The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-06-22

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quet.
Board Member. William Shawl
Lumber & Sawmil1 Workers, Libby
was chairman of the COPE resolu
lions committee. Paul O'Leary, Car.
penters, Billings, was secretary.
AFL-CIO resolutions committee
chairman was Vesta Shaw, Bartend-
ers, Great Falls. Secretary was Marg-
aret Harrington, Women's Protective
Association, HIRE, Butte.
ERSTWHILE RIGHT-TO-WORK'
ADVOCATE SPEAKS
Gov. Tim Babcock, who was one
of the leading advocates of so-called
''right-to-work" legislation in the
late fifties, spoke in most critical
manner of the labor policies of the
Kennedy Administration, contending
the Presidents policies could lead to
the end of collective bargaining.
The Governor, trucker in private
life who has vigorously and success
fully resisted all efforts to union
ize his operation, admitted to the
assemblage of union delegates that
his ''is not a union operation, but
commended that he enjoys ''the best
employer-employee relationship of
any company in the state. He also
said he had been dealing with organ
lied labor since he entered the truck
ing business 16 years ago and "for
the most part, the relationship has
been a good one."
PRESIDENTS REPORT
President TIMBER briefly reviewed
activities of the state organization
over the past year, and pointed out
there had been substantial net gain
or 1888 in total membership of local
union members now part of the
State AFL-CIO.
In addition to emphasis on affilia-
ton, the state office took the lead
last fall in reactivating the Montana
United Labor Council as co-ordinat-
ing body to combat the National
C.ofC.'s announced intention of push
ing for so-called Fright leg
lSldOIOIl Ill Iile l0Oo oCooAOh VI IiAS
Montana Legislature. The united
group, composed of affiliated and
AFL-CIO unions, and
unions such as Mine
Mill. Transfers, and Rail Brother
hoods, assisted by Montana Farmers
Union. successfully thwarted the adj
vocates of compulsory open shop in
Montana in 1858.
TIMBER also stated that the var
ious labor groups and Farmers
Union this spring reactivated the
Montana Tax Study Committee and
has done a lot of work on various
aspects of the tax question, espec-
tally the sales tax, and in develop
ing material exposing how greatly
large stockholders are subsidized
at the expense of education via I'M
realistically low grazing leases.
Another activity of the state body
vas co-sponsoring the 1861 Farmer
labor Institute at Montana State
That 18th annual insti-
ute has been acclaimed by many who
as the ''best one we ever
leld".
MUST DO A BETTER JOB
COPE Director Root placed empha-
is on the need for local central
,odies and local unions doing a bet
er job of providing information on
issues to their members,
md also putting more snap into reg
stration and get-out-the-vote drives.
Root said that on an average it
would appear that about 70 per cent
f Montana's more than $4,000 union
MEMBERS are registered, and that
xtra effert should be made to bring
he percentage as near 100 as pos
ible.
Wage earners, he pointed out, con-
titute roughly double the number of
professional people of voting age
379o vis-a-vis 1879 yet Gin voting
the two groups are
ven-steven, with each casting 26
er cent of the total vote in the 1860
eneral election. White collar work
rs, he continued, are a stand-off IN
citing. They constitute &c per cent
f those of voting age, and they voted
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