Singh, Darshan

The front page of the November 4th, 1946 issue of the IWA publication The B.C. Lumber Worker . This page includes an article written by IWA Trustee Darshan Singh covering Alberta's woodworking industry. Singh's article recounts efforts by the IWA to establish itself in Alberta and incorporate Albertan woodworkers, and describes the conditions workers face in Albertan lumber camps as worse than those faced by "German war prisoners employed in this area as slave labor".

A three-page missive written in blue pen cursive on notebook paper. The missive is credited to G. Brawn and concerns an address by Trustee Darshan Singh to the IWA. Singh provides context for the union's objectives, alluding to the Haymarket Riot of 1886. Singh presents two conclusions regarding the Union's desire for "peace and prosperity". One is that this desire is in direct conflict with the desires of wealthy business owners, whose policies have fomented a climate of "strife and war". The other is that this desire is in line with the values advocated by Jesus of Nazareth during his lifetime. Singh then addresses the concern over a conflict between Canada and the Soviet Union. He questions why Russia building military bases in foreign lands is such a cause for concern when the United States has done so to a much greater degree in the interest of "defense". Singh closes by reiterating the Union's present demands and arguing that if they are to be successful then they must have the support of the women connected to the union and the workforce.

An excerpt of the 1944 IWA publication Proceedings of the Eighth Constitutional Convention , including the cover and pages 56, 57 and 58. Over these pages, an uniedentified union member raises his concern regarding members of the Communist Party who also hold union membership, whom he believes are out to subvert the union and use their meetings as covert recruitment venues. In response, a Union member identified as Brother Singh (likely Darshan Singh) calls for the broad tolerance of communists in their midst, explaining that they have his sympathy even though he once feared that he would be persecuted for his religion under communism. Alluding to Martin Niemöller's famous poem "Zuerst kamen sie ...", Singh argues that the persecution of communists almost always opens the door for further persecution of ethnic and cultural minorities, himself included. The meeting is then briefly suspended for a group photo-op, before Union member Brother Alsbury argues that if the Union makes concessions for the communists, then they will end up making concessions for every special interest group and that the integrity of the IWA as a trade union will be compromised as a result.

An excerpt of the 1944 IWA publication Proceedings: Seventh Annual Convention , including the cover and pages 17, 52 and 53. Page 17 includes resolutions 17 through 20, with the focus being No. 18, where Darshan Singh advocates for adding the phrase "Anti-Fascist National Government" to a resolution concerning the government of India. Resolution No. 18 is revisited on pages 52 through 53, which explain in detail the Resolution's two primary aims. The first is for the Convention to urge the Canadian Federal Government to appeal to the British Government to establish a Provisional Anti-Fascist National Government for the people of India in recognition of their allyship in the war effort against the Axis Powers. The second is a similar petition to the Federal Government, this time to provide food and supplies to help combat the famine in India. This aim, while partially borne out of advocacy for the wellbeing of the Indian people, also serves to bolster the war effort and help preserve the "prestige of the United Nations". The remainder of page 53 includes the unrelated Resolution No. 19, which concerns wage control order.

An excerpt from a printed document, possibly IWA's 1946 publication Proceedings: Ninth Annual Convention , including pages 60, 61, 62 and 63. These pages primarily cover resolution No. 17, concerning the treatment of Black IWA delegates who were denied access to proper rooms in various Vancouver hotels and instead sequestered into cramped and substandard lodgings. The discussion of this resolution concerns who is at fault for this mistreatment and what measures ought to be taken in response, including the possibility of not holding future conventions in the city of Vancouver, and closes with a number of delegates voting in opposition to the resolution. Page 60 also includes the brief resolution 16, concering safety, and page 63 includes the beginning of resolution No. 18, concering transportation of seriously injured loggers.

An excerpt of the 1946 IWA publication Proceedings: Ninth Annual Convention , including the cover and pages 31, 32 and 33. These pages cover the end of a discussion concerning budgeting for union members' medical bills, the entirety of resolution no. 1, where Darshan Singh discusses the impact that the ongoing Chinese Civil War is having on North American Trade and advocates for the protest of armed intervention in China (Operation Beleaguer), the entirety of resolution no. 2, where Darshan Singh advocates for the protest of Canada's military support of the Netherlands during the Indonesian National Revolution, and resolutions 3 through 5, each very brief motions concerning Francoist Spain, atomic energy, and the labour code, respectively.

Creator: Binning, Sadhu

Creator: Hundal, Sukhwant

Originally published in Watan