March 26, 1940.
THE FISHE RM AN
Page Five
Meetings
PACIFIC COAST FISHERMEN'S UNION.
Fraser River District Council meets the second Saturday of every month in Room 22, Hart Block, New Westminster, at 1 p.m.
Vancouver Local No. 1, meets the first and third Fridays of each month at 7:30 in the Union Headquarters, 164 East Hastings St.
New Westminster Local No. 2, holds their regular meetings on the first and third Saturdays of every month at 2 p.m. in Room 22, Hart Block, New Westminster.
Landing Local No. 3 first Sunday of every
Gibson's meets the month. -
Local 19, Whonnock, meets every second and fourth Sunday of the month, at 2 p.m.
Astoria Brother Heard From
Editor's Note.—The following letter was received by a member of the P.C.F.U. here and we have been given permission to print it as it Is felt to be of Interest to all fishermen on this coast to know what's doing south of the border.
Tou Have The Floor'
This page 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 do not necessarily reflect the policy of
The Fisherman.
Both the Auxiliary and Local of the North Arm Fraser River will meet on the first and third Tuesdays of every month at the home of Fred Barclay until further not-(
ioe.
Fish Handlers branch will hold a meeting on March 21st at 7 p.m., 164 E. Hastings Street All those interested are urged to attend.
SALMON PURSE SEINERS UNION.
Regular meetings of the union will be held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at 7 p.m. at 164 E, Hastings Street
UNITED FISHERMEN'S FEDERAL UNION, LOCAL 44
Every Friday at 7:30 p.m. Local 44 hold their regular meetings at 164 E. Hastings Street.
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Dear Brother:
We are doing some re-organization in the P.C.F.U. over here. The injunction that was granted the Packers against us was a severe blow as far as organization work is concerned. Many of our members gave up hope, other weak sisters took this opportunity to refuse to pay dues. Another drawback was our change of affiliation, as is always the case. Some members rebelled at belonging to a CIO organization, although it was plain to all that we received no support from the AFL.
I will mail a copy of our new organization plan as soon as it is complete. Under this plan we will establish a council of fishermen,
shoremen. Locals will affiliate direct to the International, State Industrial Union Councils, State Federations, and etc., paying their own capita tax. They will pay all their own committee men, instead of sending in their money to headquarters, they will administer their own funds. A certain amount will be set aside to administer the affairs of the council. All in all, I think the locals will be better satisfied. Since the first of the year I have been acting Secretary, with no salary. We still maintain our office in Astoria.
Our spring fishing has started. We contacted the buyers some time ago, but they were not at all interested, thinking that as long as we had this injunction hanging over us that we would be forced to meet any terms offered. However, we are now marketing our own fish through a Union clearing house. This costs us three and two-fifths cents per pound and includes ice, dockage, state tax, labor and commissions. So far it is very successful, realizing twenty-one and twenty-three cents per pound. We do not expect this price to be maintained when fish become plentiful. Immediately after we started to function, the buyers offered sixteen cents straight, but with no assurance how long they would maintain this price, and, of course, open shop conditions.
I receive the Fisherman and keep posted on what you fellows are doing in Canada. The fishermen are to be congratulated on the success of this paper. It shows a lot more progressiveness than we have here.
Best regards to the P.C.F.U. brothers in Canada. Write and let me know how things are going. Geo. Bambrick,
Sec. P.C.F.U., Astoria, Ore.
Wants One Price For Dogs
Editor, The Fisherman:
I am writing on behalf of this local in River's Inlet to the membership of the P.C.F.U. with a voice of protest against the majority of our fellow members who come here to fish sockeye. When the sockeye season is done you leave for the south. We, a minority, a few fellow members, paying as much and struggling as hard, do not go south for the fall fishing. We are organized here 95%. Although a small membership, we are sincere. A lot of the members are married and have been here
Hibernating, Are We?
for years. We pay the same for our nets and more for our grub. We get 6c for a dog salmon and
■you (lovm sovrth oi "the Sound get
30c. How is it that there is this big spread between prices?
What we want is for you not to leave us here, a mere handful, to fight these prices alone. Get behind us and help us. Don't pass the buck and say we are not properly organized here. We have the best dog salmon and the biggest on the coast.
We want the P.C.F.U. to get behind us and get the same for dogs all over. Some of the oldest members fish here every fall. There are not many cohoes to get but if we could get the same for dog salmon as the rest of the P.C.F.U. members south of here, we might survive.
Morehouse says nobody asked last year for a raise and if you do you are a Red or Bolshevik or what not. Show him we will ask for a raise and try to get it I see they are working for a pound basis again. Well, alright, if we can get around 12c a pound. There is no use getting any less. The average sockeye is four pounds.
Full Membership Rivers' Inlet
Local P.C.F.U.
Editor, The Fisherman:
I would like to comment on the charge coming from Hornby Island and printed in "The Fisherman," that the Deep Bay Local of the P.C.F.U. is "hibernating."
The Hornby Islanders comprise a large part of the membership of this local, and since last blueback season not one of them has appeared at a meeting.
Last fall a meeting was called, and Hornby notified, but on the date the weather was so bad it would be impossible for the islanders to come, and the meeting was postponed until November, when delegates for the Convention could be elected. The weather was fine
to tWa, tort, stttt.™ Hatatoj. ftt I ^ cover (except ia on, or two Iso
Let's Get Together Under One Charter
Editor, The Fisherman:
I was just thinking we, in the fishing industry, have the strongest organization in Canada. I say one of the strongest organizations because we really are one organization.
We have the halibut, pilchard, herring seiners, salmon seiners, trollers, gillnetters, etc., each a separate group with different problems confronting them, yet we find in several instances two or more of these groups have formed one organization.
For instance, the trollers and gillnetters in the Pacific Coast Fishermen's Union; halibut, herring, pilchard seiners, and tender men in the United Fishermen's Union.
Now it should be simple enough to go another step forward and bring these groups of two and three imto one big group.
It is not as if these groups were encroaching on each other's fields. They all have their own grounds
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Editor, The Fisherman:
As the latest edition of "The Fisherman" is now several days overdue, I think it fairly safe to assume my copy must have been destroyed in the fire resulting from the railway crash on the C.P.R. last Friday morning near Calgary.
If you have a spare copy, I would be very glad if you would kindly let me have one, as I desire not to miss any particular item of information which may be of use to me in deciding for or against operating a "Gillnetter" or "Troll-er* on the Pacific c6ast.
Now that the question of "Cooperatives" is coming to the fore, as it rightly should and must, what about getting down to the question of the Fisherman operating their own cannery?
I know I'm not in the union yet, as I'm not yet fishing; but I sure would like to see some articles on this very important matter. Congratulations on the recent signs of development and expansion; not only of the Fishermen's union movement in general but also in the union publication "The Fisherman."
Wishing all fishermen a much better season this year, and much greater speed towards co-operation,
David M. Waddington, Winnipeg, Man.
lows came and our delegates had to be elected by our 7 or 8 Deep Bay stand-bys.
We tried again in January, and managed to pick a fair day, but still not one Hornby-ite appeared. At the time, headquarters had asked for a vote on a certain resolution, so after the meeting I copied out the resolution and sent it to Hornby, with a consensus of the Deep Bay ideas on the subject, asking that they send me their opinion to enclose with my minutes to Secretary Hill. They never even replied.
Last month we held a short informal meeting, but since we had no special business, and only our usual half dozen or so were present, I made no minutes.
This Sunday, with price negotiations getting near, we held another meeting. John Larson had made a special call at Hornby Wharf to inform the members there personally. The day come fine and calm, and two or three of the Hornby members were actually in Deep Bay in the morning, yet at the meeting in the afternoon, not one Hornby Island man was present. !
How does Hornby Island expect us to be "active" with this kind of encouragement, topped off with letters from them to "The Fisherman" about "no meetings?" Dennis Harrold, Sec. Local 11 (Deep Bay).
lated instances)
It seems to me we just got to wake each other up, because if we were all operating under one charter we could still maintain our own executives and individual bylaws to deal with our particular problems facing our own phase of the industry; yet when we met the operator we would be a mass organization.
—SCOTTY.
Shelter Huts Very Necessary On Coast
Any fishermen or mariners who have been fishing or have travelled in and around the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands, will endorse any move to establish shelter huts. All will say that they are desirable and necessary along the B.C. west coast shore line. There is not one inhabitant or settlement on the west side of the Queen Charlotte Islands from Cape St. James to North Island. The shore is steep and rugged. To walk overland to the east side is only possible in a very few places, and this would mean perhaps weeks before one could get anywhere. A number of shipwrecks have occurred. Some boats have completely vanished. Many believe the ships' crews have made shore, then perished.
Opinions On Scab Question
Editor, The Fisherman:
A note to voice my opinion as "Unionist," whose letter appeared in the last issue of The Fisherman, wants to hear from other members on the scab question.
I agree with him and so do many others who took the attitude at the P.C.F.U. convention to put the scabs back in good standing did not by any means get the voice of many a rank and file fisherman.
In this local at Provincial P.O., we have them scabs being put in with a protest by some and it seems that we have no vote on it
A great danger of this scab issue is especially in a small local out in the backwoods. In the winter months lots of members cannot get to the meetings and as happened recently when our former president resigned, we-very nearly had a scab elected in his place.
We knew the scab well and I will say that he is no credit but is more of a black eye to our organization.
It seems there are a few fellows at the head of this union that have been clamoring for this ever since the strike. I believe this issue should have been put to a full membership vote. It doesn't seem right to see a scab in our organization.
We had a good clean record before. Now you look around with doubt and think, "Is that the fellow that gave evidence against me when I was arrested for being on, picket duty during such and such a strike?" *
This note is from a rank and file fisherman, one of the F.C.W.I.U. first members, and I am willing to exchange letters with any guy who is in favor of the scab joining the P.C.F.U. I think I can show him 10 times to his one, where they never should have been allowed in until after some good labor dispute when they showed their metal as a union man.
—P.C.F.U. Member.
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Another Opinion Of Credit Unions
Editor, The Fisherman:
I notice that a lot of your space lately has to do with Credit Unions. I have been doing a lot of talking to myself on the matter and decided I wouldn't talk to myself any more but put it on paper for a change.
Well, I guess the first thing to do is to introduce myself. I have held a gillnet licence here in B.C. for the last 20 years. Also during this time I have dug clams, cod-fished, trolled, salmon seined and herring seined. During the past 8 years I have only gill-netted in the sockeye season and the remainder of the year I have been trying to secure some of my needs from the land.
I am a member of the largest co-op in B.C., "Surrey Co-operative Ass'n." At our annual meeting of Feb., 1939, we had a very thorough discussion on Credit Unions. We had all official dope on hand from the B.C. Government pertaining to Credit Unions. The result of this long discussion was Credit Unions were turned down flat.
So, after being convinced in my own mind that Credit Unions have a tendency to add one more worry to the working man and helps keep his mind off the main issue. That issue should be a higher price for fish.
Some may ask how are we going to get a higher price tor fish? My answer is read and study the article in the Fisherman of March 12th, "Purse Seiners' Union Issues Statement." This article is signed by the Executive Board, Salmon Purse Seiners Union, Local 141. For those who haven't had the chance to read the above-mentioned article, just remember the old saying, United we stand and divided we fall.
—A. Eyton.
FPU Establish Fish Clearing House
The dispute which caused a walk-out of Columbia River winter gill-netters, was ended by the establishment of a fish clearing house of the Columbia River Fishermen's Protective Union at Astoria, with all fish below Puget Sound being brought in.
All profits from sales after expenses are deducted is to be shared among the fishermen.
The fishermen walked out when the buyers cut the prices of salmon and steelhead to 13c and 8c. They demanded prices of 15 and 10 cents.
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