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Pago Eight,B. C :D I S T R I C, T U N I O N N\E W STuesday, Septemben 7,.-1948i- VJ..Last WordBy THE TIRED MUCKER ,-TCarlin - B.C. FetjeratioOt Labor Convention(Continued from Page 1):T,imo spills (he beans. Not old Father Time, who can be^ptal-mtnfcw-■■DcIea.te.«,“io 'the-fifth annual r'esdiutdepended upon to spilj . them fob if usually too Tale;'' but ’ thatother egregiously edited/compendium ~ of mis-niE CAT’S OLT information which lurches oh from mi statement to mistdtement. Thisrtime however (no Dun inteded) there's ho mi statement. There’s whkt I consider ..is probably the betrayal of the^confldence of some big mouth within :he CCL,, likely one which in all sincerity ‘speaks from the bottom if its stomach. “Tinie” ■ admits ^atjtljp real reason for-suspending vline Mill is to “drive the Commies out of the--CCL.”They laid their plans well, says “one member of the CCL txecutive” through “Time- One Maboney , was -sent out. here as ’ hatchet-man. The CCL’snfcxt move is “likely to be an attemptcry workeris.HtVe7 Have a “history1 that is i;eplete with heroism in the struggle—against the,,shyer, gold, copper and hlckel baronsand the-other metatnjinlng- monopolies in this country.If a .union such as ours can be raided by a “Mater’7 organization, aztd if, because of the resistance which our membership puts up,, it can be suspended on such, a flimsy arouse In order to provide sanction for continued' raiding, then it unquestionably to true that nounion will be safe;, and tfcat the-convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor votecl- unanimously urging the Canadian Congress of Labor Executive to. reinstate .atonce^the .International Union; of Mine,. Mill Smelter Workers.puest speaker at the; convention was International President John Clark, of^the Mine, Mill ' Smelter . workers’ Union. His speech outlining the history of his union ^will ’ be carried in ; the next issue of-the' District Union News. ’ ' •The/officers* report of the past •was unanimously approved by the convention.seating - of , the Mine, Mill Snyblter Workers’ Union -“WSek before the convention, leaving 22 delegates seated at the back of the hall without voice or vote was reflected in the close vote in the election of officers for the coming year with one vote being the . deciding factor . in many instances, atfST’Tevealed the realpurpose of this suspension as calculated to affect, the leadershipto. capture control of MMSW - locals in Cahada as n prelude'to their ’: . ■■■«?' • ■ . .- ... readmission! If that failed, the CCL wpuld try to organize theminers itself.” ’ -course, is what we knew. Wealsa knew, as apparently that “the CCL leaders were as much cancerned With / ' political advantage, as with tradeVDEKS WITH A NOOSE union control,’’ It is. refreshingto find this member of- the :OCL executive (who iyi bet had hig hand dver his stomach at the time)‘done with- goldadmit thatnegotiations, with., IWA negotiations, or With, labor generally jf; the GCL Can get- political advantage for the CCF. I wonder what the ;loyal members of labor who vote CCF are thinking about it? don’t „have to wonder. I kne^v, and so do ail“Time ” of. course, approves; the move.- Edi pre-war apologist, Luce, it knows. .what Der lone. It lines the scheme fully in its glee.- The suspension of the Mine, Mill, says “Time,” eliminated so many “cqmmunist sympathizers” from the B.C. Federation of Labor convention that it would make victory practically certain for the MosKer-Conroy-Millard forcers.Well, it didn’t quite work that way/ The BCFL executive council still has some members on it who are hot putting political control aheadl of trade union purpose. : But what of the rest of-the program? 'The .program has been'plain for a long time, now, but it is .still,refreshing to find “Time” and this unnamed CCL‘executive . publish a blue-print for us. “Time” is A SCAB BAG, BUT— a * scab-sheet, as you would expect of one ,X ~ v which enthuses over the revealed scheme.But for once, I advise every one of you to look up tbe copy in the reading-room, or in the lavatory, and read what it says oh page 15 lfoa don't hced: to read~the rest-ofits stories,-unlgss of course'you are in the latter place.If “New Color .Scheme’’ doesn’t make you mad enough to chaw -Millard's emissaries (and janissaries) up with the morning mush, then you don’t deserve to have a union.; It did me.unity oflabor will be utterly^destroyed. \ ; •. ■ A ■ ‘ —In the second place, I suggest that the excuse-given for our suspension is riot only fli: constitutes a stab at the very heart of inner union democracy, freedom of.^fhe labor press and the long established democratic process of the lights of criticism.I repeat, as I have already said, I. and my International officers felt- — that thstory should not have been forwarded and should not have been printed, I also rCrcall to your attention the fact that we did, on our own, take immediate steps to make amends by extending an official apology and by taking the extreme action of discharging 'the employee responsible for the story. Having stated that, I submit that even if we had not made—the. amends which . we have made, the fact that Our organ carried a news item such as it did hardly justifies the extreme ction of suspending one of the oldest unions in the country, one of the founders of the CIO‘and the CCL and one df the top unions .a in the hous^^Oabpr/ we have not reachedin Can;Certain]the stage where labor leadens and trade union publications cannot criticize each other and even use harsh words against each other without inviting suspension, ex-The Gov’t Goes to the DogsApparently the three percent sales tax ,1s aimed at the dogs. If a dog eats meat bought for the family, it is tax free/but If’you buy canned dog or cat food, it is taxable.. .. * ★ * .I was not allowed to speak at the B.C. Federation of_Labor but I did address over 5,OOt^workers at Alberni, Labor Day- Festival and after the meeting one old timerj of our union came over to me ( and wanted to be remembered to . the. boss. Maybe some of the old f timeijp in ROssland will remember R, G. Gordon who was in the Centre Star mine strike in 1904. His address now is RJL No. 2, Victoria. There is on'6 thing about our old. timers of the Western Feriera- } tion of Miners. They look with pride on their organization and proudly wear that, badge of honor.of our trade union- centres. Indeed, Brother Mosher andotbers who supported his demand/for suspension, consider themselves quite free to criticize, op; condemn and brand anyone choose in the labor movement. Vet no one has questioned their rights to their opinions, though eveiyone reserves the right for himself and his organization to explain, to enlighten and. to defend actions that Brother Mosher may take exception to. —^ Without retaining this basic democratic process, freedom of expression and freedom of criticism and the right to make mis-, taken statements' which; when proven to -be wrong- can be, withX. drawn and publicly acknowledged as having been wrong—I say that without such a right, trade unionThe • convention unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the election of a. CCF. government in British Columbia, reaffirming on that ..the Federation ngt tied to, any one politicaL party, '.and instructing the Federation officers to call ail labor groups in the province to a conference as soon as the announcement of the next year’s provincial election is made, in frrder to unite -the -Whole ^rade.of the Federation, but despite this action the Mahoney faction did not achieve its objective of acquiring a majority onthe Executive Board- and Council, the lead-O’Brien, president; WilHanrStewing body of the Federation.Officers elected^ were: Daniel ari, vice-president; George Home, secretary; Stuart Afsbury, second vice-pres.; Malcolm McLeod, John Cameron, Stewart McKenzie, William. Symington, and Haroldunion movement to fulfill this;Pritchett.We did malte. - ’ . ; _/We call; on your organization at thi^' time to support us Jn our d cm arid for rejinstatement, fully aware of .the fact that differences on matters'of policy do and will continue to take] place within the CCL. We fepK kowevej-, that the place where \all such matters should be fought out Is within the Congress, and it is our desire, to continue to bera part. of that Congr ess and to play our part in helping to develop all policy whichwill best serve the interests of our members and the ektire trade union ■- movement.'*We could readily be ^angered and take a stand' against tbe actions of the Congress whieb we could deem as extremely aiitcK cratic, but are primarily concern^ cd with the advancement of the esfcs of .our] members and thecentres -and International txade would cease to bo democratic organizations, but would become private preserves and domains for the unquestioned rights of individuals or individual'organizations. :I repeat agafii, that /we did in this instance go to all lengths to make ./amends before any complaint was registered, and these actions of ours certainly have left nq grounds for anyone to argue that an organization such .as ours should . be ousted .from the Congress, a step which would not have been justified even If we did not make the amends whichadvancement of the interest labor as, a whole. ‘It should not be necessary to remind all of you to whom this letter is addressed that the Cana-lan labor movement today is nfronted by attacks, the proportions of which have been heretofore, unknown in this country. We argali probably of the same mind in \agreeing |bat to beat back these\attacks yiH take the greatest unity, and solidarity that we, as: workers, Can bring to bear.It is because of these primary conditions that wfe Xgre calling upon you to assist us to our union iii its rightful place in the house of labor. Many differences will undoubtedly develop in the. fight to preserve the labOr movement, and we in asking for' your support in. rc-ihstating our organization^- also assume thal-you stand with us in the right to' . hammer, out these, differences* among ourselves as to the best, methods to be used in solidification of the front of the working people against the attacks of reaction. ; ...While the comparison . is not-exact, still it was divisions of a similar nature within the labor moverqent in the “twenties” which x brought about the weakening of the whole of the labor movement and enabled employers to drive labor back. It took many years of hard struggle inwhich our union along wltb“youfs, 'participated to-^ re-establish- the : conditions andrights of labor which were lost in those dark] days. ’We hope that we have in this letter set but the issues involved In our suspension, and at the upclated foree and hear the basic principles of democratic labor solidarity whichXmust motivate all genuine working people today.I appehj to you and to your union to contribute towards the’ re-establishment: of unity in the Congress and in the labor movement by “ina©ng“~~your desire known to tbe offifeers of the CCL by resolutions, letters and* telegrams both before \and during the coming convention.' / ;JI shall consider It a privilege to meet you personally to^discuss this issue further or to beforel your membership in to ■ explain the position of union and the far-reaching plications of the actions of Congress.Sincerely and fraternally, (Signed) R. H. CARLIN,Board Member, District No. 8, .UvM.M. S.W.Printing Under100% Union ConditUNION PRINTE R S I\JV1AIL ORDERS GIVEN SPEGIAU ATTENTION 650 HOWE ST^, VANCOUVER MA* 2154-5■Hi
Newspaper Details
Vancouver BC District Union News
Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
Tue, Sep 07, 1948
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA 08 Jun 2025
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