Nase Novine, March 16, 1983

              s
January 19, 1983, NASE NOVINE --5
TUZNA VEST IZ DETROIT A AUGUST KRUZIC ""111 Sllli H
ES3
Dana 10. decembra 1982. godine,
izgubili smo naSeg druga Petra
Kellya koji je imao 83 godine.
Pokojni Kelly je bio jedan od
starih pionira jugoslovenskog po-rek- la
koji je sa drugovima, Milanom
Polovinom, Cedom Litri6inom, Ge-orgeo- m
ВЈгабот, Nikolom Balti-6e- m, Mitrom Vujovidem, bra6om
Goreta, Georgeom Kramarichem,
Frankom Corkalom, Trivom i Raki-lo- m Kacanski i mnogim drugim
progresivnim ljudima i zenama,
neumorno radio na organizovanju
srpskih, hrvatskih, slovenskih prog-resivn- ih
udruzenja u nasoj koloniji u
Detroitu i okolini. Zahvaljuju6i nji-hovo- m
pozrtvovanom radu, пабе
organizacije su bile najbrojnije i
veoma efikasne u pomaganju i
Sirenju progresivne radnidke Stampe
u Sjedmjenim Drzavama. (Јбеббе
jugoslovenskih radnika u organizo-vanju
automobilske unije u Detroitu
od velikog je гпабаја i to priznanje
su nam odali unijski funkcioneri i
radnici. To je izjavio i bivSi predsed-ni- k
UAW Reuther.
Za vreme tzv. "crvene hajke" posle
drugog svetskog rata, uniStene su
sve naSe progresivne organizacije,
medu kojima i najpopularnija i
najbrojnija "Vaso Pelagi6", koja je
imaia 575 6lanova. Pok. Petar Kelly
je jedno vreme bio predsednik ove
organizacije. SuoSeni smo sa nemi-lo- m бтјетсот da je vecina na§ih
starih drugova poumiralo, ili su se
odselili u toplije krajeve. Mali broj
nas je ostao koji Jos' uvek zivimo u
Detroitu.
Pok. Petar Kelly je dosao iz svoje
rodne Gline, Kordun, Hrvatska u
Sje6am se, u Detroitu se — izmedu
dva svjetska rata medu jugosloven-ski- m
doseljenicima, razvijao i veo-ma
aktivno radio jaki radni6ki pok-re- t,
koji je kasnije prerastao u Siroki
antifaSisti6ki front.
U samom jezgru toga pokreta,
medu najaktivnijima, bio je i drug
Petar Keli (Kelly). Na toj relaciji prvi
put smo se i sreli — bas" u Detroitu
(sadadaleke) 1935. godine. Da, prvi,
ali ne i poslednji put.
Citavu deceniju moga boravka u
Sjevernoj Americi, s Detrom sam bio
blizak, kako samo logu biti bliski
saborci u klasnoj borbi. Uvijek
pouzdan, uvijek tacan kod rjeSava-nj- a
zadataka srpskog odnosno jugo-slovenskog
naprednog pokreta.
I prije neki dan, poSto mi je drug
MiloS Celovi6 iz Akrona telefonirao,
da je preminuo naS zajedni6ki drug i
saborac — Petar Keli — kod mene
se u sje6anjima робео odmotavati
vremeplovski film zbivanja i Petro-vo- g
ибебба u tim zbivanjima...
Vidovdanski kongresi, Sveslovenski
kongresi, mnogobrojne kampanje
Ujedinjenog odbora Jugoslovena,
"Slobodne re6i" — u kojima Petar
Keli nikada nije bio na za6elju.
Sje6am se Petrovom angaiovanja
— zajedno sa Oordem MrkSi6em,
Ourom Вкабет, Milom Vuja6i6em,
llijom Sainovi6em, Zoranom Mati-6e- m,
Mitrom Vujovi6em, Novicom
Samardzi6em, Ka6anskim, Radulo-vi6e- m
i drugim aktivistima iz Detroi-t- a
— prilikom kampanje oko kupovi-n- e
i predaje vojne ambulante za
Crvenu armiju prvih dana napada
hitlerovske Njema6ke na Sovjetski
Savez!
U svakom poduhvatu naprednog
pokreta Petar Keli, zajedno sa
New York 1912. godine. Tu je ostao
samo godinu dana, zatim se prese-li- o
u Detroit, u kome je ziveo do
svoje smrti.
Iza sebe, pok. Petar ostavlja svoju
mnogo voljenu i cenjenu suprugu
Stefan iju, sa kojom je proveo 55
godina sre6nog braka, kao i кбегки
Evelin.
NaSem nezaboravljenom drugu
Petru Kellyu zelimo ve6nu slavu svi
mi koji smo sa njim zajedno radili i
borili se za bolji zivot radnika.
Na njegovom pogrebu sakupila se
suma od $55.00 za fond "NaSih
novina". Prilagafii su: Braca багбе-vi- 6
$25.00, Emilija Kradigati $10.00,
Mitar Vujovi6 $10.00 i Ooko Oulve-za- n
$10.00.
Ooko Dulvezan
Detroit, Mich.
drugim prekaljenim borcima, uvijek
je bio u prvim redovima. Takvi kao
on stvarali su istoriju naprednog
pokreta Jugoslovena na prostorima
Sjeverne Amerike. Oni su je stvarali,
oni je stvaraju i oni 6e ostati uvijek u
njoj.
Ne kaze narod badava: borci ne
umiru! Dr Mirko Markovic
Beograd
U SPOMEN PETRA
KELLY
Javili su mi iz Detroita da je umro
drug Petar Kelly. Puno mi ga je zao.
Upoznao sam ga nazad nekoliko
godina kad sam posjetio Detroit. On
je bio predsjednik kluba "Vasa
Pelagid" u Detroitu. Bio je istaknut u
pomaganju "Slobodne Re6i" i Srp-skog
naprednog pokreta, a bio je
aktivan i u drugim organizacijama.
Uvijek se borio za napredak radnog
naroda.
Laka mu zemlja nove domovine, a
njegovim milim i dragim izrazavam
na§e duboko sau6e§6e.
Prilazem 10 dolara "NN" u spomen
na njega. ц Vukmanovi6
San Gabriel, Cal.
U SPOMEN VIDE KRGE
Saljem 6ek na $25.00 za fond lista,
u spomen pok. nikad nezaboravljene
drugarice Vide Krge.
Pok. Vida bila je stalno uz mene
dok sam bila u bolnici, uvijek me je
sa nekim naSim upoznala, pa osje-6a- m
potrebu da izrazim moju zahval-no- st
za sve §to je dinila za mene.
Neka joj je laka zemlja u kojoj
po6iva- - EdnaHinich
Milwaukee, Wise.
Ben Swankey, editor of Vancouver's trade
union paper Ship and Shop spoke at the
funeral of August Kruzic; here is what he
said:
This is a sad time for all of us. Death is
also a part of life and It becomes a painful
reality when it strikes someone near and
dear to us. We all have memories of where
and how we knew Gus Kruzic.
I got to know Gus in my capacity as editor
of his union paper, Ship and Shop, and also
through his attendance at educational
classes.l led in the union on such subjects
as the duties of shop stewards, economics
and the history of the trade union move-ment.
But I got to know Gus well when he was a
member of the Board of Directors of a group
of retired shipyard workers who undertook
to write a history of the union. I was
engaged as editor and consultant. It took us
two years, from 1975—77, to produce this
history, which we called "History of
Shipbuilding in B.C." It involved a great deal
of work — interviews, research, writing,
editing — and many meetings. Gus worked
hard on this committee. We all liked and
respected him highly. The book has an
interview with Gus and also his wife Alice.
Gus was a good workman and a skilled
worker, he was a good union man who
devoted his whole life to the union and the
left wing labour movement, he was a
socialist in his convictions, he was a strong
supporter of peace and he was a good
husband and neighbour.
Gus was born on August 28, 1902, in
Yugoslavia of Croatian descent. He was 80
years old when he died on Dec. 10.
He started work In the shipyard under the
control of the navy.
In 1918 he emigrated to Canada and like
most emigrant workers tried his hand at
many jobs. He worked on farms, in the
shipyards in Port Arthur, Ontario, in the coal
mines in Princeton, B.C. (and there are men
in this room who worked there with him), he
washed dishes, and during the Hungry
Thirties he worked in 20 cents a day relief
camps. In Princeton he got to know Arthur
Evans, the courageous and talented union
organized who set up a union in Princeton,
led a strike which the miners won, but who
was also sent to Okalla jail for 1 8 months for
organizing the miners into a union.
As an emmigrant worker, Gus also knew
what it was to be discriminated against just
because your had a Slav name and an
accent. All emmigrant workers know what
this means.
Gus came to Vancouver in 1934.
When the war'broke out in 1939, Gus
volunteered for the army but was turned
down as physically unfit.
He went to work in the West Coast
Shipyard in 1941 as a shipwright helper. At
that time there was no union in the yard.
There he met his old friend Arthur Evans,
(who in 1935 had led the famous On To
Ottawa Trek of single men from the relief
camps) and with him and others he helped
to establish unions in the shipyards. Union
leaders he worked with included Bill
Stewart, Arthur Evans, Harry Bird, Damon
Eisenman, Malcolm MacLeod, Ivan Medin
and Ed Baker.
Shipbuilding became a big industry on the
west coast during the war. In two years the
Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union,
Local No. 1. grew from 200 members to
13,000. The workers in the industry by 1944
built 167 cargo vessels of 10,000 tons and
accounted for 71% of all the output of
shipbuilding in Canada. They made a great
contribution to the war against fascism.
The union wo.n many gains for its
members despite the opposition of the
employers and the government.
In 1947 Gus transferred to Burrard
Drydock as a bolter up. He served his union
in many capacities including shop steward
and a delegate to the Shipyard and General
Workers Federation which united all ship-yard
workers in British Columbia.
He went fishing too, during this time, to
keep up his Income. Every shipyard worker
knows that in this industry there are many
slack periods and lay-off- s.
At the union's annual Xmas parties for
children, Gus had a special job — that of
distributing the candy to the children. He
became known to the kids and his fellow
unionists as the "candy man".
It was while he was working In the
shipyards that he met his future wife, Alice
Sundin. She had lived a very hard life in
northern B.C. and finally came to Vancouver
in 1 944 and got a job in the shipyards. There
she met Gus. "His face was all covered with
black grease", said Alice, "and his teeth
were shiny white". It was a case of love at
first sight. She knew right away that behind
that black, greasy face and these shiny
white teeth was a good man. They met on
and off for four years. Gus was a little
hesitant about getting married. "But I
proposed to him", said Alice, and they were
married in 1948.
Gus retired in 1968 after working in the
industry for 53 years. He continued to take
an active interest in union affairs. He helped
to produce the history of the union. He was
active in the union Retirees Association.
And he was active too for 30 years in the
Canadian South Slav Association where he
held responsible posts.
Gus was also active In the union's
campaign for a Canadian merchant marine.
In 1945 Canada had 145 deep sea cargo
vessels registered in Canada. The govern-ment
promised the union that it would
maintain a strong Canadian merchant
marine. But that turned out to be an empty
promise by politicians. By 1955 Canada's
merchant marine was reduced to 15 ships
and by the early 1960's to one ship. Now
almost all our exports are carried in foreign
owned ships, registered in foreign lands and
manned by foreign crews. Even Canadian
companies build their ships in other lands,
register them in foreign countries and man
them with non-Canadi- an crews.
The „Marine Workers and Boilermakers
Union has been leading the fight in Canada
to build a Canadian merchant marine in
Canadian shipyards, one that is registered
in Canada and manned by Canadian crews.
Gus took an active interest in this campaing.
Gus also had strong views about our
current economic recession. He didn't
believe that we will get our of it by imposing
wage controls on working people, by
restraints, by cuts in health, education and
other social services and by lay-off- s. These
things, he often said, would only make the
recession worse.
Gus was also active in the peace
movement. He saw that the arms drive was
ruining the economy of the western world
and causing inflation. He was strongly
opposed to those insane men in Washington
who are escalating the arms drive and
preparing for a strike first nuclear war. He
knew that the very survival of the worlds is at
stake today and the only solution is to end
the arms race and disarm, to give our
children a change to grow up in a peaceful
world. Only failing health prevented him and
Alice from attending the huge peace march
of 35,000 people in Vancouver last April.
Gus lived in a period of great social
change. When he was still a youth the
Russian Revolution of 1917 took place.
During the war against fascism from
1939—45, some 50 million people were
killed. After that war he saw his homeland
and other countries of eastern Europe take
.the path of socialism. He witnessed the
defeat of colonialism after the war. He
followed international events closely and
could see the world moving towards new
types of political and economic systems
based on public ownership and public
control by the people.
Gus made an important contribution to our
country. Canada wasn't built by rich men
sitting in board rooms or the politicians who
serve them. It was built by working people,
by hard work, by sweat and tears, by their
muscles, skills and brains. Working people
produced the goods and built the industries.
Gus did his part. He helped to build Canada.
And so we say to Alice, to his two
stepsons Rodney and Roger and their
children, to all his relatives and friends: Gus
was a fine and good man. He stood for all
that was best in our country — for
democracy, for labour's rights, for peace.
We can all be proud of him.
f ,fr