B.C. LUMBER WORKER

2nd Issue, November

SAWS FOR

POWER | vous

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ONTARIO STRIKERS

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OFFICIALS OF INDUSTRIAL ‘ENGINEERING LTD., manufacturers of power saws, are complimented by officers of the United

Steelworkers and the IWA on their action in supplying power saws to the strikers in the gold mines of Northern Ontario to meet their desperate need for winter fuel. (Left) Robert Noble, General Manager, IEL; IWA District Secretary-Treasurer George Mitchell; Jack Stefanienui, USA plant griévance committee; Sid Fletcher, Financial Secretary, Bob Preble, Vice-President, Local 3376 USA; George Geiger, President, Local 3376, USA; IWA District President Joe Morris; Mr. Mennell, Sales Manager, IEL.

LE.L. Power Saws Meet Fuel Crisis

By DON DUNPHY Staff Representative United Steelworkers of America

In Northern Ontario there are over 5,000 miners on strike; in North-western Quebec, there are 2,500 more on the bricks, These miners have a base-rate of $1.05—and you can’t keep even crumbs on the kitchen table for that money.

And the operators are determined to keep it that way.

These men worked a 48-hour week. The Operators won’t cut the hours because, they say, “workers don’t know how to use leisure time.” But—in addition to this, these men are on the bricks in an all-out battle to see if they are even going to have a Union or not!!

Indeed, the Operators are spending millions to get rid of the Steelworkers’ Union in the minefields there. It is costing the Union over $300,000 per month to provide food, medicine and welfare to these families.

Now, this area is not Vancouver and it’s mighty cold there already—and, too, there just hasn’t been any money to buy fuel with. And you know when the smoke dis- appears from a striking family’s chimney, that family, already hit below the belt with reduced food-rations, is having a mighty rough time of it.

So, fully aware of this, the Union got permits for three wood lots and made plans in Timmins to cut 2,000 cords of fuel per week all winter. We know and you know that miners are not loggers and with the short hours now of daylight, they just could not come anywhere near that 2,000-cord quota. It was at that stage the Union put in an emergency call to the West Coast, “Can you get us power-saws ?” 2 »

Well, to make a wonderful story short, the Union here went to the management of I.E.L, Power-Saws in Van- couver. They told their story and this management was 1S arded enough by it to meet the Union representatives in North Bay, Ont.—not far from the strike area.

This LE.L. management listened and then got out their pencils, “You require 2,000 cords per week, therefore you will need 7 power-saws to do that job. We’ll put them on ae lots today and instruct your people how to operate

em.’

Then they said further, “And if you need more than 7 saws to get the job done, let us know and we’ll give them

to you.”

one of the best power-saws

every opportunity.

Members Ignore Labour

By Clifford A. Scotton

Members of Parliament at Ottawa have the most complete labor library in all Canada lo- cated on their doorstep yet the vast majority of them do not take advantage of this oppor- tunity to familiarize them- selves with labor's thinking.

The library of the Department of Labor, housed in the Confed- eration Building adjoining the Parliament Buildings, requests from labor bodies copies of all available publications. However, very few members see these pub- lications despite the fact that they are available to them at any- time. The library staff is effi- cient and helpful in handling re- quests for information on labor, but it is rarely troubled by MPs. -

More than 120,000 books and pamphlets on all phases of labor and industry are now on the shelves of the library and the number is growing by about 3000 each year, A total of 260 Cana- dian, U.S.,.British and other la- bor publications are regularly ‘received, filed and microfilmed. , Bighty-two of these are Cana- dian labor publications,

Few individual M.P.s, how- ever, take advantage of the fa- cilities which are so readily at hand to keep in touch with what is going on in the labor world. On occasion, the Labor Minister may have to seek the assistance

in the world—and it has a

CIO Steelworker union label on it! We urge every IWA union man and his brother to buy this I.E.L. product at

They have shown their support for our striking union brothers. LET’S SUPPORT THEM, TOO. ‘

OTTAWA (CPA) — The first two reports on the nationwide study of illness in Canada, pub- lished as the “Canadian Sickness

Survey” show that “the real, net, new cost of a health insurance scheme. is . . . only about $225 million; that is, the difference between the estimated cost and what is actually being spent”, according to the Canadian Con- gress of Labor’s research bulletin, Labor Research.

HEALTH SERVICE NEEDED

The bulletin concludes from the results of the survey that: “Big families are spending less on health care than small families. Poor families are spending less than what should be their share of total expenditures, the obvious. conclusion being that they are not able to spend any more. In both instances, equity and public policy should demand the provi- sion of health services on the basis of need; in other words, health insurance.”

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SANDWICH WHITE BREAD Sliced

BALANCED RATION Slicedgrcad

riched ‘Flour.

What kind of management is this!

WHITE BREAD

As an aid to better nutrition all is now made with Vitamin Enriche: The white flour content of such loa Ration, Brown, Rye and Special Meal is also En-

“Listen to G.B., CKWX — 5:30 p.

B. White Bread White Flour. 8 as Balanced

- Monday thru Friday”

pW HOW 00

of the library for information to

All that we can say is this—union-people have got to answer a question raised in the know who their friends are. AND MAKE EVERY EF- Commons. The main users of the FORT TO BACK THEM UP RIGHT TO THE HILT.

This Company has a completely union-shop; they make

library are students working on labor subjects and union officers seeking information on their or- ganizations,

| It would not be true to say though, that M.P.s are completely cut off from sources of labor news. While the majority of members cull their information from the daily press, which is not always the best medium for get- ting labor's viewpoint, some, notably the trade unionists, re- ceive copies of labor publications. direct,

| Reece The B.C. LUMBER WORKER

LIMITED

PRINTERS AND LITHOGRAPHERS

An Employee Owned Co.

944 RICHARDS STREET PAcific 6338-9

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