4)ctober 13, 1942

SI ere nee

AMIEEI (1 @) DI

Page Five

ff oce hundred and eighty- six ships have been sunk n the Atlantic since Decem- oer 7 last. This terrific toll of nerchantmen, carrying preci- juS cargoes of food and muni- ons to the fighting fronts of furope is a challenge to the ‘:sbipbuilders of the United Na- ions. The tremendous production sf War supplies, the record-break- ng grain harvest of the prairie srovinces, all the accomplishments 1 war production, are practically iseless, unless the means are pro- rided to carry them to the battle- Wronts. This means ships —ships ‘hat will slide down the ways faster ‘han enemy submarines can sink hem and warships to convoy them mm their perilous journeys.

Canada’s contribution to the war ffort has been considerable. Tanks, lanes, munitions are pouring in an Ver-increasing stream from the

reduction lines and not the least @i Canada’s contributions are the aerchantmen and warships, pro- #uced in shipyards from coast to gf oast, the “bridge to victory” built #\y Canadian hands. ) We on the Pacific Coast have pratchedt and aided the growth of his industry, seen it overcome ob- etacle after obstacle, and now, as en thousand ton freighters are aunched, on schedule, and in many ases ahead of schedule, may feel

justifiable pride in its accom- Jishments.

Thirty-six freighters have been suilt in Vancouver so far. This is . good record, but the increased fficiency of labor, the added ex- yerience of management, and the ,OSSibility of using plant facilities md machinery to the fullest ad- fantage should now enable the hipbuilding industry to make huge trides in production.

One of the major factors leading © inereased efficiency in the ship- rards has been the developine co- peration between labor and man- igement on production problems. \s the yards expanded and added housands of workers, the value of he experience of seasoned workers »9eCame more and more evident. 4abor’s problems and difficulties stew with the industry. Thirteen inions, affiliated to three different rade union centres, complicated he problem. Thousands of new

with organized labor and had to be rained and grounded in the prin- siples of unionism.

Wew categories of workers came /hto being, categories not adequately zovered by agreements, and dis- Satisfaction with wages became a ‘Droblem. | e i Bese government's policy toward

labor complicated the Situation. Order-in-council followed order-in-

council, passed without consultation with labor.

The government’s order-in-coun- cil PC 8253 was perhaps the most controversial. This order, setting as it did an arbitrary ceiline over Wages, failed to take into account all of the factors involved, and left no reom for improvement of inade- quate wage scales.

THUS semi-skilled occupations still receive unskilled wages, while cate— fories that should be classed as skilled still remain in the semi- skilled class, proving a source of constant grievance and a conse- guent drag on production. These are some of the problems facing

trade union leaders in the ship- yards. Meanwhile, Managements have

had their difficulties too. The build- ing of staffs capable of dealing with the greatly increased personnel, the planning and coordination of large scale production, organization of shifts and planning of work en- tailed by a continuous production presram have taxed the ability and mgenuity of managements.

workers. made their first contact |

hips For The Second Fro

nt

Charles

Saunders

Greater cooperation with labor will help to solve many of their problems, and if they will admit labor into their confidence on an equal footing in properly estab- lished labor-management com- mittees, the results will be of tre- mendous benefit to the whole in- dustry.

The men working in the ship- yards soon found that most of their problems cut across lines of trade union affiliation, were problems in- herent in the industry and that some medium of collective action by all shipyard workers was neces-

Sary to deal with problems common to all.

Unity began to develop first through the medium of joint shop stewards meetings called to con- sider such problems as safety con- ditions: When the cost-of-living bonus order-in-council PC 7740 was passed, a co-ordinating committee, representative of all major unions in the shipyards, met to consider a common course of action. This unity continued to develop and reached its peak when the question of continuous production was first raised. Then a representative body, embracing all unions in the ship- yards was formed, the Joint Ship- yard Union Conference. r

e@ FERRE has never been a prob- lem more controversial than the

continuous production program first initiated in Canada in the Pa-

.cifie Coast shipyards.

The principle of woring, a plant

to its fullest capacity, 168 hours per |

wee, in order to attain the maxi- mum production, cannot be refuted now, when production is of such Vital importance.

Initial meetings of the union com- mittee with the managements were harmonious and proceedings towards a satisfactory, and mutually agree- able arrangement of working condi- tions. But here again the fovern- ment stepped in to enforce by order-in-council the seven - day week under conditions unacceptable to the men.

The maximum production pro- Sram for the shipyards as a result, got off to a bad start. A general lack of planning added to the con-

fusion and this, added to the lack

of enthusiasm on the part of certain Shipyard operators, difficult situation. Men who at the outset had ac- cepted the seven-day staggered week, aS a necessary contribution to the war effort, became increas- ingly dissatisfied as they viewed the inefficieney anu disorganization evident in carrying the plan into operation. They felt that they had not been sufficiently consulted and

that they had been forced to accept unfair and unnecessary conditions.

The conference continued to meet, and when it became evident that drastic action was needed to avoid @ serious situation, worked out a plan which many hoped would pro- vide a breathing space, during which major differences could be overcome, the bottlenecks ironed out and @ sound basis laid for a maximum production program. A delegation from the conference flew to Ottawa to present its plan be- fore Labor Minister Humphrey Mit- chell. ~

This plan, calling for a six-day week, was presented in the form of a brief which drew attention to all of the bottlenecks existing in the shipyards and pointed out how all these obstacles combined to lower the morale of the men and form a serious obstacle to all-out produc-

tion.

AS A consequence of this trip to Ottawa, the government real- ized the seriousness of the situation existing on the Pacific Coast and set up a Royal Commission to in- vestigate This commission was composed of two representatives of labor, and two employers, under the chairmanship of Justice S. E. Rich- ards of Winnipeg. It sat in Vancou- ver for three weeks, hearing evi-

dence from all parties concerned. All the major unions presented briefs and while evidence of ship- yard workers brought to light much inefficiency, lack of plan- ning and lack of vision in the im- plementation of the plan, it was

aggravated a

Significant that none of the eyi- dénce submitted proved that the obstacles to continue production were insuperable. Furthermore, it was evident that the objections of the men to the plan arose mainly from the arbitrary manner in which it was introduced and from Wage grievances.

When the commission handed down its report it was in three parts, a majority report and two minority reports submitted by the two labor representatives, and the majority report, favoring the seven- day continuous production plan, made a series of recommendations calculated to ensure its successful operation.

Most important of these was es- tablishment of functioning labor- Management production commit- tees, for it is generally admitted that had such committees been or- ganized before the plan was first introduced, many of the problems would never have arisen, or could have been speedily eliminated.

Secondly, the report recommends an “equalization of pay and reclas- sification of labor,” a recommenda- tion that will remove many of the Just grievances of the men if ade- quately carried out.

C)

USTICE S. E. RICHARDS is due J in Vancouver this week to meet with the unions and discuss the whole question with the view of im- plementing the commission’s report.

In the meantime, conditions have considerably improved as a result of evidence submitted before commission and many of the major bottlenecks have been removed. Labor-management committees are being set up, and although they are not as yet functioning as they must, nevertheless some improvement is evident.

The need for maximum produc- tion behind a total war effort has never been more urgent than now. As Hitler flings the concentrated might of his armies against Stalin- grad, as he desperately attempts to consolidate the gains of his sum-

che |

mer campaign by gaining control of the Caucusus and dividing the Rus- sian armies, so it becomes more and more evident that offensive action, a second front in Europe is all that can save the United Wations from disaster and defeat.

Canadian labor must answer the challenge on the production lines. The strongest answer it can give to those who claim that a2 second front cannot be opened now because the United Nations are not ready is to increase pro- duction as the proof of readiness. At the same time, labor should exert its concerted pressure for action now, before the opportun- ity for offensive action in Europe becomes the tragedy of enemy in- itlative that may see a new front established on our own Pacific Coast.

The seven day continuous produc- tion plan, which, fully implemented, will enable production of the maxi- mum number of ships, can be made to work. Organized labor must see that it is made to work.

There must be no repetition of the arbitrary methods that aroused antagonism to the plan where it was first enforced. Departments having special problems that make operation of the plan difficult should have these problems fully discussed by the labor-management production committees, and the recommendations of these commit- tees should be given every consid- eration. But labor too, must be pre- pared, as I believe it is prepared, to give its utmost in cooperation, with- out which the plan cannot succeed.

Happily remote as they are from the battlefronts of world conflict, the shipyards cannot be separated from the fighting fronts. Success of the fight for maximum production of ships, and that means success of the continuous production plan, may well be a major factor in ensur- ing that victory is won on the battlefields while they are still remote.

—Vancouver Sun Photo.