en

Labour

Best Wishes

for the

Ht oliday Season

fo. all our friends

Vancouver Shoreworkers

Local 2

United Fishermen and
Allied Workers Union

Jim Rushton

Season’s Greetings

Prince Rupert
Labour Council

W. Boulanger
Gen. Secretary

from the executive and members of the

B.C. GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES’ UNION

JOHN T. SHIELDS
President

DIANE WOOD
Secretary-Treasurer

Stopping the violence

against women means

having men speak out

The shock of the shooting deaths of

- 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytech-

nique December 6, 1989 has had the

same effect on Canadians as did the

shooting of Albert Johnson by Toronto
police in 1978.

. As the shooting of Blacks in Toronto
highlights racism, the Montreal massacre
of women revealed a high level of mis-
ogyny in Canada.

Marc Lepine’s killing spree marked a
new level of violence that, in some form,
confronts Canadian women each and

every day of their lives. And the bloody
event had a profound effect on the
women’s and labour movement.

It was in part the impetus behind the
militant actions of women’s organiza-
tions that fought and compelled the
Tories to back off on drastic cuts to
women’s crisis centers across Canada.

The sit-ins and occupations of gov-
ernment offices across Canada proved to
be an inspiration to the rest of the
peoples’ movements. It was the first time
since the Tories were re-elected in 1988
that they were forced to beat at least a
partial retreat.

At the last Canadian Labour Congress
convention, the whole question of vio-
lence against women was taken up by the
delegates.

In a resolution that noted the killing
last December, the issue of violence
against women was not left to women
speakers to address. Leading women
trade union activists ensured that leading
men of the labour movement spoke on
this important issue. Bob White, presi-
dent of the Canadian Auto Workers, and
Dave Werlin of the Canadian Union of
Public Employees took part.

Part of the discussion was devoted to

the use of words such as domestic
violence/dispute, euphemisms for men

beating up women. Those words, it was
suggested, were a cover to continue these
practices under the guise of personal
business between men and women.

At the recent B.C. Federation of
Labour convention, discussion along
these lines proyed to be one of the high-
lights.

The recently concluded convention of
‘the World Federation of Trade Unions in
Moscow held a special meeting to dis-
cuss problems facing working women.

It was noted that there was a dramatic
increase in violence against women, and
that it was a world-wide phenomenon.
After a discussion it was agreed to ask the
convention that the question of male vio-
lence against women be taken up in a
meaningful way and that this find reflec-
tion in the WFTU’s charter on the rights
of women.

There are a couple of points I want to
make. One is that the Montreal massacre
was not an isolated event. As I noted in
my last article on feminism, violence
against women is tied to issues of power
relations in society.

Rape, sexual harassment, physical
and mental abuse, and wife battering, are
all rooted in domination. Women are sub-
jected to one or all of these forms of
domination by the mere fact that they are
women. Women, whether they’re wait-
resses or investment bankers, are poten-
tial targets of the same sort of danger
when they walk through the park atnight,
go to work, or get married.

The women’s movement called on the
federal Tories to make Dec. 6 a day
against violence against women. The
federal government refused.

But women and men have marked
that day with meetings and other events
across Canada. We wore white arm-
bands to symbolize our concerns and
hopes. The slogan of the day was to
remember, to understand, to change.

Men have to make. violence against
women an issue wherever they are. Even
those men who are not violent can still
end up passively supporting male vio-
lence by not speaking out. The respon-
sibility to act might be large, but human
lives hang in the balance.

Spread a little Christmas Cheer...
care for the needy!

FRG
Li:

Working Toward
Our Future

A Christmas message from the British Columbia Nurses’ Union