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National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 15

Publication:
National Posti
Location:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Issue Date:
Page:
15
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Tflue Miniainiciall Post Our Commercial Air Force Grows Up 1 War training has doubled Canada's force of trained pilots and engineers. Publication Office: Toronto, October To June 30, 1946 1 194.1 1 How to KecogMize' si Med i i The Inside Story of Hoiv Communists Keep Their Grip on Labor Unions and How 1 hey mOKmBB WU The financial at 100 licenses force By RONALD WILLIAMS How ran you tell a Communist union man from legitimate trade unionist? They look tlike. go to the same meetings. How can they be identified? This is a question of the utmost importance not only to labor leaders anxious to oust the Communists but also to businessmen who have to deal with unions. Ex-Army sergeant Emil Mazey, now an ticcutive member of the United Automobile Workers, in Detroit, has a formula which is cow a clastic in union circles.

Emil had just returned from the wars and at a meeting of a Detroit local, denounced a resolution as a piece of Communist propaganda. He went farther and called the sponsor a Communist, -How do you know I'm a Communist?" the mover of the resolution asked. "Now fellas, said Emil, turning to the meeting. "When you see a bird that walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck and hangs around with other cucks, you say, There is a At the next meeting when the same man introduced another resolution, all the non-Communists members chorused, "Quack, Quack, Quack." Denies Tarty Link If Communist-Inspired resolutions and n.ovemenU got the same reception in Canadian labor halls, the resulting quacking would make a flock of real ducks hide their Vsf! in shame It Would focus the unwel come spotlight of exposure on them, reveal wm us Soviet stooees. This is the last thing strategy behind the indorsation move, the District Trade and Labor Council endorsed Brand unanimously.

Some days later, the matter came before the CCL council. Widgor and Collins, apparently unaware of what had transpired at the AFL council and apparently having received no instruction from high, on how to vote, asked for a week's delay. The assumption is they wanted to find out party policy. However, an executive member, fully familiar with their tactics and revelling in their dilemna, advised them of the unanimous endorsation of the AFL body. This meant Lapedes had voted to support Brand which in turn should have indicated that that was party policy.

To the surprise of non-Communists, Wig-dor and Collins accepted the statement and Brand got a second unanimous endorsation. The anti-Communist faction left, patting themselves on the back at out-smarting the opposition. A few days later however, the Labor Progressive Party, indicating it had untangled the crossed lines, announced Mrs. Elizabeth Morton would contest the riding. Where this leaves Widgor, Collins and Lapedes is something that's causing chuckles in non-Communist union circles.

"This may seem like small potatoes," said one union man, but it gives you an idea of what goes on behind the scenes. Ordinarily the general public, even the most enlightened, well-informed section, have no knowledge of this manoeuvring and the constant struggle paft midale0f.the-road unionists .1 cnntrnl." to keep these people under "Unity" Plan Fails Since then the underground machine of the Communists has been at work, trying to offset the blunder by a flanking movement through a number of union locals in the Parkdale riding. One day, out of the blue, came an announcement that a committee representing six unions in the area had met and decided "in the interests of labor" to A ircraft Business Booming Sales 4 times A bove Pre-ivar Sales of Light and Medium Aircraft Quadrupled. in 1946 as Business and Professional Men Take to the Air; Manufacturers Look for More Hiisiuess as Airport Facilities Develop How can you tell a Communist union man from a legitimate trade unionist? How do 'the Communists inaintain influence even in. unions where they are heavily outnumbered? How many Communists needed to gain control of a union? What happens when the party lines are crossed? What can the average worker do to defeat -Communist influence? The accompanying article takes you behind the scenes of Canadian trades unionism to answer these and other vital questions 12, 1946 No.

41 tan Be Beaten of the United Electrical Workers who was mi-mher of the Resolutions Committee. His' union had sponsored the main anti-political action policy resolution. He wanted the resolution referred back as unrepresentative of the 11 proposals submitted on the subject. He was followed by William Mahoney, Steelworkers international representative, who created a stir by producing a newspaper ad from which he read the names of Labor Progressive and left wing trade unionists who supported the Liberals during the controversial Grey North by-election in which Gen. A.

L. McNaughton was defeated. Among those named were Jackson himself, Harry Hunter, a Jackson-appointed UEW organizer; Fred Collins; Nigel Morgan, now leader of B. LPP; George Harris, secretary of the UEW and the Ontario LPP, and Peter Dunlop of Hamilton. If leading trade unionists know who the Communists are (and they do) and are genuinely concerned for the welfare of their organizations, why don't they expose them? When the Reds are capitalizing on a tense industrial dispute, why don't responsible labor leaders speak out and tell the public what's going on? Bay St.

Gang Mainly, said a man with experience in trade unions here and in England, because such exposures would result in internal dissension and dissension always weakens labor. A labor leader's chief concern is for the welfare of his union; keeping it strong. He prefers to deal with the Communists in his own way. He feels that exposing them won't get rid of them or keep them under control. Only by constant vigilance can he outwit them.

Inside the Canadian Congress of Labor there is a never-ending struggle between anti-Communist (pro-CCF) and the Reds with the middle-of-the-road unions in the centre trying to keep peace and avoid wide- open rupture. On the CCF side is the "Bay St. gang," the militant wartime unions which have their offices at Bay and Bloor Sts. in Toronto. They are United Steel, Rubber and Packinghouse workers, besides two or three minor groups.

These are considered the most powerful groups, economically, within the Congress. On the other side are the UEW, Auto Workers, B. C. Shipyard Workers Federation, International Woodworkers and two or three small unions. Sandwiched between them are the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Em ployees, a national union headed by A.

K. Mosher, president of the CCL, and Sol Spi-vak's Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. These are the middle-of-the-road unions. They might be considered responsible politically, likely to frown on militant union action. In addition they are, unlike the young vigorous wartime unions, nonexpan-sive.

Gap Unbridgeable Evidence of the unbridgeable gap between the rival factions was the well-planned attack on President Mosher during the CCL convention. It was confirmation of previously expressed opinion that no matter what happens, labor leaders are not going to publicly expose Communist attempts to undermine them. Delegates to the CCL convention who heard the attack on Mosher for "not speaking out" on current labor issues, claim it was Communist-inspired and executed. Yet the president confined himself merely to a vehement defense of his actions. The word Communist wasn't even whispered.

But Pat Conroy, secretary-treasurer of the CCL, weary after the eight-hour debate on the political action issue, lashed out at the Communists in a general way. Said he: "The fight on this floor is between the Communist Party and the CCL. Let us speak for Canada!" Then the convention went on to re-elect Mosher as president over Communist-backed Jackson, 454-198. This is cited by unionists as confirmation of labor's argument that when the chips are down it can handle the Communists in its own way. Then, as if to reassure itself that union democracy was a living, vital thing, defeated 700-1 a move to bar Communists from executive positions.

Thus reassured, the convention immediately became realistic by electing an entire slate of non-Communists to the executive council. Jackson, elected last time, was one of the two unsuccessful Communists. Further evidence of labor's unwillingness to deal decisively with the Reds came from the rival national labor body, the Trades and Labor Congress at its convention in Windsor. On the recommendation of, its Committee on Constitution and Law, the congress defeated a resolution to "bar from executive positions" members of the Communist party. PRIVATE PILOTS COMMERCIAL PILOTS LIMITED COMMERCIAL PILOTS PUBLIC TRANSPORT PILOTS This is taken to be a reflection of the "peace-at-any-price" attitude of the AFL unions in Canada.

Union Business Only The Committee called for nonconcurrence on the grounds that the politicaropinions of members are the "business of unions concerned," not the TLC. The resolution was introduced by Local 1598 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Victoria, B.C. It claimed: "The Communist party is seeking every means in its power to dominate unions and union policy in its own interest and not the interest of labor." Russell Harvey, member of the Ontario Labor Relations Board, reiterated the basic union contention that all unions are interested in is whether a man is a good trade unionist. Harvey said: "If he puts trade unionism first, his politics don't matter. We must not divide our forces on an issue that as superficial to the labor movement." Here again is the key to the unwillingness of labor to deal ruthlessly with the Communist problem "We must not divide our forces on an issue that is superficial to the labor movement How superficial the problem is can be judged from the opinion of James Carey, secretary-treasurer of the CIO and former president of the UEW in the United States before he was squeezed out by the Communists.

He says: "A Communist seeking control "of a union is out for no good. Their philosophy is opposed to our ideals of civilization and culture." Green Speaks Out What docs William Green think of them? "The record shows the Communists seek to use labor movements as a means to an end. Their avowed purpose is the overthrow of our democratic form of government. They have no interest in promoting basic trade union objectives higher wages, better working conditions and social security." The reluctance of Canadian labor to expose the Reds stems from the conviction that labor can best handle them. Responsible leaders of both the left-wing CCF faction and the right-wing element (AFL) insist despite the growing strength and confidence of the Communists that they can keep them under control.

So far they have been able to do so. Not so long ago UEW's Jackson caved before a three-week ultimatum to abide by a CCL jurisdictional ruling or get out. Because of the increasing encroachment of one union on another's territory, the CCL set up a jurisdictional board to decide which union should organize a particular plant. Jackson UEW was involved in a dispute with another union at the time. The CCL decided against the UEW.

Jackson ignored the decision, continued organizing Then came the ultimatum. It was expulsion or toe the line not because he was a Communist but because he refused to recognize a Congress ruling. The CCL, for once, called the Communist bluff, but not on an issue of Communism. Such crises are continually arising in the youthful CIO-CCL, mainly, it is said, because the CIO or CCL is "closer to the masses than the AFL, which some CIO people call the "aristocracy of labor." The AFL is the union of skilled craftsmen and is organized on a craft basis. The rough, tough CIO is an industrial union, catering to anyone who wants to be organized.

25 Control 8,000 An example of how Communists use labor unions to further their political end was clearly shown in a case involving the AFL International Association of Machinists wartime local at Victory Aircraft, Malton, during the last federal election. At that time the Communist "line" in Canada was collaboration with capitalism to match Mother Russia's Union Nations coalition. One day telegrams were sent to interested groups and people urging an alliance between the Liberal party and labor generally in 0fMt Mhe Conservatives. The wires claimed to represent 8,000 members of the union at Victory aircraft. President of the local at that time was William Robertson who ran as LPP candidate in the Toronto-Davenport riding in the same election.

Non-Communists doubted the authenticity of the wires and started an investigation. It showed that at the meeting at which it was decided to come but for collaboration exactly 43 were in attendance. Of the 43, only 25 were in favor of the telegram idea; 18 voted against. Thus a handful of individuals committed a claimed membership of 8,000 to the official Communist party line. This isn't unique because of the tail-wagging-lhe-dog evidence because similar "expressions" in favor of coalitions were coming frpm scores (Continued on page 27) AIR ENGINEERS kis tach Figure ing in about every potential mining field in Canada.

De Uavilland, Fleet, Leavens Northwest Industries, Fairchild, Car, Cub are just a few of the move prominent names engaging in this market. Prospecting By Air "Airplanes will be a must with all future prospecting companies," Philip Moreland, President of Philmor Yellow knife Mines tells The Post. "They are especially important when a new strike is made. In our plane three prospectors and all their equipment can be flown in very rapidly to any district and we can land on water, land or snow. We can fly four men from Yellowkmfe to Edmonton and back for $100 as against the $227 charged one man by some transport companies." Aircraft dealers see a large undeveloped market in Canada's western ranching lands.

Already a number of light planes have been sold to Alberta and British Columbia ranchers. Aircraft will do for the rancher what the tractor did for the western farmer, they One Alberta, flyer-rancher says he can do the fall count and round-up in two hours; it used to take him two weeks. Number of planes used in the lumbering, fruit-growing and trapping industries has shown a sharp increase since V-J Day. Stories of flying doctors and dentists are becoming almost commonplace. But air travel will never attain its rightful place in Canada's industrial life, authorities say until a substantial program of expansion and improvement has taken place in municipal airport facilities.

As long as the landing and storage facilities remain inadequate and municipal bodies fail to make provision for natural expansion now', and within reasonable distance from downtown business sections, the whole future of air travel in this country remains sadly limited, aircraft officials say. Technical advances in the plane itself have already far outstripped land facilities. The risk of crashes has been substantially reduced and the day is not far distant, operators say, when all planes will be able to operate automatically from city to city on guide beams sent out from airports and picked up by the plane's instruments. The element" will have been reduced to the minimum. At the same time, aircraft are becoming cheaper to own and to operate than ever before.

Improvement in airport facilities is of national importance and should remain under the supervision of the Federal Go-crnment, airmen believe. But outside of checking, through Dept. of Transport engineers, on the planned airport facilities and expansion programs of smaller cities, which may not at present be directly connected With scheduled airlines, municipal airport services should remain under the direct jurisdiction of the municipal body. But last May Ottawa appropriated only $3 millions for capital construction on airways and airport when it had been pointed out to them in an extensive report that an expenditure of $100 millions would be more in line it Canada was to have up-to-date airport and airway facilities. The suggestion has been consistently put forward by R.

Patterson, Toronto, General Manager of the Aeronautical Institute of Canada, that the Dominion and Provincial Governments should split expenses of cmaiw mumciDal airport programs with the 'municipal body. In other words the Dominion nnvprnment should match expenses, dol for dollar, with the combined province and municipality outlay. If, for instance, the combined municipality and provincial bodies voted $10,000 for airport improvement, the Dominion Government, if its Dept. of Transport engineers okayed the project, should also vote $10,000. Some 400 Canadian communities would be put on the aviation map through such a program, Mr.

Patterson said. He even envisaged a total plane demand of 10,000 'to 12,000 in this country or one plane to every, 1,000 people as a result of such a program. A list of the companies that are sharing in the growth of Canadian aviation will be found on page 16. By W. L.

DACK Canadian business is taking wings. Business executives, prospectors, ranchers, salesmen and professional men are taking the air route to their customers and business properties. And, not content with the rapidly growing service offered by Canada's chartered air lines, more and more of them are buying their own aircraft for the purpose. Since last November nearly 400 light- and medium-weight airera'ft have been sold in Canada, representing a market value of close to $5 millions. Sales in an average pre-war year were about 100 light plOnes with a total value of about $300,000.

At the same time, the number of pilots to operate commercial aircraft has skyrocketed. Hundreds of service fliers have returned to civilian life with the intention of staying in the air, and have taken out commercial or transport licenses. Others have taken private tickets, merely to assure themselves of the right to fly for pleasure should the urge strike them. Chart above shows how Canada's force-of licensed pilots has grown from 1,400 in 1938 to 2,500 today. Not all the 1,800 commercial pilots are employed today, but there are certainly more of them engaged in civil aviation than ever before in history.

Aircraft manufacturexs expect that number to grow still further as more planes become available. For 1947 they estimate at least 600 aircraft will be sold and believe that number could be doubled if airport facilities could be extended to handle them. As an indication of the new air-mindedness in Canada, manufacturers sold $250,000 worth of planes in Toronto during a three-day international air show at DeHavilland airport. Who isbuying these new planes? Most are going to the scores of chartered companies springing up from coast to coast, offering air, service between points not served by scheduled air lines. But individual businessmen, ranging all the way from miners to beekeepers, are coming in for an increasing share of the industry's output.

One of the most significant factors in the increased demand for aircraft is the growing trend toward air travel by company executives. modern business conditions, time means more in dollars and cents than ever before. Air travel, both in chartered and company planes, has become a necessity in the eyes of many firms. Imperial Oilmen Fly Imperial Oil, one of the pioneers in executive air travel, has recently added an 8-place medium-weight aircraft to its expanding fleet. The new machine has been designed specifically for executive travel.

"While the company operates on a decentralized basis," President H. H. Uewetson told The Financial Post, "it is important that senior executives who are responsible for formulating over-all policy, maintain, close contact with the various areas and with the management in those areas, in order that policy may be soundly based. The airplane makes this possible. Recently a numberof senior officials visited points in the Mari-times and Newfoundland, held conferences with local managements' and other parties and yet were absent from their desks for only five days.

A similar trip by surface transportation would have occupied more than a fortnight, and it could not have been made in such limited time by commercial air line because regular schedules would not have permitted the required elasticity of movement." Flying commercial travellers is another trade development. They transport their samples with them in their company's planes. In certain heavy machine industries small parties of prospective customers are assembled and flown in company planes 'to the demonstration units or factories. The scope of such operations, however, is limited owing to inadequate municipal airport facilities in many centres. The past year's unprecedented wave of prospecting and mine development has only been possible through the use of aircraft which operate on pontoons or skis.

The sales records of every Canadian aircraft manufacturer and dealer include the names of prospecting and mining companies operat they want, for when it becomes generally known, that a certain labor leader answers the party call, his usefulness as a borer-f rom-within is virtually nil. Even when exposed, the loyal party man ill invariably deny party connection. That's one of his orders from above. To add weight to bis denial, the party often announces that so-and-so has never been a member. This fools no one but the naive union members, the disgruntled or the opportunist (of which there are plenty).

After recognizing the Communist, don underestimate them, say those who have had dealings with them. Usually they're the most intelligent, alert, well informed and perhaps the only fully disciplined men in the union. That's th way they forge to the top. They're fanatical in their allegiance to the cause. They work like beavers morning, noon snd night and for little pay.

The average salary for a United Steel-workers (anti-Communist) organizer is about $60 a week. An organizer for the United Electrical Workers (pro-Communist) is lucky if he gets $40 and then he may have to kick back with some of that to the pariv. perhaps not directly but through appeals for support for "The Tribune," the Labor Progressive Party mouthpiece or some other of the myriad "causes" the Reds have under their wing. Besides their own individual ability and experience, the Communist can count on excellent direction and support from command headquarters. Collection of information on those for and against them is complete, detailed.

They have a thorough knowledge of the political background of those they work with and against. They Know All They know who are the fellow travellers rot members of the party but those who support its policies. They know the sympathizers, the opportunists who can be counted cn for support if there's something in it for them. They also know the starry-eyed liberals who believe they're supporting progress when they get on the Communist bandwagon. The worshippers at the altar of Soviet Russia cleverly use people who fall in these categories to further Communist ideology.

Without them and without their influence in labor unions, their cause would be lost. But now and then they come a cropper. Despite their eloquence, persuasiveness, determination and lack of scruples, they are handicapped by that totalitarian characteristic of blind obedience to orders. They follow the party line rigidly no matter what the consequences. They never deviate from Instructions.

But if their plans go awry they're lost. They can't act on their own. They're like a ship without a rudder, drifting with the tide. An example of what happens when the party line gets crossed is the unhappy mess they find themselves in in the forthcoming Federal by-election in Toronto Parkdale. The spectacle of a botched Communist campaign had its beginning in the two Toronto labor councils, the AFL Toronto and District Labor council and the CIO-CCL Toronto Labor council.

Letters were sent to both bodies asking for the endorsation of the CCF candidate Ford Brand, president of the AFL Printing Press-roens union. It was expected that he'd be endorsed by the pro-CCF Toronto Labor Council but what pro-CCF delegates wanted was unanimous endorsation. This seemed unlikely in view of the fact that two members, John Wigdor, United Electrical Workers Organizer and Fred Collins, Fur and Leather Workers, are Communist sympathizers, and the Communists appear to hate the CCF worse than they hate free enterprise. On the AFL Trades and Labor council there is one Communist, Sam Lapedes and he too was expected to balk at endorsation; ilso some of the old-line Sam Gompers-type of unionists whose motto is "We reward our friends." Much to the surprise of the CCF board of the moment. ask both the CCF and LPP candidates to withdraw so that single "Unity" candidate, fully representing all labor, could be nominated.

Brand ignored the "call" and the committee disbanded. How many communists are needed to gain and retain control of a union? It all depends on who the Communists are, say those who have fought them. Naturally there are some smarter than others. If they're smart, only a few are needed; sometimes some of the smaller locals have but a single Communist yet he is able to virtually run the union. New unions with inexperienced members are easy pickings for the Reds.

'Unfamiliar with union procedure, these shy and often embarrassed tyro unionists turned naturally to anyone who appears to know- how to conduct a meeting. Any office is his for the asking. In the UEW the party man always wanted the job of delegate to a Central Committee made up of representatives from various locals in a given locality. Minority Control Thus, even though only one man in each local paid homage to the Red Flag, the Communists through the Central Committee could control every union in the district. It is easy to see how a small, well-disciplined minority can control a union the size of the UEW, despite the fact that many of the senior officials of locals are not Communists.

How do they operate? Their main attack is with resolutions introduced at union meetings but which are framed by the brains of the party. And they aren't hard to spot, say, people who have to deal with them. One might come in from a pro-Communist local to the District Labor council urging the removal of wage controls or some such issue. Then similar resolutions would pour in with chain-letter regularity from other red-tinged unions. A current example of the resolution technique was the concerted attack at the recent Canadian Congress of Labor convention in Toronto on the CCL political action policy and affiliation with the CCF.

Eleven resolution were submitted on the subject; all virtually asked the same thing keep. CCL's hands free to endorse any "labor" candidate; all were Communist-inspired, say anti-Communists. The 11 resolutions went before the Resolutions Committee. Finally submitted to the convention was the Committee's all-inclusive motion which said, "Be it resolved that this convention reaffirms the political action program of the Congress and urges that the Political Action Committee undertake to make whatever constructive amendments are necessary to advance the program." In other words, reaffirmation of the CCF endorsation. Leading the opposition was C.

S. Jackson.

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