_BCGEU given solid strike mandate

— page 12

| Deliberate school cuts bared |
j [South African cargo held up | ‘cere

1° oN eae aie:

C. Federation of Labor secretary-

Surer Cliff Andstein (1) and other
ists listen March 20 as National
bors Board officer reads copy of an
ction issued by B.C. Supreme
urt March 17 to prohibit picketing of
‘outh African ship Nedlloyd Kembla
| arrived in Vancouver March 17
a cargo of stainless steel, automo- ©
vindshields, canned fruit and wines —

et lines set up by South African
arity gorups, prevented off-loading
e ship for four days but the threat of
minal contempt finally resulted in.
rk proceeding on the ship's cargo dur-
j the afternoon shift March 20. The
el also encountered a picket line dur-
a stop at the B.C. Forests Products
sk in Crofton although the court order
ced a halt to picketing before long- —
Dremen had reported for work. The —
unction, which was granted following —
initial picketing of the ship March 17, —
S sought by five companies, Trans-

cific Transportation, Western Steve- —

ing, Casco Terminals, B.C. Forest

s and the B.C. Maritime Associ-

. At right, unionists picket the ship |
Vancouver's Centerm container dock
arch 20.53)

A leaked document from the ministry of
education reveals that the Social Credit
government knew last fall it was underfund-
ing public education for the 1986-87 fiscal
year — but did nothing about it in its cur-
rent budget.

In fact, the ministry deliberately ignored
the recommendations of its own investiga-
tion team and set a fiscal framework that is
at least $150 million short of what is
required to maintain education at last year’s
levels.

The word comes from the B.C. School
Trustees Association (BCSTA), which
obtained the confidential ministry docu-
ment last week.

BCSTA president Eric Buckley told a
press conference March 21 that “the pro-
vincial government has seriously misled the
people of B.C. with claims that there is now
money for ‘excellence’ in public education.

“Before we seriously talk about educa-
tion. excellence..we. have. to. recover from
repeated government cuts ‘made over the
past four years,” he asserted.

The evidence is a confidential report to
the ministry prepared Oct. 2, 1985 by an
advisory committee consisting of eight min-

Budget deceit
— page 3 —

istry officials and six administrators from
B.C. school districts. Three of these were
school superintendents, and three were
secretary-treasurers.

The government was to have handed
school boards their fiscal frameworks —
the amount the province suggests it will
make available to each district — last
November. But it waited until early spring,
following the high-profile election Jan. 30 to
replace the fired Vancouver school board.

The document shows that in examining
the 37 areas of expenditure that make up the
fiscal framework, the committee members
found discrepancies between costs as esti-
mated by the ministry and those actually
incurred by school districts.

“Where this difference occurred, funds to
cover the shortfall have to be found by
reducing some levels of service below those
defined in the fiscal framework,” the report
noted in reference to the class cutbacks and
layoffs that have followed in the wake of
provincially imposed restraint.

While districts have in some cases been
able to offset funding shortfalls by raiding
accumulated surpluses, the committee

see SCHOOLS page 2

Newfoundland labor
confronts Peckford
| — pages 4, 12