BRITISH COLUMBIA

One of the few significant political
statements uttered by Bill Vander Zalm
after his crushing defeat at the hands of
the labor unity slate in the Vancouver
civic elections was his allegation that the
election had been won by the Vancouver
and District Labor Council (VDLC).

As with his red-baiting, Vander
-Zalm’s simplistic statements were a futile
attempt to “expose” what everybody
already knew. In fact, if there was any
doubt that the labor movement in Van-
couver had a slate of candidates and was
actively campaigning for them, the
VDLC cleared it up by printing more
than 200,000 polls cards and sending
them to every residence in the city.

The labor council did not “twin the
election.” But it did play a leading and
important role in writing a political suc-
cess story for labor that deserves close
study by the whole labor movement.

To appreciate the oustanding victory
Nov. 17 in Vancouver it must be seen in
the context of the national Tory sweep
& last summer and the continuing drive to

the right by the provincial Social Credit
government. For both those political
forces had combined with Vancouver’s
establishment in an all-out campaign to
turn Vancouver right with the rest of
Canada. No tactic, however sleazy, was
spared and there was no limit on what
could be spent to accomplish the goal.
It was a challenge requiring unprece-
dented unity and effort from the progres-

Analysis

Fred Wilson

sive movement. The challenge was met,
and when it was over the unity slate had
retained the majority on city council
while COPE gained two new seats to win
a majority on school board, and two on
parks board.

‘son

‘People should not pay

for Hydro’s

The Communist Party’s provincial exec-
utive told the B.C. Utilities Commission
Nov. 15 that the party protested “in the
strongest possible terms” the application by
B.C. Hydro for a 6.5-per cent increase in elec-
tricity rates, and called on the commission
to reject the Crown corporation’s demand.

In a letter to commission director Mark
Taylor, B.C. CP leader Maurice Rush
empahsized that the increase was “exorbi-
tant and unjustified,” coming less than one
year after the interim 6.5-per cent hike
granted B.C. Hydro in April. The company
wants the new hike, which would add $3.34
per month to consumers’ bills for each
1,000-kilowatt hours used, to take effect
April, 1985.

“Low-income people already face eco-
nomic hardships,” Rush said, citing provin-
cial statistics showing that one out of every
five B.C. residents is on unemployment
insurance or welfare.

B:C. Hydro has claimed financial diffi-
culties in making its application, emphasiz-
ing the massive debt — most of it to U.S. _
moneylenders — incurred by the corpora-
tion’s dam-building program which had
proceeded over public opposition.

- “Those financial problems stem from the
gross mismanagement of the utility com-
pany,” Rush charged in his letter. ‘““A major
part of the huge debt of $8.3 billion is due in
large part to the decision to build the Revel-
stoke dam, which cost over $2 billion.”

The decision to
build the dam, which
will produce power
surplus to the pro- - |
vince’s current and [|
foreseeable demands,
“was part of the
Socred government’s
policy advocated by
(Hydro’s) current
chairman, Robert
Bonner, to produce
a surplus to justify
large-scale exports to the U.S.,”’ he said.

“That decision has saddled the people of
B.C. with a large debt that B.C. Hydro is
now trying to pass on to the public.”

Rush called on the commission both to
rescind the interim increase and to reject the
current application. In addition, he said, “a
re-organization of the Crown corporation,
Starting with the firing of chairman Robert
Bonner, is necessary.”

MAURICE
RUSH

errors: CP

The CP sent copies of its letter out to
various organizations, urging them to pro-
test the application and oppose it when
commission hearings are scheduled. Letters
opposing the increase should be sent to M.
Taylor, Director, B.C. Utilities Commis-
sion, 21st Floor, 1177 West Hastings St.,
Vancouver, V6E 2L7.

“Tt is unacceptable to have the govern-
ment freezing wages, ignoring the needs of
the unemployed and at the same time allow-
ing Crown corporations to increase the
rates they charge the public,” Federation
president Art Kube said in a statement.

“B.C. Hydro is asking for a rate increase
yet it is also cutting costs by laying off
hundreds of its employees, ” he said. “The
unemployed in the province simply cannot
afford to pay any more for electricity and
natural gas than they do now.”

Of the more than 1,500 people work-
ing for the unity slate on election day,
hundreds were trade unionists. But most
were the members and supporters of
COPE, now the most important political
force in Vancouver civic affairs, and the
“Civic Independents,” an ad hoc group
of NDP members grouped around

.Mayor Mike Harcourt.

Unfortunately the concerted striving
for unity from the rank and file of
COPE, the NDP and the labor move-
ment wasn’t matched at the political
level. Had it been, even greater gains
could have been recorded.

In the actual situation, unity of the
rank and file was only possible after the
VDLC put together what has become
known as the “unity slate” through its
endorsements of candidates.

While COPE and Harcourt ran
separate campaigns, on the critical terri-
tory of Vancouver East, a form of organ-
izational unity finally emerged on the last

possible day, election day.

Under the political coordination of the
VDLC, the “unity slate” office organized
a massive effort which changed the polit-
ical map of Vancouver by raising the
voter turnout to a qualitatively higher
level. NDP members, COPE members,
Communist Party members, trade unio-
nists and individuals without any affilia-
tion all worked together in Vancouver
East.

There were other forces at work for
the unity slate as well. In South Van-
couver, a well organized group of acti-
vists in the East Indian community
mobilized their community as never
before.

Teachers and parents aggressively
brought out a large pro-education and
anti-restraint vote to ensure the defeat of
the NPA school board, and COPE cam-
paign initiatives on the women’s move-
ment, the gay community and housing
co-ops had given each of these groups a
clear focus on the civic election.

For those who have fought for the
concept of the unity slate and a leading
role by the labor movement in electoral
politics, the 1984 Vancouver election has
proved a couple of basic points.

Perhaps most important, the accomp-
lishments of COPE have demonstrated
that the left-centre unity necessary vic-
tory can take shape at the polls without

al

‘Labor’s role decisive in election win

POLLCARD...
only part of labor’s role.

compromising basic policy. COPE’s vot-
ing record on labor issues is 100 per cent,
and it has for 16 years advanced a far-
reaching reform program in line with the
adopted policies of the trade union
movement. Its political success today
proves that a consistent, left alternative
can be a popular alternative.

In addition, the Vancouver election
showed, as the Solidarity movement did
in a different way, that the labor move-
ment can unite a broadly based political
alternative capable of victory where the
NDP alone has been defeated.

The significance for federal and pro-
vincial politics won’t be lost on the thou-
sands of activists who celebrated their
achievements in Vancouver Nov. 17. For
if at the provincial and federal levels
the labor movement remains politically
subservient and a left alternative seems a
remote prospect, in Vancouver labor has
placed itself at the centre of decision=
making on both policy and strategy, and
the left has found success.

For Vancouver, the 1984 campaign
was a turning point. Every two years
Vancouver will face a massive contest
between a united right and the popular
movement uniting the left and centre.
The unity and organizational level
needed for victory will only increase with
each election. And that will require as
top priority the continuing leadership of
the trade unions.

Fred Wilson is chair of the Labor
Committee of the Communist Party.

there with them.

involvement.

heritage.

Since 1935 and the depth of the relief camp days, B.C.’s
labor weekly has been a part of the labor movement.

Just as the B.C. Workers’ News, as the paper was then
known, was born out of the struggles of the trade union
and unemployed movements to record and analyze those
struggles, so the Tribune is here today to continue that

The tradition of the labor press is a long and honored
one, and we at the Tribune feel proud to be part of that

Just as individual union and union local papers are there

The Tribune — part of labor’s struggle

This week, delegates are sitting down to the 29th B.C.
Federation of Labor convention. And for as many
years — and for some time before — the Tribune has been

to inform their members of labor news — with a
perspective that can’t be found in the big business dailies,
either in the 30s, or now — so the Tribune plays its part,

providing the overall coverage for B.C.’s trade unionists.

We've been at.it a long time — almost 50 years, in fact.

For most of those years, we’ve made an all-out effort to
increase the readership of the paper, with our annual
subscription drive.

When we celebrate 50 years as part of labor’s struggle
next year, we'd really like to have something to celebrate.

We ask all our readers to make sure their subscription is

up to date. And for new readers, we make our special offer:
$2 for a three-month sub.

In these times, the Tribune is needed more than ever.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 28, 1984 e 3