The ta \ “A 40-hour Week Says jabor In Alberta Seeks ucking Big Shot | Alberta Labor’’ #30OR legislation regarding * the 40-hour week with no Peiction in take-home pay; ~-cent per hour Minimum ©; two weeks holidays with ; revamping the “Concilia- and Arbitration Act” to vide for union security and e democratic measures to bargaining rights — all je became the dominant is- + before the Alberta legis- re this session. > 2e speech from the throne not even hint that any- E= was planned to satisfy demands of the labor mos of the AFI, or of the GH, in Alberta. Ollowing the conventions of B ARI. and the CCL, which ted similar programs, in- Bing the 40-hour week with mcut in take-home pay, two enet ministers announced — nothing prevented the es- f= shing of the 40-hour week. @ ever, when delegates of t labor centers met the anet it became clear that esething did stand in the ‘© ministers now made it fm rent that pressure from ar quarters had ‘been ght te bear on the cabin- B2remier Manning declared j2ffect that nothing labor asked for would be en- Gi in Alberta, at least for time being. Fugged Mail Boxes’ ‘OR had no alternative. Jnless it -was satisfied to E the pleasure of the manu- arers’ asseciation and the ssrnment, it had to do some- &. Ten thousand posteards ag the MiA’s to act on program were soon Bing the mail boxes at the lature. Coal miners, pack- ~ouse workers, building ®S workers, railroaders, let *MLA'’s know what they ex- ed. = ; ‘Feature Section | by Jan Lakeman Encouraged by the insistence on action made by Alberta labor, the CCH members of the House moved that the House should receive representations from labor and other interest- ed organizations. The motion was ruled out of order. Less than 24 hours later dozens of telegrams, including one from Robert Livett, president of District Mo. 18 of the United Mine Workers, poured into Premier Manning’s office and compelled him to reconsider. Mr. Roper was allowed to move his motion at the invi- tation of the premier. Organized labor of Alberta, through unity of action among all sections — AFL, CCL, and UMW/A—has been able to force their needs and demands to the forefront of the stage in Alberta. Vet Representatives -SHRVICHEMEN have four representatives in the Al- Half of the in Alberta are ex-servicemen; more than half of those looking for homes are the same boys. Disgusted with conditions, they have an eye on their representatives in the legislature, who dare not Sit and twiddle their thumbs. berta legislature. 15,000 unemployed The two CCE members, by the very impact of the labor unions, were bound to be in- fluenced. Inevitably, also, the government Members were af- fected by the desires of labor. Drumheller, a strong UMWA district, the Crows Nest Pass, the Coal Branch, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary and Eid- monton are industrial areas represented by members of the government side. in this atmosphere, the House listened to representa- tions from the Alberta Federa- tion of Labor (AFI), the Can- adian Congress of Labor unions and the United Mine Workers, also CCL. Labor’s demand for I AATEC Oe TOT SEE... The Power Octopus Page 11 Atomic Energy Page 12 Canadian farm scene, where beef, wheat, coal and oil are ‘mined’ by the Big Shots. the 40-hour week and 60-cent minimum wage was supported by the Alberta Harmers’ Union, with a membership of 20,000 in the province. The front-benchers, led by Premier Manning and the at- torney-general, Mr. Lucien Maynard, showed their bias when they tried to place the president of the Farmers’ Union on the spot by intro- ducing the false issue of hours and wages to farm labor. This was an obvious attempt to drive a wedge between the or- ganized farmers and organized workers, “No Trick Questions’ iH: front benchers showed a different attitude when the coal operators and manufac- turers’ -associations appeared, opposing the 40-hour week and minimum wage of 60 cents per hour, and two weeks holiday with pay. No “trick questions” were fired freely as had been done to the farmers’ represen- tative. There was plenty of time for many courteous and respectful questions, It became clear that the front benchers were holding the fort for the employers. The back benchers on the government side were divided between the rural and indus- trial areas. Urban Alberta was influenced by the drive of the industrial workers, while rural Alberta was not. This does not mean that the rural representatives were op- posed to labor’s demands; but without positive pressure from the farmers at home, they al- lowed themselves to fall in line behind the front benchers. Wot enough cooperative ac- tion has yet taken place be- tween labor and farmers to guarantee victory. It became clear that still more has to be done to, win the closest cooperation between organized labor in Alberta and the or- ganized farmers. A beginning has been made, and the leadership—as shown in the AFU eonvention and the AEU brief—has been won for cooperation, but this good beginning must be extended to the people on the farms to convince them of the need for farmer-labor unity. One-Sided Discussion TIE Alberta legislature differs from most other proviticial legislatures in that there are ne corporation lawyers, no di- rect representatives of Bis Business in it. The MILA’s are all, irrespective of their politi- eal beliefs, farmers and other middle-class people. Labor’s program, because the hearing was limited to discus- sion of revision of labor acts, was somewhat one-sided in presentation. It became impos- sible to introduce labor’s whole program on housing, reforesta- tion, road building and irriga- tion. : Through this hearing, how- ever, labor in Aiberta has es- tablished itself as the prin- cipal force representing a for- ward policy in the province. Labor in Alberta, along with the organized farmers, is on the road to establish realism in the policies for the people. Im the near future, the exec- utives of the farmers’ organ- izations and of the labor unions should ‘meet to ham- mer out a policy for all agrar- jans and workers of Alberta. The Alberta legislature turn- ed down .every proposal for legislative change this session urged by organized labor. It refused to act on the demand of the organized farmers to set up a fact-finding commis- Sion on the gasoline monopoly whieh is charging the people of the west an extra three cents per gallon. In effect the legislature protected the mon- opoly. The legislature failed to do anything about shifting the burden of the educational eost from its present unfair base to a provincial base. On the question of jobs, homes and security, it was Satisfied with playing politics by urging the federal government to do it— just passed the buck. Labor’s feet are firmly on the ground. It has a realistic program which it has raised to the forefront of the current political scene. It now remains for organized labor to go out in a fighting campaign to win the largest possible section of the farmers and workers. S.-C Sil oF e 1 ent Major Douglas, founder of the “social credit” theory is reported to have refused an in- terview, expressing his epinion on how his theory is working out in Albera. The social credit government of Alberta, like the CCE in Saskatchewan, are in practice, carrying out those polices com- mensurate with the interests of Big Business. Their respec- tive theories do not enter into the matter of budgets, labor and farm legislation, ete. That is why greater farmer-labor unity is needed in both prov- " inces. Coal miners—the men who dig a great portion of Alberta's wealth.