Forest unions fo unite in contract fight

— page 8

Friday, September 2, 1983
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Vol. 46, No. 33

Coalition
| pickets
Chabot
‘L. dinner

a dinner at the Pacific National Exhibition Saturday. Provincial Secretary
ocred fashion avoided passing the gauntlet of British Columbians angered
All guests were offered leaflets and Operation Solidarity buttons. Some ac-
receiving cheers from the pickets. It was one of several re-
ently. Human Resources Minister

race McCarthy's house was the scene of a demonstration by Women Against the Budget. on Saturday.

Solidarity Coalition pickets demonstrated outside
eevee Chabot was the guest speaker, but in true S
| oad the planned mass firings of public employees.
®Pted, and others arrived already sporting the fightback badges, rs
Ss “flying pickets” that have dogged public appearances by Socred cabinet ministers rec

Petition blitz of province
set by Solidarity Coalition

The Solidarity Coalition laun-
ched Phase II of its province wide
protest against the Socreds’
budget legislation Tuesday, with
plans for an eight-week petition
drive that will aim at getting
‘‘massive numbers of signatures
. . . to show government that the

- people do not support its legisla-

tion and budget.”’

The drive, which will begin this weekend
with a workshop for organizers, was of-
ficially launched Tuesday night at a meeting
of the Solidarity Coalition. Some 200
representatives of trade union, community,
church, tenants, human rights and other
groups met in the Operating Engineers’ Hall
to endorse the program and to begin work
putting it into effect.

Beginning the week of Sept. 5, the protest
will focus each week on different sections of
the population affected by the budget and
the accompanying legislation. It will climax
with a major action Oct. 23 when the final
tally of the province-wide petition drive will
be taken.

The first week will focus on human rights
with subsequent weeks concentrating con-
secutively on workers, women and children,
tenants and co-ops, consumers and business,
social services and medicare as well as seniors
and the disabled.

The Coalition will also be aiming at a
Saturday petition blitz in every area of the
province.

Solidarity Coalition organizer Jean Swan-
son told the meeting that the petition drive
would be buttressed each week by various
events as well as leaflet distribution, letters to
the editor and other campaigning. Events in
the first week are expected to include
candlelight vigils around human rights of-
fices, she said.

Throughout the drive, the emphasis will

See HUNDREDS page 8

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— page 5