+ Saskatchewan farmers
sWing into action

By NELSON GLARK

SASKATOON.—The farmers of
week taking their place on the
creasing numbers. In town af

half of the province,
in almost every case the unani-
mous decision is to strike, and
get the picket line out around
the elevators immediately.

. it is true that the strike has
not yet achieved the effectiye
mess of the Alberta strugele,
where the militant leadership of
the Alberta Farmers Union has
been preparing the way for some
time. In this province, such a
clear lead was not forthcoming
from the United Farmers of Gan-
ada, Saskatchewan Section, and
the responsibility for taking strike
action’ was left up to the local

organizations. But the locals have |

responded with an expression of
Sclidarity for their Alberta broth-
ers which has swept aside all
doubts as to the willingness of
Saskatchewan farmers to fight
for decent prices and security.

Newspaper reports are still
seeking to belittle the strike
action in Saskatchewan, but the
facts are leaking out. Packing
plants are working at 50 percent
capacity, egg shipments into the
cities have slowed to a trickle,
Milk shipments on an important
railway line crossing the north
cf the province have dropped by
hak

The trade union movement is
rallying to the support of the

farmers. This week statements
pledgine labor support were is-
sued by Wloyd Gardiner, presi-

dent of the powerful Saskatche-
wan Eederation of Labor (GCL)
and also by the Saskatoon Trades
and Labor Council

The dark spot in the picture
to date has been the role played
by some of the big cooperatives.

©. T. Gooding, manager of the
Saskatcon Dairy Pool (and an
active promoter of company

unicnism in his own plant, by.
the way) issued a statement ad-
wisine Dairy Pool members to
ship their milk as usual. 450 in-
dignant farmers at Blaine Lake
have called for his resignation,

: Saskatchewan are this
picket line in rapidly in-
ter town across the Northern

Strike meetings are being held, and

and further protests will un-
doubtedly follow. The “Western
Proeducer” important organ of
the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool
Carries a front page story en-
titled “Delivery Strike Picture
Obscure” —and the whole article
is designed to sow as much con-

2

NELSON CLARK
Saskatchewan Leader, LPP

fusion and doubt as _ possible
amongst its farm readers.

The CCF in Saskatchewan
which began by heaping scorn
on the idea of the far strike
is beginning to trim its sails.
This week’s ‘Saskatchewan Com-
monwealth” pays lip service to
the aspirations of the farmers,
while still mournfully predicting
the inevitable failure of the
strike, In the meantime, Tommy
Doueslas has followed the ex-
ample of Premier Manning and
has wired Mackenzie King urg-
ine kim to-.accede to the farm-

ers’ demands.

Joint meeting pledges
full support to strike

The case for the striking hardrock miners of B.C. was
presented to a -public meeting in the Pender Auditorium

Jast Sunday evening.

Chaired by Ed. Leary, President of

the Vancouver Labor Council (CCL), both AFL and CCL
speakers pledged their support of the two-months old strike.

Ken Smith, secretary of the
District Union told his audience
©f conditions in the hard-rock
mining industry; of the discrim-
ination against miners who sought
to build their union, and of the
dreaded silicosis which takes such
a tell of miners’ lives and health.
Smith gave a factual outline of
the workers being discriminated
against because they had “talked
union.” 2

George Miller, president of the

United Hishermen and Allied
Workers’ Union (AFL), stated
that the fishermen had gone

through a lot of struggle them-
Selves) and therefore appreciated
what the miners were facing. He
Teported that $1.00 per man was
beine collected from the salmon
Purse seiners to help the miners,
and added that “if we had real
working class unity the miners’
Strike would be settled now.”

Bert Melsness, of the IWA,
Stated that the propagandist for
the metal mines operators, Bob
Morrison, was the same individual
Who was making wild unfounded
Statements for the boss loggers
during the TWA. strike.

_ At that time, stated Melsness,
Morrison had the IVWZA as “the
highest paid workers in B.C., now
it is the metal miners!” Melsness
further declared that during the
IWA strike,.this individual had
Offered his services as publicity

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 3

writer to the EWA (for a price)
at the same time as he was writ-
ing for the boss loggers.

Rae Naastrom, member of the

District Union, and ex-RCAF
navigator, who flew on many op-

erational flights across -enemy
territory in Europe related how
he went

upon his return home,
back to the mines. in the Bra-
lorne mines Naastrom found the
labor turnover immense, the work-
ing conditions far from what was
represented, and the 79%2c per hr.
wage not nearly enough “That,”
Waastrom told his audience, “is
not what ~ fought for.”

Harvey Murphy, western repre-
sentative of the IUMMSW  out-
lined the background of the
struggle for organization and de-
eent wages and working condi-
tions, dealing also with the lack
ef good faith in negotiations by
the operators. While the oper-
ators are supposedly asking for
separate negotiations on each of
the mining operations on strike,
they are acting together through
@ common representative, C. EX
Locke, KC. ;

The union leader appealed for
greater unity, expressed in moral
and financial support of the min-
struggie to establish their

ers’
organization and win decent
wages and conditions in B.C.’s

second basic industry.

and featured in such a manner
latter of ‘violent tactics.’

A round-up from the various
strike centres shows the strike
spreading, accompanied by a
growing unity between industrial
workers with the striking farm-
ers.

Wetaskiwin. — The strike was
hardly twelve hours old when
the first clash with scabs took
place. A farmer delivering cream
to the Wetaskiwin creamery was
turned back by pickets. He re-
turned with an RCMP escort but
was stopped and his cream dump-
ed into a ditch. Two of the pic-
kets were arrested and fined $50
and costs. A load of hogs in-
tended for the Wetaskiwin stock-
yards was turned loose on the
city streets:

By WILLIAM TOUMT

From many scattered Alberta centres comes news of the
ers’ strike for parity prices. The strike is being

as to

[Alberta farm strike front shows
line solid despite provocations

growing tempo of the farm-

‘played down’ in the commercial press,
prejudice the cause of the farmers, by accusing the

Stettler—The strike was three
days old when milk was de
clared a “hot” product by the
Central Strike in Edmonton. Pic-
kets rode the milk wagons on
their routes through Stettler to
see that only families with chil-
dren under three years of age
got milk. All others were cut
off supply.

Pincher Creek—Cowboys driv-
ing a herd of cattle for a wealthy.
rancher broke through the picket
lines the first morning of the
strike. Two days later all the
restaurants in Pincher Creek had
to close for want of supplies. Peo-
ple who eat out munched dry
sandwiches seated in their cars

Ruddell enters

Elgin Ruddell, secretary of the
tion, announced that he would

In a public statement issued at

luncheon arranged by cam-
paign manager John Turner,
Ruddell stated his candidacy
would be on behalf of the ‘‘small
homeowners, small businessmen,
‘and ‘tenants.

“It is this group,” he declared,
“making up the great majority of
the population, which has been
taking a beating ever since the
Non-Partisans took office.”

‘The city is in a very precari-
ous financial condition, and ever-
higher taxes
are being piled
on those least
able to; pay.
Apart from the
fact that many
assessments
have been in-
ereased, and
that the whole
system of as-
sessment dis-
eriminates®@
against the
small home
owner and
small businessman, is
that the WNon-Partisans in ten
years have managed to increase
the mill-rate from 37.886 to 54.5.”

a

Elgin Ruddell

the fact

Ruddell went on to explain
that in his opinion the key to
action on any of the innumer-

able serious problems facing the

city lies in carrying through
the following five steps, which
together form the basis of his
program:

@ Revision of the present meth-
ods of property taxation so
as to ensure that many big
business concerns in Wancou-
ver Carry their fair share of
the load.

Ensuring that in future civic
utilities contribute a share to
civic revenue ‘ commensurate
with millions of dollars profits
extracted by them annually
from the pockets of the peo-
ple of Wancouver.
Refunding of the
which at present consumes
27 percent of civic revenue
through interest payments to
bondholders.

Establishment of a graduated
business tax based on turn-
Over, with license fees reduced
te a nominal level.

A better deal from the pro-
vincial government to end the
present situation where that
body is rolling in wealth while
the City of Wancouver is in
serious financia} straits.

Campaign Manager Turner ex-
pressed the hope that those citi-
zens who had joined in launch-
ing Ruddell’s campaign had laid

city debt

the foundations for a civic re-

election

contest on civic reform

A new challenge to the long regime of the Non-Parti-
sans in Wancouver’s City Hall was made this week when

Vancouver Housing Associa-
be a candidate for the alder-

manic. seat made vacant by the death of H. L. Corey.

form movement that would take

Vancouver a long way down the
Toad of progress.

The City Charter requires that
Mayor Cornett issue a warrant
for the byelection “forthwith,”
and that the byelection be held
within 25 days after the warrant

is issued. Cornett has refused
to call the byelection, even
though the provincial govern-

ment has refused to sanction this
breach of the law.

Wailing the lodging of suit
against Cornett in the courts
(those impeding the carrying:

through of Charter provisions on
Civic elections are liable to fine
and imprisonment), the byelection
will be held December 11 con=-
currently with th reegular an-
nual civic elections. Only other
contestant in the byelection field
to date is ex-alderman DeGraves.

on the streets. Out of town peo-
ple could not get food.

Magrath.—Strikers have erect-
ed a2 huge blackboard on the
main street of the town and will
write the names of scabs on it
in yellow chalk.

Bow WValley.—Commercial truck-
ers have agreed with the strike
committee that they will not
Move any “hot” produce out of
the district.

Rosemary. More cream into a
ditch when pickets caught 2
Scab sneaking down a Side road
in an attempt to reach the Brooks
creamery, ;

At Acme, a scab brandishing a
Shot gun tried to get through
the picket line with a load of
grain. The strike captain in’ the
district explained that they “dis-
Suaded” him from going through
and that he “went home with
his grain but without his shot.
gun.”

MacLeod.—Another scab broke
through by threatening to use
a revolver. The RCMP have not
done a thing about him. Nine
pickets throughout the province
have been arrested and fined the
usual $50 and costs “for destroy-
ing property.” The farmers are
sneering at this application of
Manning’s “Bill of Rights.” :

At the time of going to press
the demands of the joint Alberta
Farmers’ Union and the United
Farmers of Canada (Saskatche-
Wan Section) to the cabinet has
produced nothing except evasion
and procrastination. ‘Nothing can
be done,’ says Prime Minister
King, ‘until Mr. Gardiner (min-
ister of agriculture) and Mr. T-
Sley (minister of finance) return
from FHEurope.

Prime Minister King’s evasive—
ness stems from the ‘hope? /re-
flected in the columns of the
commercial press, viz. that the
farm strike for parity prices will
peter out, thus “solving” another
problem.”

ETE ee
Refreshment Social—

Saturday, Sept. 28, at 9 p.m.
in the Olympia Hall. Erickson’s
orchestra.

Members of Local 807, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (AFL) stop their trucks at the entrance of
the Holland Tunnel, as the strike against New York
trucking companies remained 100 percent effective. The
teamsters are out for a 30 percent wage increase.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1946