Page Two
THE FISHERMAN
October 12, 1943
THE
FISHERMAN
Published Every Tuesday by The Fisherman Publishing Society at 138 East Cordova Street, Vancouver, B.C. Telephone MArine 1829. Subscription Rates: One Year, $1.50; Six Months, 80c. Make All Payments to: THE FISHERMAN PUBLISHING SOCIETY Advertising Rates on Application.
Company Unions
Company Unions Dissolved in U.S.—Upheld in B.C.
By Pacific Coast Labor Bureau, Vancouver
A sharp contrast to B.C. Labor Minister Pearson's refusal to prosecute Electro-Weld Metal Products Ltd. is the recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, as quoted in the July issue of the Labor Gazette. $90,000 COMPANY UNION DUES REFUNDED. •
Mr. Justice Murphy found for a majority of six U.S. judges that not only must proven company unions in the United States be dissolved but that employees of such employer-dominated unions must refund all dues. This ruling was handed down in a case involving an electric power company with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. The judges of the Supreme Court found that in order to carry out the intent of the Wagner Act the company union must not only be dissolved but that $90,000 collected over a period of five years must be refunded by the company to its employees.
Justice Murphy quoted the board as finding that the company concerned had agreed to give "its creature" closed shop and check-off privileges in order to entrench the union and insure its financial stability. "Thus," he continued, "as a price of employment they were required by the company to support an illegal organization which foreclosed their rights to freedom of organization and collective bargaining." Judge Murphy then went on to say that the reimbursement order "returns to the employees what has been taken from them to support an organization not of their own choice and places the burden upon the company whose unfair labor practices brought about this situation." DEPENDS ON WHO DOES "INTIMIDATING."
Organized labor in British Columbia felt that it had won quite a • victory when the ICA Act was passed by the Provincial Legislature. Section 7(1) which is pertinent to company unionism in B.C. reads as follows:
"Any person who by intimidation, threat of loss of position or employment, or by actual loss of position or employment, or by any other threat, seeks to compel any person to join or refrain from joining any organization or to refrain from becoming an officer of any association shall be guilty of an offence, and liable to a fine of not more than five hundred dollars."
The brief of the Boilermakers' Union to the Attorney-General's Department showed unmistakable and positive evidence to the effect that the employees of Electro-Weld were intimidated into joining the company-dominated union. Unless of course Attorney-General Mait-land considers that the threat of being fired or laid off from the job* is not intimidation!
Mr. Pearson says that the above-quoted section is, or "appears to be, ultra vires." By this he means that Section 502-A of the Criminal Code —which is federally administered—has precedence. Thus this and other clauses of the ICA Act dealing with this matter are completely nullified and the Act becomes nothing but meaningless but high-sounding phrases as far as labor is concerned.
Not only does Section 7(1) deal with company unionism, but as well. Section 6(2) says in straightforward words:
"It shall be unlawful for any employer to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any organization of employees or to contribute financial or other support to it." PEARSON MUST FIGHT FOR I.C.A. ACT.
Presumably when Labor Minister Pearson incorporated these words into the revised ICA Act he was acting in good faith. Indeed he has even criticized B.C. employers for not acting in good faith with their employees at all times. We would not want to believe that Mr. Pearson wrote these words with his tongue in his cheek or with the knowledge that the first employer the unions prosecuted under what they thought was a hard-won privilege could simply escape responsibility by a statement from the Attorney-General's department invalidating these sections of the Act.
If Mr. Pearson is to retain the confidence of labor he can insist that the Act for which he claimed so much credit shall be made effective and that the employers of B.C. be forced to recognize the legal rights of labor. But whether or not Mr. Pearson fights as he should to legalize his government's legislation it appears that the united forces of B.C. labor intend to see to it that from now on they are not kicked around like an old boot, but receive every right to which they are so clearly entitled.
'You Have The Floor'
This column is open to all readers, organized and unorganized. The Editorial Board requests all letters be signed. Signatures will be published unless otherwise stated. Letters should not be more than 200 words in length. Letters to the editor to do necessarily reflect the policy of
The Fisherman.
Readers Suggest Union Take Action To Stop Illegal Fishing Practices
Editor, The Fisherman: In these days of struggle and strife most of us go around with a "chip on the shoulder," or "an axe to grind."
What has been getting me down is the number of illegal fish that have been caught on the Fraser River this season.
It seems the situation has become serious for the Fisheries Patrol, which in my estimation constitutes a deplorable condition, all the more so since some of the offenders display a union plate on their boats and some are believed to hold official positions in their union local.
It is hard to understand offenders when they will join a union which fs based on equality and betterment for all and then go into their net house and leave their nets down deeper than the regulations prescribe, to get a few lousy fish that don't belong to them. Or the ones that go out to fish Saturday and Sunday nights during the closed week-end and then slink away and hide the fish in bags in the grass, in scows and in net houses, and then come out Monday morning with a union plate on their boat and a slimy smirk on their faces.
I am going to make it my business to try and get a by-law passed by the union with power to deal with all such offenders with a fine
Editor, The Fisherman: As the Department of Fisheries has a bigger area to control than they can handle, there has been a considerable amount of illegal fishing going on and I would propose that this matter should be taken up by the United Fishermen's Union locals.
I would propose that one out of every ten members of the United Fishermen's Union be appointed to act as an honorary guardian, that is, the fishermen should agree that the three main items they should look after should be: fishing on the closed nights of the week, the use of deep nets and the catching of fish above the boundaries to be trucked into canneries. They would not bother with small petty offenses, such as setting out a net a few minutes before time or after time and so forth.
I suggest that this matter be discussed seriously in all locals so that resolutions might be prepared for our annual convention at which time a thorough discussion could be held and a general policy adopted by the whole union. A FRASER RIVER FISHERMAN.
or suspension or both.
For progress, unity and fraternity.
J. H. McFALLS, New Westminster, B.C.
Shark Skins Wanted For Glove Tests
The Navy is planning to use skins of sharks including dogfish to make gloves for seamen handling ice-covered or greasy cables.
This information has been received from the Banting & Best Department of Medical Research in Toronto which is now conducting research on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy Medical Research Unit in the tanning of shark skins. If the tanned material is found suitable it may possibly be also used as an outer layer on the sole of boots used by seamen on slippery decks covered with ice and snow.
Tanned shark skins are expected to make excellent gloves for this purpose due to their natural roughness and satisfactory waterproof qualities.
While the Banting & Best Department of Medical Research is attending to the arrangements for the tanning of the skins, an appeal for assistance in obtaining samples of hide from each of the various species of sharks found in our coastal waters has been sent by the department to the Pacific Fisheries Experimental Station in Vancouver and in turn Dr. Neil M. Carter, station director, asks fishermen to provide such samples to the experimental station.
The whole hide or at least a large enough section to permit the
Dr. Finn Flies Back To Ottawa
Dr. D.. B. Finn, deputy minister of fisheries, has flown back to Ottawa after a brief visit to Vancouver last week. While in the city he discussed arrangements for this year's herring pack with the companies concerned. It is understood that the request was made that the Dominion government permit the release of a quantity of herring packed in oval cans for the domestic market this year
Last year the total herring pack of over a million and a quarter cases was purchased by the British Food Ministry. Later 87,000 cases were released for domestic markets but all of these were tall tins.
SOUP-FIN SHARK
BLUE SHARK
DOGFISH
SLEEPER SHARK
manufacture of a few trial pairs of gloves is required. The hides should be cleaned of flesh as much as possible and thoroughly salted down while being transported to Vancouver for delivery to the experimental station at 898 Richards Street, Vancouver.
Care should be taken to properly identify the species of shark from which the hide is secured so that if one type of hide proves more suitable than another the exact type of shark from which it was taken will be known.
The likelihood is that quite large quantities of shark hides would be needed if the experiment is succes-ful, so that an additional source of income would thus be provided for fishermen.
Little difficulty is expected in obtaining samples of dog fish skins, therefore samples from other species of shark are particularly desired by the experimental station.
For the information of our readers we are reprinting on this page diagrams showing the different species of shark found in B.C. waters and also a diagram and article on the best method of skinning a shark which appeared in the January issue of Western Fisheries and is reproduced here with the kind permission of that magazine.
Shark Identification
The following key may be used for the identification of the nine sharks reported up to the present time as occurring in the waters along the British Columbia coast. The key consists of a series of alternative statements. Where one statement does not apply to the specimen at hand, the alternative statement indicated by the double letter must apply. For example, in the case of the dogfish, A does not apply, but AA does; under AA, C does not apply, but CC does; under CC, H applies and the identification is complete. In the case of the mud shark, A applies and therefore the alternates B and BB must he considered. It will be found that BB applies and the identification is complete.
A One fin on back, gill openings 6 or 7.
Gill openings 7 _.........._....................................... Spotted cow shark
Gill openings 6..........................__________..................................... Mud shark
B BB AA C
Two fins on back, gill openings 5. ANAL FIN PRESENT.
D Anal fin twice as large as first back fin........_____
DD Anal fin smaller than first back fin.
E A keel on each side of body near tail fin.
Cat shark
FF
Gill openings moderate, about %
depth of side of body........................ Mackerel shark
Gill openings very large, almost complete depth of side............
Basking shark
EE No keel on side of body.
G Front paired fins broad and short,
tail fin stout; spiracles present .... Soup-fin shark
GG Front paired fins long and narrow,
tail fin slender; spiracles absent............Blue shark
CC ANAL FIN ABSENT.
H A stout spine in front of each fin on back------------ Dogfish
HH No spine in front of either fin on back ... Sleeper shark
How to Skin a Shark
SKINNING A SHARK
A—Top view of the shark. The mottled portion on the snout shows the pores—cut here. Split down the back, also cut on the dotted lines around the side, past tthe eye and to the pectoral fins, as clearly shown. The two holes are made by removal of the 1st and 2nd dorsal fins. The rear hole is the "knob" found on the shark near the tail. Cut dotted line on tail as shown.
B—Side view: Cut along the dotted line shown by the side of the head. Cut in a curve and leave no flesh, as shown by the dotted line at the base of each fin. The tail cut and tail fin cut are shown. C—Trim the hide as shown by the dotted lines around the ventral and anal fin holes. Trim off at dotted line, marked by X.
D— Head aps, chin flap and tail flaps are felded in the length along the belly line.
The work of skinning the shark is generally done on a platform over the water, such as a dock, or the deck of a boat. In taking off the hide, it is split along the back of the shark (not on the belly, as in the case with cow hides). It takes about 15 minutes to skin an average size shark, and about 10 minutes to flesh the hide, depending on the experience and skill of skinners and fleshers. Wet salted hides are preferable.
SKINNING THE SHARK.
Methods are shown in the accompanying sketch. The stripped hide should be well washed in sea water, removing all blood and slime. If the hide is brined down overnight in a barrel it facilitates the fleshing of the hide. A brine can be made of 7% pounds of salt to 25 gallons of water. Or you can flesh the hide when you take it from the shark. This is usually done with a "beaming knife," a curved blade with a handle on each end. The board the hide is cleaned on should be smooth and kept clear of foreign material which form lumps and which of course might cause holes to be made in the hide as the beaming knife is worked over it. After fleshing and trimming the hide it must be washed thoroughly in salt water, and salted for curing. On an inclined board the hide is sprinkled generously with salt; another hide piled on top and salted in the same manner. After not more than six days the hides are shook free of salt, re-salted on the flesh side, the hides folded in e flat, square bundle of each hide, with the flesh side in, so that the salt does not fall out, and then baled up with burlap sacking for shipment to the tannery.
If there are enough shark fishermen interested then connections might be made for something along the line of cooperative marketing and shipping.