Salmon Certifiers Make Price Offer; Union Fishermen Ballot On Terms
May 26 Voting Deadline
Salmon fishermen in all union locals will be asked to vote for or against acceptance of a price offer received by the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union and the Native Brotherhood of B.C. yesterday from the Salmon Canners' Operating Committee.
At a negotiating meeting Thursday, the Salmon Canners' Operating Committee presented in written form their reply to the union's demand for a price increase of one cent per pound across the board on all species of salmon. In their answer, the SCOC offered certain price increases.
After discussing this offer, members of the negotiating committee decided to place it before all union members concerned at special meetings to be called within the next ten days.
The committee decided that prices offered by the operators would not be made public until after UFAWU members have had the opportunity to discuss and vote upon them. Secret ballots will be taken at all the local meetings to decide whether or not the offer will be accepted.
Rejection of the offer, it was decided by the negotiating committee, will mean authorizing the committee to announce strike action by all salmon fishermen when the sockeye fishing season opens. This will be explained in the ballot
Acceptance would mean the settlement of salmon price questions for 1946, and only other aspects of the agreement would remain to be negotiated.
It was also decided that ballots would be counted in each local by a special balloting committee and totalled at headquarters.
All locals must have voted on or before Sunday, May 26, and must immediately communicate the vote to headquarters of the union.
A further negotiating meeting with the operators is planned for Tuesday afternoon, May 28, at 2 o'clock.
Ballots and instructions on voting procedure will be mailed over the weekend to all locals with special appeal that all members be urged to turn out and vote.
Each local is, of course, expected to arrange its own meeting and already it is definitely known that Sunbury will meet this Sunday evening while Albion meets this Thursday at 7:30 in the evening. Vancouver local has a meeting set for next Thursday at 7:30 in the Fishermen's Hall, and Steveston will probably meet the same day.
Only union members will be permitted to participate in the voting. Any non-union man wishing to have his voice heard, must immediately. JOIN THE UNION
The Native Brotherhood will be placing the submission before its members this coming week. The two organizations, which have been meeting jointly, will continue to act in conjunction with one another.
In presenting their proposed prices to the Union, the operators stated that the increases offered are due to discussion and deliberation and are the result of "a serious effort ... to avoid delay in production." The prices, they state, represent the "maximum," which they are able to offer to the fishermen.
Fish Prices
Following fish prices obtained at Campbell Avenue Dock on Thursday, May 16, at Vancouver:
White Spring Salmon ..... 12c lb.
Bed Spring Salmon:
Large .;.................. 24c lb.
Medium ................. 21c lb.
Small ................... 14c lb.
Flounders (in round) .... 2c lb.
Soles ...................... 5c lb.
Dogfish Livers:
(Mainly bought on test)
West Coast ............. 25c lb.
Grey Cod Livers .......... 4c lb.
Fresh Grey Cod (dressed) 5c lb. Ling Cod (dressed, headed) 10c lb. Gillnet Herring .......... 6c lb.
The TEfherm&n
Representing The Organized Fishermen And Shoreworkers of British Columbia
Vol. VIII. No. 16.
(335)
VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, MAT 17, 1946
East End Printers.
2303 E. Hastings St. PRICE: OC
• Here are a few action shots of the crew at Great Northern Caiyiery listening to some facts about the UFAWU being presented by Organizer Tom Parkin speaking from the running board of the car below. In the shot alongside, with the fierce "no admittance" sign behind them, are Organizers Fred Olsen and Homer Stevens. A few moments after these pictures were taken, employees present voted unanimously to become members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union.
TENDERMEN REJECT WAGE PROPOSAL
Ask $2 A Day Increase For All As Alternative To Poundage {Bonus
At a special meeting in the Fishermen's Hall last Saturday afternoon, salmon tendermen members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union voted to reject proposed wage increases ranging from $9.50 to $13 per month offered by the operators in lieu of a requested one dollar per thousand pounds of salmon packed.
Qreat Northern Cannery Workers Vote For UFAWU
"One hundred percent for joining the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union." That was the sentiment expressed by some 75 men #and women employees of Francis Millerd's Great Northern Cannery last Tuesday at a noon-hour meeting attended by organizers of the union and addressed by shore workers' spokesman Tom Parkin. One of the very few remaining
canneries not yet organized, Great Northern, because of this, has been a threat to employees at other B.C. operations. It was therefore decided last week that something must be done- As a result, leaflets were prepared and distributed Monday, calling for a meeting Tuesday at
12:20 during the half-hour lunch period.
Workers in the plant turned out en masse. As they came through the gate, copies of The Fisherman were handed to them with leaflets explaining the UFAWU's attempts to improve cannery conditions and
Conciliation Hearing Opens With UFAWU Brief First
Presentation of the UFAWU brief to the conciliation board now conducting sittings in Vancouver over the union shop for Atlin Fisheries and Canadian Fish and Cold Storage, both of Prince Rupert, took place Thursday with Union Business Agent Alex Gordon submitting the brief. The board is chaired by Mr.
is
J. Eades and has on it the UFAWU representative, Emil Bjarnason of the Trade Union Research Bureau, and Mr. R. L. Norman for the operators.
In the brief, which will be published next week in The Fisherman, it is pointed out that arguments used by the operators in the ad published by them in the dailies and reproduced in The Fisherman without charge, were groundless.
In refuting the operators' argument that a closed shop "requires compulsion," the brief quotes a report of a U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations, which in 1902 stated that "if a union is willing to receive any competent person into its ranks, no man may complain of being absolutely deprived of work because union men refuse to work with him so long as he fails to join the organization."
The other arguments, that the closed shop" does not respect the
democratic rights of minorities," and that "it curtails the freedom of the individual and is therefore not in the public interest," —Continued on Page 8
Fresh Bait
Fresh bait, according to letters and wires received by The Fisherman is available in the following quantities at points noted. Latest report came this week from the pond at Christie Pass.
150 tons. Granite Bay (wire received this week).
200 tons, Jap Inlet (Hunts) three weeks ago).
250 tons, Camp Bay (Re- 1 treat Pass) three weeks ago. m
150 tons Christie Pass I changed from Cramer Pass where it was previously lo- Ij cated.)
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I
steps already taken. Organizers Fred Olsen and Homer Stevens did this while Tom Parkin spoke briefly on the aims and work of the union.
When employees were asked how many wished to join the union, the answer, in the form of raised hands, was unanimous.
Chinese cannery workers in the plant are pretty well organized as the result of work done by Chinese Organizer Alfred Quan and there were already several other UFAWU members in the operation.
When volunteers for an organizing committee were asked, a dozen hands were raised and of these a committee of six was named, three men and three women-
A meeting will be arranged within the next few days and certification applied for as quickly as possible.
Instead, the tendermen decided to ask a $2 a day wage increase for all members "across the board," declaring, in the form of a motion adopted unanimously that "we propose to the operators if they are unwilling to accept the poundage bonus for tendermen, that we are prepared as an alternative to accept a wage increase of $2 per day calculated on a monthly basis.'.'
Reasons for proposing this alternative are put forward in a letter sent to the operators this week by UFAWU Secretary-Treasurer William Rigby.
"The request of the tendermen for a wage increase of $2 a day," Rigby points out, "is in line with proposals that have been submitted in many other industries to employers on the basis of increased living costs and the visible trend to further price increases in the immediate future."
Since there is no control of hours provided for tendermen this increase on an hourly basis would be considerably less than 25c an hour which such an increase would imply for industries working on an 8-hour day.
"It is highly desirable that the earnings of salmon tendermen be brought up in line with earnings of those engaged on pilchard and herring operations," Rigby declares in the letter, "and our first proposal as also our present alternative proposal are directed towards this aim, with the intention of eliminating the dissatisfaction and friction that occurs when some crews are compelled to remain on salmon operation after pilchard and later, herring fishing commence.
"The thought in mind when our first proposal for a poundage bonus and pool was submitted," he continues, "was that such an arrangement would be preferable from the viewpoint of the operators since it made higher earnings for tendermen dependent on the availability of fish during the season. It is our understanding that the reason for the rejection of this proposal by the operators is the difficulty of additional bookkeeping and accounting that it would involve.
"If as a result of further consideration, ways and means can be discovered of reAcing these difficulties or if some other basis
for poundage bonuses can be suggested by your committee, we are quite prepared to consider such proposals with an open mind in the interest of avoiding all unnecessary bookkeeping complications."
Wage increases offered by the operators are, on Class A vessels (25 to 59.9 tons) as follows:
Captain. — $10 (proposed wage $205 per month).
Engineer.—$9.50 (proposed wage $177.50 per month).
Mate—$13 (proposed wage $148 per month).
Cook - Deckhand. — $12 (pro-—Continued on Page 8
Mmmmmmmmmm
SPECIAL MEETINGS
SALMON TENDERMEN
Every Saturday 3 P.M.
Fishermen's Hall
Till Agreement Settled
VANCOUVER LOCAL
Vote on Salmon Prices Thursday, May 23 7:30 P.M.
Fishermen's Hall
LADNER LOCAL
Salmon Price Vote Sunday, May 26 7:30 p.m. Ladner Co-op Hall j
ALBION LOCAL
Vote on Salmon Prices Thursday, May 23 8 P.M.
Albion Hall
Halibut Landings Much Heavier In
Slow Prince
Here, Rupert
Only eight halibut vessels had landed trips into Vancouver up to Thursday, May 15, bringing in a total of 249,000 pounds of halibut, almost half of which went to the United Fishermen's Cooperative. Last year at the same date, 275,000 pounds had come in. Landings at Prince Rupert and
Alaskan ports, however, were heavy with last Monday seeing aiy records for the northern Canadian city shattered. Some 1,180,000 pounds were brought in; 720,000 pounds by Canadian vessels, 204,000 by five Americans and the remaining 256,000 pounds arriving'
Vancouver aboard halibut boats, it is understood that some is coming in by way of packers from fish camps.
First vessel to arrive in town was the B.C Bird on May 10, with 24,000 pounds, which went to the Co-op. Next was the Mina H on
by packer. Previous record foil May 11, with 20,000 pounds to the port was about 400,000 pounds Edmunds and Walker, less than this figure: On Monday, May 13, three boats
In addition to fish arriving in [ came in, the Barden with 20,700
Attend Your Salmon Price Meeting
pounds and the Combat, 22,000 pounds, both of them going to the United Fishermen's Co-op. Also coming in May 13 was the Kaare 2, selling its 45,000 pound catch to the Canadian Fishing Company. This was distributed to the various companies for their fresh fish outlets. The Barden had already sold a 20,500 pound trip at Namu.
The Rose N, which came in on May 14, with 40,000 pounds, sold its catch to the Canadian Fishing Company.
Also coming in on Tuesday, was the J. H. Todd, which brought her 22,000 pounds into New Westmin-
ster.
—Continued on Page 8