EXHIBITION GARDENS TUESDAY NLF speakers at city rally Two representatives of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam will be arriving in Vancouver Monday and will address a giant rally at the Exhibition Gardens, Hastings and Renfrew, on Tuesday, January 14 at 8 p.m. The two are Hoang Bich Son and Haynh Van Ba. There may also be two speakers from North Vietnam, although at press time this was not yet certain. The giant Vancouver rally is being held as part of a continent-wide protest leading up to the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Richard Nixon in January to demand an early end to the. Vietnam war. The recent Hemispheric Conference to End the War in Vietnam called on peace movements throughout North and South America to undertake such protests. The announcement from Washington, D.C. last Sunday that President-elect Nixon had named Henry Cabot Lodge. to succeed W. Averell Harriman as TT TAT TT aoe TT en _. U.S: chief negotiator at the Paris talks on Vietnam underlines the need for who want peace in Vietnam to speak out forcefully at this time. Lodge wa former ambassador to South Vietnall and is one of the chief architects of the disastrous U.S. policyin Vietnam. The rally at the Exhibition Garde is being organized by the Canadian Aid for Vietnam Civilians and other c& sponsoring groups. Admission to thé rally will be $1.00 and 50¢ for students. The National Liberation Frotl representatives are expected to address University of B.C. students 4! noon on Wednesday, and Simon Frasé! students at noon, on Tuesday. Dr. A. M. Inglis, chairman of CAVG said the speakers from the NLF ‘will give pertinent information of the N position in their struggle {0 independence.’’ Following thé Vancouver meeting, they will als? speak in Victoria, Edmontol _ Winnipeg, Montreal, Quebec, Toronl? and Ottawa. — LABOR SCENE: © Leaders of South Vietnam's National Liberation Front delegation at the recent Hemispheric Conference to End the War, held in Montreal. The conference called for giant protest rallies during January, the month cf President-elect Nixon’s inauguration, to demand an end to the war. VLC scores postal law, calls for wide protest Tax boost coming? Most taxpayers in B.C. municipalities face another whopping tax increase as homeowners received their assessment notices which register big increases. While higher assessments do not necessarily mean higher taxes, depending upon what mill rate is struck, indications are that the mill rate will be fixed in most municipalities to boost home taxes. In Vancouver this week, Mayor Tom Campbell indicated that there may be a five percent boost in taxes for general purposes. This does not include the increase expected for education purposes. Fight looming over school costs policy The provincial government’s education finance formulas came under sharp fire from many school boards around the province this week as budget time approached. In Vancouver, retiring school board chairman Arthur Johnson charged Monday night that the present provincial education policy “‘handcuffs’’ Vancouver’s school system. He attacked the government’s policy of granting a fixed amount per classroom for school construction throughout B.C. Branding the policy as impractical, he said the equalization policy‘‘can only have the ultimate effect of reducing the whole system to one of static BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO TIM BUCK Heartiest greetings on the occasion of your 78th birthdoy. May your health continue to correspond with your zeal in the struggle for a socialist future. January 6, 1969 Communist Party of Canada Central Committee, mediocrity.’’ Pointing out that Vancouver has costs that are peculiar to it, such as education services for the poor, the underpriliveged and handicapped, he said that such services must be increased so ‘the gap between costs for Vancouver’s system and other B.C. systems will be closed. It is crucial, Johnson said, for big-city school systems to devote special attention and expense to ‘those children whose learning is handicapped by poverty, urban squalor and emotional problems. He charged that the provincial cost-average formulas severely handicap or render impossible any attempts by school boards to take such action. Johnson called on the new Vancouver school board to devote itself to “sending to oblivion” the cost- averaging policy. Most school boards in B.C. face a crisis this year because of the amendments to the Public Schools Act passed by the Socred government in 1968 which enables the provincial education department to announce the basic education allocations it will share with school districts. This year they have been pared own. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 10, 1969—Page 12 At its first session in 1969 the Vancouver and District Labor Council (VLC) this week sparked a campaign which could well sweep Canada when the full consequences of the Trudeau government’s new postal increases and restrictive provisions become better known te the people. VLC delegates unanimously approved a resolution to ask the Canadian Labor Congress (VLC) to protest directly to the federal government against these new postal regulations governing second-class mail, and to urge the B.C. Federation of Labor to sponsor a broad general conference of all non-profit and other organizations throughout B.C. directly and adversely affected by the increased costs and restrictions imposed by the new postal regulations. Bob Clair (IWA), and editor of ‘“‘The Barker’’, drew attention to many of these new restrictions _ which now stand in the way of labor, co-operative, political, church and other small publications securing second- class mailing privileges, without which ‘‘many will just not be able to stay in existence’. Clair cited the case of ‘‘The Barker’’ which, under the old regulations used to cost $90 to $100 postage per issue, and which will now cost $260 or more under the new postal regulations. Other publications of a similar nature which had cost only one cent to mail under the old regulations, will now be clipped ‘three to five cents per issue if they do not qualify for second- class mailing privileges under the new postal regulations’’, said ‘Clair. In the discussion many VLC delegates stressed what the impositions of these new postal regulations would mean, not only to non-profit publications, but to the small and middle printers and workers in the printing trades generally. While big commercial publications like ‘‘Readers Digest’’, ‘“‘Time Magazine”’ and other commercial publications coming under the general heading of. ‘junk mail’, will continue to receive millions of dollars annually in the form of subsidies through low-cost mailing privileges from the Trudeau government, the small printer and publisher will be driven out of business by excessive mailing costs. Delegates emphasized the possibility that many Canadian publishers would transfer their printing to the U.S.‘where they would have the advantage of second-class mailing rights, thereby evading adverse Canadian postal regulations. It was estimated by Clair that aside from the loss of some 60 to 100 jobs for Vancouver printing workers, the loss to Vancouver printers alone in sales ‘will be close to $1.4 million.” John Hayward (Transit), suggested that the government’s new postal regulations should “have a fitting label’. It will force publications to go to the U.S. to have their work done in order to get second-class privileges, and come back into Canada with these privileges. ‘‘If that isn’t a Quisling setup, I'don’t know what is’, he said. Nominations for VLC officers for 1969 were opened and will be completed at the next session when elections will be held. For that event a_ big turnout is “expected. Those nominated this wee! were Frank Kennedy’ (ILWU) and Syd Thompson’ (IWA) fo! president; Thompson and Ji Melange '(Eng.) for ist vic president; Cliff Lundgren wal for 2nd _ vice-president; Gregory (Transit), Mike Steve® (Food) for 3rd vice-presid@ and E. P. “Paddy” Neale (WA) for secretary-treasurer. ( Nominations for V¥# committee chairmen, who # serve on the VLC Executil! were: Organization, : Stewart (Marine Workers! Legislative, Brian Dent? (Retail Clerks); Publ# Relations, Carl Reet! (Upholsterers); Greivance, © Lawrence | (Packinghousé”’ Education, Bob Hamilto” (Postal Workers), and Metf Frank Kennedy (ILWU). * * * ‘ Looks like another ‘‘funeral for Vancouver Casket, subsidiary of Toronto-base! Dominion Manufacturers. f The present union contra¢ held by the IWA, and won onl! after a 16-months long strike # 1965-66, is due to expire, afb despite all efforts of the union” get new wage contra negotiations opened, Vancouver Casket seem determined to keep the “} closed’’? : Just seems a lot of our “fre enterprisers’’ even those in the lucrative funeral business, 2% hell bent on learning the nat way. The 1966 agreement won the IWA gave a 55-cents per ho increase to Vancouver cask workers, then one of the lowes! income groups in B.C. industt¥: The new contract will probablJ better that increase in 190 since the casket industry is still well below IWA standards.