Cont'd. from Pg. 1 federal governments, and a low- cost housing program.

The report of the Executive Council repudiated wage guide- lines as a substitute for collective bargaining and dismissed as phoney the efforts of this “‘Charlie McCarthy’’ Prices and Income Commission to blame labor for inflation and other economic ills.

It cited instead the 27 percent profits by banks, unwarranted and excessive price increases and, in general, corporation profits as the main culprit.

Bill 33 once again came under strong fire from the Executive Council:and delegates. The policy of boycotting the Mediation Commission, adopted in 1969, was re-endorsed. It calls upon all affiliated unions to refrain from appearing before the Commission and pledges full support to those who carry out the policy.

It goes on to state that any time an affiliated union is instructed to appear before the Mediation Commission, the Federation may call a special convention in order to decide the best course of action and to mobilize the B.C. ment.

Those unions who had, since the 1969 convention, ignored Federation policy and appeared before the Mediation Com- mission came in for sharp criticism.- A, special closed session was held and Local 230 of the IBEW was censored for such an action arising out of a dispute in Port Alberni. The closed session concluded with a statement by an IBEW Inter- national representative that the union would never again appear before the Mediation Com mission.

Federation officers were com-

GEORGE JOHNSTON, elected new president.

RAY HAYNES, re-elected secre- tary-treasurer.

labor move.

Labor unity marks

mended for the role they played in co-ordinating bargaining since the 1969 convention. Other delegates were less enthusiastic about the effectiveness of the Federation’s co-ordinating role but placed the main blame on affiliated unions who have been reluctant to relinquish local autonomy to the extent necessary to make co-ordination effective. :

A special resolution was adopted re-constituting the Federation’s co-ordinating com- mittee to include all unions involved in major negotiations in 1971. :

LABOR UNITY

Some of the sharpest debate in the convention was centred around the proposed re-admis- sion of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union into the Canadian Labor Congress.

A resolution proposed by the Executive Board to demand “‘permission’’ of the CLC to allow the B.C. Federation of Labor to grant provisional affiliation to the Fishermen was referred back to the executive. A substitute resolution was later brought in which expressed the overwhelming desire of the B.C. Fed. that the UFAWU be

admitted into the CLC and >

reiterated the Federation position of bringing the Fishermen in now, with merger discussions to follow after admission.

CUPE delegate Jack Phillips, speaking to the substitute resolution, told of the struggle by the Vancouver Civic Employees Union to get back into the old Trades and Labor Congress after it had been expelled for ‘‘being premature peace petitioners’. The Fishermen were expelled shortly after that and one of the reasons for expulsion was criticism by their journal against TLC raids directed at the civic union.

Phillips told the convention, to loud applause, ‘‘We’ve had enough of this McCarthyite garbage in the trade union move- ment. It’s time these doddering old men heading the CLC were told that trade unionists want to solve the problems of today, not rehash the disputes of 20 years ago.” :

He went on to explain that CUPE had threatened to withhold per capita to the Congress from its 120,000 members before its new local 1004 (Vancouver Civic Employees) was granted full rights in the congress, including representation in the Vancouver Labor Council and the B.C. Federation of Labor.

Phillips concluded, ‘‘If the CLC continues to bar the Fishermen, we may have to tell them they won't get any more per capita tax from B.C. That’s the kind of language the CLC understands.”

During the debate Federation officers were criticized for failing to press strongly enough for admission of the Fishermen. Vice - president George Johnston of the Canadian Food and Allied Workers Union came in for special criticism from CUPE delegate Dave Werlin. The CUPE spokesman said that Johnston failed to support the admission of the Fishermen at the Edmonton convention of the CLC earlier this year.

This prompted Johnston to

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1970—PAGE 12

sit od

— i secede

AT B.C. FED PARLEY. Top photo shows Alderman George McKnight

seated with delegates from the Port Alberni local, |WA. Bottom photo shows the delegation from the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Union. Bottom right is William Stewart, who came within 25 votes of

election to the B.C. Fed executive.

enter the debate and declare he would in future adhere to convention decisions and press actively for the re-admittance to the CLC of the Fishermen without any preconditions.

PEACE FIGHT

The International Affairs Com- mittee report called for much broader support by~ the. labor movement in an intensified protest against the inhuman and immoral conflict in Vietnam. Humanitarian reasons should be enough, it said, but if not the present inflation and unemploy- ment, both here and in the USA, are directly attributable to the Indo-China war.

A marked improvement over

reports in previous years, it.

supported the United Nations position calling for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories seized in the 1967 conflict, and the guarantee of

Trailer to tell labor’s history

Organized labor will be taking an active part in the Centennial celebrations in 1971.

Former president Al Staley of the B.C. Federation of Labor will head up a committee to organize a project which will reflect labor’s key role in the development of this province. :

It was announced at the recent Federation convention that after numerous meetings the committee under Staley had decided the project will be a large display trailer which will tell the historyof labor.’

It will visit the different fairs and exhibitions to be held in 1971 in major communities throughout the province.

In addition, the Federation is planning two or three other projects on the centennial theme.

sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized bound aries.

A significant position developed in the report stated the B.C. Fed. feels more strongly than the CLC on the question of NATO and called for the withdrawal of all Canadian support on the grounds that the existence of NATO is no longer justified. Withdrawal by Canada

‘from NORAD was called for

again.

Speaking to the report, delegates were critical of the AFL-CIO and the CLC leader- ship for their inactivity and lack of leadership. One delegate said

B.C. Fed parley

that if it had not been for Meany’s support, the late John F. Kennedy would never have sent so-called ‘‘advisers’’ to Vietnam in the first place, and Lyndon Johnson would not have sent troops and warplanes, and Nixon could not have been elected as president of the US.

The convention endorsed the OUTNOW petition campaign in support of Vietnam. There was an OUTNOW booth in the lobby and more than 300 signatures were obtained.

POLITICAL ACTION

Sharp differences between the leadership of the New Demo-

~ eratic Party and leading trade

unionists who are also members of the NDP were revealed on the floor of the convention. The debate on this issue reflected the deep-going concern among trade unionists in connection with the failure of the NDP leadership to support the trade unions consistently and in a principled fashion during the recent con- frontations with big business and the Socred government in Victoria. This debate will go on for some time to come.

Nick Chernoff, an IWA delegate, stressed the importance of the trade union movement speaking out in its own name on economic, social and political issues, instead of merely tailing behind a political party for the sake of expediency.

The convention on the whole reflected’ an evident desire for trade union unity, political action and world peace.

George Johnston was elected president of the Federation for the next two years, while Ray Haynes was re-elected as secretary - treasurer. All executive board members were elected by acclamation.

Bill Stewart of the Marine Workers narrowly missed election to the executive council, receiving 355 votes out of a total of 484.

Two issues of the Pacific Tribune were distributed to delegates and were widely read. Speakers quored the PT and a number of subscriptions were obtained. All in all, it was a progressive convention.

“..AND THEM THE ACCUSED COuSPIRATORS WERE OBSERVED SIGNALLING To EACH OTHER, LIKE THIS... ”

e