t of the huge crowd that filled Brockt jsf Joe Mathias, head of the = :d and the Labor Pylon in

Organized Labor Demands:

COMPULSORY COLLECTIVE

BARGAINING

AFL, CCL Present Briefs To Board

The Canadian government was told in clearcut terms this week that the organized trade union movement, hundreds of thousands strong, wants a new federal labor policy embodying prineipally the introduction of compulsory collective bargaining

en a national scale.

on Point Oval, with Coast Indians, on the speakers the background.

‘ction of the colorful parade, interspersed with banners shown as it approached the entrance to

many bands, ley Park.

The demand was carried before hearings of the National War Labor Board in Ottawa by two delegations from the chief trade union centers — the Trades and Labor Congress of Ganada and the Canadian Congress of Labor. In each case the briefs presented by. the delegations stressed the main points for which labor has been pressing for years. These included: i.Amendment of existing labor

legislation to protect the right

of workers to organize and pro- vide for compulsory collective bargaining.

2. Payment of the full cost-of-liy- ing bonus to ail Canadian workers.

3.Amendment of wage control legislation to allow a more lib- eral interpretation of the laws in this respect, coupled with a wage “floor’ of 50 cents an hour below which wage control legislation would not be effec- tive.

4.4 complete change in the per-

sonnel of the Quebec War

Labor Board and of technical advisers to the National Board. First to appear before the War Labor Board special hearings this week were President Percy Ben- gough and Vice-President J. A. “Pat” Sullivan of the Trades and Labor Congress. Both were sharp in their criticism of present federal labor policies, attributing much of the unrest in war industry to the government’s failure to take repre- sentatives of the unions into its confidence in all matters pertain- ing to production.

Particular reference was made

by Bengough to the situation in

the Quebec Regional War Labor

Board where whole numbers of applications by international unions for conciliation were deliberately ignored while company unions were favored,

Both Bengough and Sullivan questioned the goyernment’s as- Sumption of a close connection between wages and prices.

“There are many factors in the inflationary process other jthan Wages and wage increases,” they declared, “and the © government's present position in this matter has brought considerable suffering to thousands of low-paid ‘workers

whose wages were frozen at the |

time of the order.”

A. R. Mosher, president of the Canadian Congress of Labor, who appéared before the board on the following day, declared, “the basic need in the field of labor relations is the adoption by the federal gov- ernment of a labor policy which will be positive, comprehensive and unequivical toward labor.’’ :

His brief pointed out that in place of a number of orders-in- councils or sacts dealing “with labor relations, there should be a consolidated order or act making the government's position plain.

“At the present time,” he Said, “the existence of a whole number of orders allows a very ambiguous interpretation to be placed upon them by various departments. Labor’s position in this situation has been extremely difficult.”

In both the TLC and CCL briefs, stress was laid on the important effect improved labor legislation would have on the production of war materials and the drive for victory over fascism.

Press For

Labor Rights !

AN EDITORIAL Ww Canada preparing, along with other Allied nations, for the final drive against Hitler and the Axis, the need for an immedi- ate solution to the confused labor situation in vital war industries has become the big issue of the Moment. The government has partly recognized this fact in the hearings now being conducted by. the National War Labor SBoard. There is a good possibility that out of these hearings will come specific recommendations for a new feder- al labor code along the lines sug-

gested by organized labor.

Bor this. reason,—it is extremely important that all sections of the trade unions make known their Position before the War lLLapbor Board on the important questions of compulsory collective bargain- ing, payment of the cost-of-living bonus to all workers, provision of a “floor” on wages and amend- ment of wage control legislation. Executives of both the Trades and Labor Congress and the Canadian Congress of Tabor have already presented briefs on these matters. But more ean still be done alons this line.

The People believes that because of the seriousness of the question all trade unions in the province should supplement the briefs al- ready presented by their respec- tive trade union centers by separ- ate briefs on the questions now before the War Labor Board. The opportunity is here and labor Should take full advantage. Send in your proposals now—let the gov- ernment know what labor de mands! Then we can get on with the job of backing the attacl.

Thousands Demand Second Front Now

reaffirm to themselves. their tomrades in the armed services, ind to the rest of the world that shis is a people’s war, and that as the people, they are deter- mined to win it.

The day itself fitted the oc- casion — warm sunshine, a eloudless sky, the mountains tlear in the background, and the no less impressive sight of Vancouver's war workers gath- ering to pledge their support of May Day traditions and Can-

Unity Marks City’s May Day

By CYNTHIA CARTER Q* SUNDAY, May 2, more than 12,000 Vancouver citi- zens—the majority of them actively engaged in the production of ships, planes, and guns being sent in a steady stream to the battlefronts of the world—paused briefly to

ada’s Fourth Victory Loan.

6

N THE speaker’s stand in

Brockton. Oval, Major-Gen- eral G. R. Pearkes, VC, GOC Pa- cific Command, chatted quietly with Bill Stewart, president of Boilermakers’ and Iron Ship- Suilders’ Union, Local 1, while Communist-Labor Total War Committee provincial secretary Fergus McKean, IWA Inter- national Board Member Nigel Morgan, and Hugh De Lacey,

president of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, look- ed down at the shipbuilders and the girls from Boeings, these last a little new to the idea of May Day, but looking: Smart in their white coveralls, as they listened to the world famous Esquimalt Naval Band. In the Srandstand, thousands more heard the spealers ex- plain that this year May Day took on ereater significance than ever before; that this year labor was fighting its biggest fight, against its biggest enemy —faseism. It was clear that Vancouver's workers weren't

See UNITY — Page 8

fara