Cf ne ae een SP ee eer ee es a eh hlUhUFl Pe ee eae Pe PT (aa 2 Lae «Lee heii f tt, iiiacin, cttaml eles, ae By SEAN GRIFFIN The Social Credit government’s sweeping proposals on privatization — which even Premier Bill Vander Zalm has stated will spark a reaction surpassing the furore over Bill 19 — are still a month away. But if recent reports give any indication, there is no reason for those in the labour and citi- zens’ movements to wait for a formal announcement before mounting a cam- paign of opposition. According to a report on a recent Fraser Institute conference on privatization, the Socreds see themselves as the country’s leaders in a drive towards privatization — the same role in which Premier Bill Ben- nett cast himself when he launched the 1982 restraint program. This time, however, the government is following the lead of the British Tory government of Margaret Thatcher whose massive privatization program was inspired by the British counterpart to the Fraser Institute, the London-based Adam Smith Institute. Socred Intergovernmental Affairs minis- ter Stephen Rogers, the cabinet minister responsible for drawing up a list of Crown corporations and government services for privatization, has reportedly modelled his plan on the British program — despite overwhelming economic evidence that Thatcher’s policies have created economic inequalities that are the worst since the 1930s and the prospect of a budget crisis that is only two years away. Since his election in 1986, Vander Zalm has stated repeatedly that virtually every Crown asset in British Columbia is for sale to the private sector if the price is right. That approach was enshrined in official policy at the beginning of this year with the appoint- ment of Rogers’ task force. Last month, at the Socreds’ retreat in Cowichan Bay, the cabinet formally reviewed the task force’s report. and announced that recommendations would be forthcoming in October. Commenting on the vast scope of the recommendations, Vander Zalm added ominously that the cabinet was looking “at potentially re-structuring the workings of government.” According to Maclean’s magazine, Rog- ers has visited Britain to study the privatiza- tion carried out there and has brought British officials to this province to discuss the program — and strategy — with his deputy ministers. Significantly, he told the Fraser Institute conference on privatization last month, “thank God for Margaret Thatcher or see SOCRED page 3 Speed-up, low bid blamed for overruns — page 11 N STRIKE CN. RAIL ays ARU ASSOCIATED «=e RAILWAY UNIONS ON STRIKE ieee Striking rail workers rally outside CN train station in Vancouver last Friday to protest federal back-to-work legislation ia ending the Association of Rail Unions’ five-day strike for job security in the face of government deregulation. Bill C-85 forces binding arbitration on the unions, extends the existing collective agreements for two years and levies stiff fines for violations of the bill’s provisions. Strikers in Vancouver were told by CBRT regional vice-president Bob Storness-Bliss that rail unions will use every legal means possible to fight the strikebreaking legislation. “We'll be using every legal means we can to fight these bastards,” vowed a railway union official after a late after- noon rally at the Canadian National railway station in Vancouver’s east end. Bob Storness-Bliss, regional vice-pres- ident of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Technicians and General Work- ers, called the 200-strong demonstration, “a small token of our resolve that the fight isn’t over.” Across the country some 50,000 rail- way workers were returning to their jobs Friday and Saturday, the victims of fed- eral back-to-work legislation that had all the earmarks of long planning. A legal strike by nine railway unions at Canadian National and Canadian Paci- fic — affecting the operations of VIA passenger rail and Ontario’s Go Transit system — began Aug. 24. Bill C-85, which passed third reading by Aug. 28, not only ended the week-old strike by members of nine unions grouped into the bargaining agent, The Association of Railway Unions (ARU). The strikebreaking bill also ended abruptly a strike Monday by CN engi- neers, who are not members of the asso- ciation. A special cabinet order-in- council legislated the 2,500 engineers back on the job. The bill also covers shopcraft workers whose union is not a member of the ARU. Additionally, the legislation extends existing collective agreements for a two- year period beginning Jan. | of this year and ending on Dec. 31, 1988. It allows an appointed arbitrator to further extend the contracts to Dec. 31, 1989. All outstanding issues are to be resolved through binding arbitration. Unlike some previous back-to-work leg- islation, which provided minimum gua- rantees regarding wages and other items, Bill C-85 contains no such provisions. That leaves railway unions vulnerable to sweeping layoffs and wage cuts imposed to streamline operations in the wake of upcoming federal government deregulation in the transportation indus- tries. Job security is key among the railway unions facing massive layoffs of their members. Security sought by the unions relate to the issues of employment, contracting-out, yard-switching limits, train operation and retirement at 55 years of age. Additionally, unions want guarantees against contracting-out of maintenance- of-way work, which has increasingly gone to private, non-union contractors. Prior to the walkout last week, negoti- ations had dragged on for close to 10 months with no significant progress. That, coupled with public statements from government officials regarding back-to-work orders even before the strike commenced and the swiftness with which the legislation was tabled, convin- ces many that the entire scenario was long in the planning. see RAIL page 11 September 2, 1987 40° Vol. 50, No. 32 Legislation won’t end rail fight, s TRIBUNE PHOTO — DAN KEETON