, however, that larger
numbers of women did not take
a more active part in building
and strengthening the trade
unions around which they must
now rally in the fight on their
behalf. Perhaps unions should
have been more closely identi-

. fied with the right for the com-

munity services that are among
the most pressing needs of
women in industry. Perhaps
the women supervisors were
permitted to intercept griey-
ances which should have become
union questions.

The fact remains, however,

Industry Needs Our Women

4

that the entrance of women into
industry was accomplished
largely through the battle of
advanced trade unionists . on
their behalf. The unions carried
the day, too, for equal opportuh-
ity, for equal pay for equal work,
winning acceptance on such poli-
cies in principle, and to a large
extent in fact.

ODAY, notwithstanding the
’ enhanced status: they have
won with the backing of their
unions and by wirtue of their
own performance women are
being “given the gate.” A few

_ are content to stop werking. The

majority want to continue to use
the skill they have acquired, or
to know there will be opportuni-
ties when they want to work
again. For some it’s a matter
of bread and butter. Some need
their wages to supplement in-
adequate dependents’ allow-
ances. ;

For some the layoffs recall
heart-breakine jobs in cafes, or
on the farms or in domestic
service, to which they will not
willingly return. They do not

yatds, the great majority of women workers wete strangers

Now they have taken their places as active unionists beside

the men. some giving outstanding leadetship as shop stewards.

Unions and Soviet Youth

BY A DECISION of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, ninety-eight
labor

unions in industries

which employ, ~ juvenile

—MOSCOW

will appoint full-

time inspectors to see that all laws governing the nee of youth are strictly ob-

served. During the war, many young people have en
adult workers in the armed forces. The ma jority atten
industry, and are therefore able to do independent wor

successfully fulfill and exceed adult production quotas.

special labor legislation has
been enacted by the Soviet gov-
ernment for the protection of
young workers and the AUC-—
CTU is responsible for its. en-
forcement. The employment of
children under, fourteen 1s for-
hidden, while those under six-
teen work a maximum of six
ours a day and are nov per-
eed to ork on night shifts
or holidays. They must be given
two weeks annual vacation with
pay and «free facilities at a
summer camp-

In addition to ensuring the
strict observance of these laws,
it is the duty of imspectors to
see that newly-employed young
workers are fully instructed in
safety methods. The inspector
must check the machine tools,
electric equipment and ventila-—
tion, and must also see to it
that all new juvenile employees
‘receive medica examinations
and that any recommendations
of the medical board for trans-
ferring young workers to light-
er jobs are carried out. He
must also make certain that

red Soviet industry to replace
ded trade schools prior to entering
k from the start. Most of them

young workers are provided
with the necessary clothing and
that they are’ given the extra
food rations and milk provided
for under law. :

The inspector is authorized
to bring the management 10
trial in cases of violation of the
labor legislation. He is also
empowered to submit through
his trade union central com-
mittee recommendations for re-
visions and amendments of

existing legislation covering
employment of juveniles.

all complain audibly. Some ex-
press with a rueful shrug of the

shoulders their reaction to a sit- §

uation which they have been
eonditionel to believe inevitable.

The most advanced among
the women déclare their right
to live by their own labor
power, recognizing that the re-
latively lower status of women
is bound up with economic de-
pendence. They know, too, that
women will win equal rights
and equal responsibilities only
as they become part of the
forces of social production and
fully involved in the life of the
nation. 3

HE same unions which led
the fight for equal pay for
equal work are taking up the
cudgels against selective lay-
offs. Progressive trade union-
ists know the long and difficult
road which the labor movement
has travelled to reach the
strong position it eceupies in
Canada today.

History teaches that diserim-
ination against any worker, on
any pretext whatsoever, is a
threat to the security of all
workers, and establishes a pre-
eedent which is sure to be fol-
lowed up.

some aspects of the present
policy, however, have implica-
tions reaching far beyond the
organized labor movement. Lay-
offs without discrimination can
be interpreted as temporary dis-
locations due to conversion from
one type of production to an-
other. But when layoffs are
selective, a permanent shortage
of jobs is implied. The fight
against discriminatory layoffs,
then, is a fight for full employ-
ment, and is the concern of
every democratic person, re-
gardless of sex, race, party or
elass. This issue is not one of
distributing what jobs there are
but one of creating sufficient
jobs so that every man and
woman who wants to work can
do so.

At a time when Canada’s
post-war employment policy is
in the formative stage we
would do well to emulate the
healthy trend in American pol-
icy illustrated in a recent ad-
vertisement for 400 women re-
quired for permanent jobs on
the Alaska Railroad. They are
promised payment at the same
rate as male workers, 26 days’
annual leave, and pensions on
retirement.

(pS Speech from the Throne
Which opened the last ses-
Sion of the federal house held
a postwar perspective which all
forward-looking Canadians wel-
comed.

= The government promised
reconversion of the economic
life of the nation from a war-
time to a peacetime basis, and

its reconstruction for all who’

are willing and able to work.’

The realization of this per-
speetive is a challenge to all
democratic sections of the peo-
ple. It means strong support
for the unions in their fight
against discriminatory layoffs,
a united demand for an over-
hauling of Selective Service
policy, a gevision of unemploy-
ment insurance benefits up-
ward to provide against hard-
ship in change-over periods.

It means, above all, a vigor-
ous policy of -vonversion with
full regard to the peacetime po-
tentialities of the shipbuilding
industry and Canada’s role as
a Pacifie power in United Na-
tions’ plans for expanding trade
and continuing, peace.

7