BRUCE MICKLEBURGH ?P Federal Candidate ‘for keena Riding. irst Union 4Jgreement A Yukon » be first agreement ever “Biched between a hardrock gon and a company in the «on, Was signed recently by mal 564 of the International | on of Mine; Mill and Smelter ickers and the Yukon CGon- ‘dated Gold Corporation. "he historic agreement in- les a maintenance of mem- f ship clause, deduction of jon dues from. payroll by as- jiment, time and a half for time and a number of other wmsions benefitting the work . bi ohn Osbourne, international ‘esentative of the [UMMSW, bicipated in the negotiations. he TUMMSW also an- Waces the signing of an agree- + for the coming year with @ Britannia Mining and @ Iting Company, Ltd. ‘he question of a mainten- = of membership clause he agreement was postponed 1 the findings of a concilia- * board, which will rule on issue for the union’s agree- 4 with the Granby Consoli- }) nother point which was left | * pending application by @: the union and company for Sion was improvement in @ schedule of holidays with i J t present the miners receive ye iays holidays with pay after “year’s service. The joint j fication will ask that a one *@ increase in holidays be al- td for every year worked. Na World Leaders Confer On Eve of Nazi Defeat With the final stage of the war in Europe reacnea and the opening. of cambined operations to defeat Japan at hand, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, -with Premier King in attendance, met in Quebec City this week to formulate policies of united action. Unity of action between all the United Nations and in par- ticular between the four major countries, Great Britain; the USA, China and the Soviet Union, was stressed by a spokesman for President Roose velt at the conference, as the basis for the policy making discussions. : Marshal Stalin was unable te accept an invitation to the conference, Stephen Early Presidential press secretary, announced in making public a cable from the Soviet leader which stressed the necessity of his attention to the developing offensives of the Red Army. Early also disclosed that Stalin Was informed in advance of the purpose of the conference, and is being kept fully informed of all proposals and decisions. Considerations of British and American policies for a con- quered Germany were believed to be one of the questions to be discussed in relation to the European victure. While the main direction of United Na- tions policy for the complete rooting out of MHitlerism has already been agreed upon und- er the slogan of “unconditional Surrender,” the tremendous speed of events has brought the question of immediate steps to the fore and necessitated the present consultations. The main weight of the dis- eussions is expected to be di- rected to the opening of the combined offensives in’ the Pa- cific and Chinese theatres of war. The imminent defeat of Germany, bringing with it the release of tremendous armies, fleets and airforces for concen- tration on the struggle against Japan, will enable the con- ferees to plan for a rapid ex- pansion of the military effort against Japan. Immediate stepping up of the naval and airforce cam- paiens in the Pacific, with a drive for the liberation of the Phillipines in the very near future, will be one major topic it is expected. In addition, the Burma cam- paign is expected to receive full attention, presaging: a land drive through this sector as a preliminary to the driving: of the Japanese armies out of China. It is not known whether these military decisions will be - accompanied by. discussions of Chinese internal polities and problems of supplies and so on which have prevented the €hi- 15c SEPTEMBER, 1944 adequate role in the defeat of Japanese forces in Ghina. The holding of the confer-— ence in Canada was referred to with pride by Prime Minis- ter King who told reporters this was an indication of the increased stature of Ganada among nations. Decisions of the conference for an immediately stepped-up War effort in the Pacific are expected to result in a great inerease of activity in Vancou- ver in the near future. The local port will undoubtedly be- come a major center for naval ‘and shipbuilding activity. Merger Plan ls Approved Formation of one organ- ization of seamen in Can- ada was a step closer this week with the unanimous vote of members of the Deepsea and [Inland Boat- mens Union of the Pacific (CCL), to merge with the Canadian Seamen's Union (TLC) and establish a West Coast District of CSU. The DSIBU members endorsed the recommendation of their ex- ecutive, board that the recent proposals of Pat Sullivan, CSU president, to this effect be ac- cepted. The merger vote is the cul- mination of negotiations with the CSU initiated by the DSIBU ofricials and regarded as an an- swer to the activities of Seafar- ers’ International Union Presi- dent Harry Lundberg who has been attempting to arbitrarily interfere in the affairs of both unions. The formation of the CSU district is another step toward the bringing together in one organization ef all Canadian seamen, fishermen and cannery workers. The aim of such an all-inclu- Esive organization was expressed this week by Sullivan in a speech to members of the Cana- dian Fishermen’s Union in Nova Scotia. Such an achievement, said the €SU president, is the best guarantee of postwar se- eurity for every worker in- volved. fF VOLUME 1, NUMBER 6 . THE DREW-DUPLESSIS CONSPIRACY THE LESSON OF QU EBEC—_42 Editorial Article - LABOR AND QUEBEC— i) DREW-TORY DISRUPTIONIST— by ALDERMAN NORMAN FREED by STANLEY B. RYERSON : A Statement by the Quebec Provincial Committee of the Labor-Progressive Party ONE YEAR OF THE LPP—pby SAM CARR THE COMING AMERICAN ELECTIONS—pby EUGENE DENNIS : PLUS OLEER ARTICLES AND EDITORIALS i eople’s Bookstore, 420 West Pender St., Vancouver, B.C. Books and People by Kay Gregory [X THE public library this week I ran across a large book called Women at War, which is a complete record of the work women in Canada are doing as their contribution to the coming victory over fascism. Edited and compiled by J. Herbert Hodgins, David B. Grombie, Bric Crawiord and R. B. Huestis, the book has a whole series’ of pictures of the various occupations women are now engaged in—everything from building tanks and airplanes, to chemistry. amd checking ration coupons. ‘ But one complaint I had to make right at the outset is in the introduction by the editors, which pays tribute to the “genius of the production engineer which has enabled the women of Ganada to stand shoulder to shoulder with men,” rather than to the ability and versatility of the thousands of women who have come out of the kitchen to take on highly skilled’ jobs of which they had no previous knowledge. : However, that is a minor point, and the book in its main body does pay such tribute. ; “Can you feel the woman’s touch,” it says. ‘Because it’s there. A million touches imprinted by a million hands. Hands that have peeled potatoes and pounded typewriters and poured tea. “They're deft hands, strong and eager. They’ve seized the edges of a threatening breach and with their own power and will- to-do have pulled it together again. They’ve seized wheels and kept them turning. Machines and kept them humming. “They're there with you in the battle. Watch it, Johnny Canuck, and you’ll feel it as you fight. The woman’s touch.” N AN article in the book, Women in War Plants, Lotta Dempsey tells the story of women at work all over Canada. “There endeth the first chapter in the Book of Women’s Rights which Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Murphy and a handful of women workers in 1914-18 war plants began,” she says. “Its like this,” said one grizzled supervisor as he watched a slip of a girl swinging a great crane to lower a gun barrel, “she does the job as well as he does (pointing to a man at the same é operation) and with less fuss and swearing.” There is the story here of a team of women working in an east coast shipyard who built and launched a 4,700-ton cargo ship—they produced it from the first bolts and staves to the final slap of paint and piece of polished brass. They chopped the ropes that held her and sent her skidding down the ways into the water with the pride and knowledge of a job well and faithfully done. One very interesting part of the book is the chapter on Morale —Secret Weapon of Industry. It shows very effectively the dif- ference between good and bad posters, how they affect output. Displays should be used to make workers think in terms of fight— ing planes rather than mere valyes—tanks instead of instruments. One very effective one declared: “You are not making lamps— but LIGHT for victory.” How the suggestion system in many plants has been a real aid to improving and increasing production is shown by many ~ instances of the simple ideas workers have had which, put into effect, have been the means of saving many manhours of work. I would recommend that everyone who wants to know more about Canada’s magnificent role in this war should get this book from the public library and study it—it will be well worth your while. @ \ : 1S biegraphy of America’s great woman suffragette, Carrie Chapman Catt, has now been published by Wilson Co. Written by Mary Gray Peck, it gives the amazing record of the woman whose name has been echoed throughout the world as the cham- pion for women’s right to vote. While the campaigns which Carrie Chapman in the United States and Sylvia Pankhurst in England waged to get the vote for women were largely feminist and were jeered and mocked at generally, nevertheless they did lead the way to the world-wide mass movement for equality of women, the beginning of a fight to give women the status and dignity of recognized political, economic and human rights which they have achieved to the greatest extent in history during this war. < Starting with a local group in 1887, Carrie Chapman gradual- ly widened her sphere of activity and influence until she led the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association to its final goal, the adoption and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. That achieved, she conceived and started the National League of Women Voters. Meanwhile she found the time and energy to travel abroad and to bring to life the first Pan American Union of Women as well as the International Alliance for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship in which 45 countries were represented in 1939. From that point, Carrie Chapman, concentrated mainly on the peace movement and now, at 85, she still receives visitors from all corners of the earth, still is vitally interested in the next step forward to world-wide peace and security. : We who accept the role of women today on an equal basis with that of men in all fields of endeavor, are apt not to think much about the tremendous struggle conducted by women like Carrie Chapman, to obtain such freedom as we know today, and this book by Mary Gray Peck is an invaluable record and will help us to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes made in the early days.