■moj qSvj
THE    FISHE R-M A N
The fiihe rm&n
Representing The Or(iani?cd Fishermen And Shoreu;orker$ of British Columbia
«,750 Copies Printed This Issue Published Every Friday except the last Friday of each month by The Fisherman Publishing Society, 138 East Cordova St., Vancouver, B.C. Telephone MArine 1829 — Advertising Rates on Application Editor ............................ GEORGE NORTH
Authorized at Second Clan Mail. Pottoffice Dep't, Ottawa
Friday, September 13, 1945
On The World Scene
Writer Tells Of Horror Scenes' Aboard Jewish Refugee Ship
By R. S. GORDON
Miners Efforts
F. - - I   T_T AIFA, September 3.—Eleven hundred Jc\» g from European concentration camps are bound
|Qnt     V_Xp£ffltOrS f°r Cyprus afte.r a brief $\mPs<: of the  Palestinian coast. Hungry, sick, shouting in
At Disruption
THE frequent charge made by irresponsible (and wishful thinking) individuals whose interests are opposed to those of the trade union movement, is that veterans are against organized labor. That charge in British Columbia, is an absolute falsehood which is best illustrated i» the present strike of gold miners.
With all the big propaganda guns of the mine operators trained on their union and.its leadership in a vain attempt to smash the strike, the workers are doing more than merely standing pat.   They are fighting back.
Clearest answer to the operators' tactics is provided in an ad published by the Veterans' Committee of Local 271, Bralorne Miners' Union.
It is in the form of an open letter to the operators,
which we quote here:
"Thanks a lot for  everything you  have  done toward
settling the present strike dispute. As we, the veterans of World Wars I.and II, constitute 60 percent of the membership of Local 271, we know that we can talk freely to you, because many of you are veterans of World War I and all citizens of unquestionable repute!
"Of course you have called us Communists, and we don't like that. We swore allegiance to Canada when_ we went to war and we would do so again tomorrow were it necessary.
"You have said our union is undemocratic. Well, we are free to disagree with our leaders anytime we wish; we are free to criticize; if we are unable to express an opinion of our own we can support someone else who is able. Surely our organization is as democratic as we care to make it!
"You have talked about marginal ore, prospects and the reduction in the price of Canadian gold. Once again we observe that we shall always have marginal ore, regardless of the market price of gold. As far as prospect mines are concerned, our strike has involved only producing operations. And while we did hear cries concerning 'ability to pay* when our dollar was placed on a par with the Americans we heard no similar complaints when gold was pegged from $20.67 to $35.00 an ounce!
"You say our demands are unjustified? We don't think so. We are asking chiefly for an $8.00 a day basic wage for miners and a 40-hour work week. In the first place, we realize the cost of living has risen sharply since war ended and that our industry is now out of line with other basic industries in B.C. In the second place; we realize that not only is our type of work extremely hazardous, but that, by its very nature (silica dust, changing temperatures, dampness, drafts, etc.) it tends to shorten our lives. No, we talk to you straight from the shoulder and repeat— these demands are not unreasonable!
"Finally, remember gentlemen; we shall try to answer every rumor with the truth. We do not need to exaggerate, we do not need to call names, we do not need to engage in personalities. Sometime, sooner or later, when you truly authorize someone to negotiate for you, perhaps we can talk business!"
There appears from their propaganda tactics, to be no sincere desire on the part of the mining operators to settle this strike. They are by all appearances, seeking to smash the strike by starving out the miners, possibly forcing large numbers of them out of the camps and then importing scab labor.
B.C. labor must not allow such an occurrence. The operators must be forced to come to terms on the realistic and completely justifiable demands of the mine workers.
The Prince Rupert Local of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union has set an example, followed by the Vancouver Local of the UFAWU, in how to assist these men financially. This is the main need, financial aid, but the miners also need the voice of large numbers of B.C. citizens to speak out to our government for settlement of the dispute and a change in the Mines Department ruling that miners are excluded from the government's recent legislative amendment providing for a 44-hour work week in the remainder of B.C. industry.
Fishermen and shoreworkers should speak out vehemently against this injustice to workers in another basic industry.
despair atad anger, they are huddled in a small wire cage in the prow of the Empire Heywood. Yesterday afternoon I saw the m transferred from the Four Freedoms, a tiny illegal immigrant carrier, to the Heywood two miles from the Haifa shore. For the human derelicts aboard the refuge ship, and for those who witnssed the transfer, it was a day of horror. I boarded
seen other such ships, bit their
the refugee ship in midafternoon. As the press launch drew near the ship I heard cries and wailing. The transfers were made over a barge lashed between the Four Freedoms and the Heywood. Our first sight was a young Jew held by two soldiers. He struggled free, tearing his shirt from his chest, and shouted, "Kill me! Don't send me away! My mother and father are gone. I was in a concentration camp for seven years. Kill me here!"
The refugees were taken over the side of the Four Freedoms on a special ramp. Most of them had to be carried. Under the ramp, scores lay in delirium shouting, "Water!" "Water!" I saw many men actually collapse. Women lay about like dead bodies. Children were calling for the mothers they may never see again. I saw men try to drown themselves, heard shrieks of those refusing to be sent to Cyprus^ I heard the moans of pregnant women who had to be moved on stretchers. I spoke with the refugees aboard the Four Freedoms, and was told stories that could not be printed, and would not be believed if they were.
A group broke through the guard and rushed towards the press party, pleading with outstretched arms "Give us water! We have had no water for four days." One man flung himself over the side of the barge, and was pulled back by his mates by force. On the other side of the barge, a crowd of refugees .with raised fists began to chant "Heil Hitler! Heil Bevin!" It was a macabre scene.
Those already in the wire cage aboard the Heywood looked down on men and women weeping shamelessly. Those being taken over the side of the Four Freedoms staggered and fell, and crawled on their hands and knees. Amidst the moaning of three hundred sick and starved souls, sc little boy threw his arms around the commanding officer of the operation and wept, "They have taken my mother to the hospital, and are sending us to Cyprus. Four of us children have lived without our mother in a concentration camp. We can't live without her any more." I went aboard the Four Freedoms between lines of desperate men and women who pulled at my trousers and arms moaning "Save us! Dear God, do something!" Hardened newspaper men who have
lips and watched with embarrassed futility.
I spoke with scores of refugees aboard the ship, which is a mere coastal vessel. They all had concentration camp numbers tattooed on their arms. They came from Poland, Germany, Hungary, Austria, etc. Husbands and wives clung together, weeping. They told the story of the twelve-day
Doctors Not Needed.. Use Reader's Digest
IJ N I T E D STATES Narcotics Commissioner H. J. Anslinger has denounced a June Reader's Digest story entitled "God's Own Medicine—1946," advocating a drug named Demerol as a non-habit-forming painkiller. Anslinger writes in the American Medical Association Journal that the Digest story is untrue, that American Public Health doctors found that the drug causes addiction just as morphine does. Demerol has now been classified as a habit-forming narcotic despite the "authoritative" Reader's Digest which has been proved just as phoney on other medical matters and also on many a political question.
Anslinger, in his article, warned doctors not to believe the quackery of Reader's Digest, rather to place their trust in au-
journey, with insufficient water from the beginning, and none at all the last four days. One hundred and sixty pregnant women were on board, and there were two miscarriages during the trip. One-third of all the refugees were ill. They said a British cruiser intereepted them two days before and ordered them to follow into Haifa. When they refused, they claimed the British tried to board them, but were beaten off. Then two destroyers came alongside and turned hoses on the refugees, who say many were hurt. The deck and railings were twisted, and the bow smashed in. We saw clear evidence of fighting.
The refugees said machine gun fire opened across their bows, and pointed to the bullet holes in the deck and aftercabin. Six refugees jumped overboard and were brought back. Two more jumped over, and were not found. Dressed in rags, only a few of the refugees I talked to could stand. Many of them had relatives in Palestine. The deck was a soggy mass of blankets, rags and food wreckage.
Some refugees couldn't believe they would really be sent away, hoping that some miracle would gain them entry into Palestine. There were no miracles. As the press launch moved away, they were still being carried over the sides. The last we saw of them were silent faces pressed against the wire cage on the Heywood. The last we heard was weeping and wailing floating across the peaceful Mediterranean.
thentic government file records.
^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiniiira
| Building Our Union
1 By TOM PARKIN
■
taiiiMiiiiiiiiM
» WOMAN who was living in a
" hotel at San Francisco employed a Chinese boy. She asked: "What's your name?"
"Fu Yu Tsin Mei,' he replied. "Your name  is  too  long; I'll call you John."
The Chinese boy looked surprised. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Mrs. Elmer Edward MacDon-ald."
"Your name is too long; I'll call you Charlie."
* * *
ASKINNY, hatchet-faced spinster attending a Hollywood garden party, gazed out upon the incredibly beautiful landscape and gushed, "Oh, I just love nature!"
Groucho Marx overheard. "That's   loyalty,"   he quipped, "after what nature did to her!"
* * * /H5CKNEY woman charged with « assaulting her husband): I asked .'im if 'e loved me, and 'e was so long thinkin' about it that I 'it 'im with a mop.
* * *
AFOUR-YEAR-OLD boy, very anxious to have a drum, made the following prayer just before Christmas: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I want a drum, I pray the Lord, I want a drum, my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I want a drum."
* ★ *
"T|OC," said the old mountain-" eer, leading a gangling youth into the presence of the village medico, "I want you should fix up my son-in-law. I shot him in the leg yesterday and lamed him up a mite."
"Tut, tut," clucked the doctor disapprovingly, "shame on you for shootimj your own son-in-law !"
"Wal, doc," rejoined the mountaineer, "he warn't my son-in-law when I shot him."
* * * BRONC BUSTERS WANTED
TWO bronco busters. Must be able to ride and rope perfectly, use their own horses, for purpose of rounding up wild oysters.
Apply: Bob McKay, Porlier Pass.
Fighting Race Prejudice
Avrom, noted Canadian labor cartoonist and artist, finishes a painting which later appeared on a float in a Toronto Labor Day parade.    §ections of organized Labor in Eastern Canada cooperating with the   Workers'   Educational   Association, are opening a campaign directed specifically against racial discrimination.
JJACK in Vancouver again after a successful trip on the Mistral with only one regret. Some of the canneries were not contacted owing to the late start and the pressure of work at this end which required a hurried return. Canneries which we passed up were Klemtu in the North and Redonda Bay, closer to home. The Skeena plants and Butedale were contacted by the Secretary and Business Agent and time did not permit Fred and myself making a repeat call. Plants which we were able to visit, however, are very well organized and a great deal of credit is due the shop stewards who have done a fine job of contacting and signing up many new members.
This has been an unusual year insofar as negotiations are concerned. Since January when they i were opened for the fresh fish workers in Prince Rupert, there has not been a single month when negotiations have not been in progress for some section of the industry. The results however, have been highly successful with real gains registered in every section. Organization has also progressed, particularly among the women workers and the Chinese. The Great Northern Cannery is now approaching the 100 percent mark with Imperial Cannery running a close second. The Great West. Cannery has also joined our ranks recently, thanks to the assistance of two active union members, Herman Bowing and Bert Taylor. A newcomer this year is the recently formed Fraser Valley Can-r.ers Ltd., a branch of Westminster Canners, where all of the male workers joined the union in a group. Most of the boys at this plant are ex-servicemen and all are very pro-union.
At the Great Northern Cannery, the union has lost a staunch shop steward, Stella Michaloski, who has left the industry. The crew had a farewell party for Stella which to all accounts was a huge success. Betty Baron has taken her place and in the short period as shop steward she has signed up practically all the women workers who were still unorgan-
ized. Jim Venus, chief shop steward, and the entire committee at Great Northern are to be congratulated for a really fine job. The agreement which will be signed at their plant-shortly will justify the work they have done.
At the Imperial Cannery, negotiations are underway and a good deal of progress has been made. Here the high degree of organization achieved during the past month has been the result of hard work by John Retallick and his committee. Latest reports show the fresh fish and cold storage crew almost 100 percent organized, the cannery women about 75 percent and the warehouse crew coming along fast. The union is definitely at Imperial to stay.
There is still a great deal of work needed to completely organize   the   industry  but  a strong foundation has been laid. Next year,  most  of  the negotiations will be conducted at the same time which will give more opportunity to union officers and organizers to keep in closer contact with the plants and give more direct help to the shop stewards.
t\N the Canadian iat>or rront at v present, the Trades and Labor Congress convention holds first place in the trade union news. The eyes of every AF of L trade unionist will be directed to Windsor, Ontario, where the convention will take place this month, for decisions reached at this convention will determine the character of our movement during the successive twelve month period. Because of wartime transit problems, no convention was held in 1945 and many emergency problems will face the delegates this year. One of prime importance to all of us is the matter of increasing interference by the AF of L Executive Council in the States into the affairs of our congress. While we welcome the close cooperation of our American brothers and sisters, I believe Canadian trade unionists will agree that we must have autonomy here in Canada to decide our own policies without unwarranted interference from AF of L Presi-
dent Green and his council. President Percy Bengough of the Trades Congress has indicated his alarm in the convention call this year by urging affiliated unions to resist efforts of the AF of L executive to disrupt our Congress. I am convinced that any efforts to have the International Association of Machinists expelled from Canadian Trades Councils because of a dispute across the line, will meet with strong opposition from B.C. delegates and certainly from those representing the UFAWU.
Another matter coming up for discussion will be the question of affiliation to the World Federation of Trade Unions, (WFTU). At the 1944 convention in Toronto, the Congress voted in favor of affiliation and because of strong opposition from the AF of L in the States this decision was never carried out. The AF of L is the only major labor organization in the world which is not yet affiliated to the WFTU and the only excuse they have offered is that they will not participate in any organization which has representation from the USSR trade union movement. This reactionary stand taken by William Green and his council does not reflect the opinions of the rank and file unionist in my opinion, since many of them have openly condemned his position. It is my earnest desire to see the Congress convention again on record as in favor of active participation with the WFTU.
Each year the convention deals with some 300 to 500 resolutions sent in by the local unions across Canada. It is impossible for the Congress to carry out all of the approved resolutions as many will deal with legislation and other matters under the control of the Federal Government. Each one, however, is taken up and every effort is made to convince the government of their merits, and each year new gains are registered for Canadian workers. We have a good Congress but only the interest which we demonstrate in its affairs will guarantee its continuing as a progressive force in  Canadian life.