EDITORIAL

Peace initiative at home

Prime Minister Trudeau’s latest travels for peace
have taken him to Czechoslavakia, the German Demo-
cratic Republic, and Romania. —

It is to be hoped, as it has been since the beginning of
his peace initiative in October, that the new consulta-
tions are fruitful, that they lead toward disarmament,
arms controls and peace as a result of bringing about
East-West negotiations. And such negotiations will
occur only on the basis of equality and equal security,
not on the basis of Reaganite positions of military
superiority.

There was considerable encouragement for the Tru-
deau initiative, it would seem, in the telex the prime
minister received two weeks ago from Soviet President
and Communist Party leader Yuri Andropov, dealing
with this matter. Although a meeting date has not yet
been set, the Soviet leadership continues to examine
every avenue of peaceful negotiation which recognizes
the desirability of parity in armaments and in security
for the negotiating sides.

While the anti-Soviet media described Andropov’s

message to Trudeau to be a refusal, still, the public,
dependent upon such media for its information, finds
between the lines the hope of an eventual conference.
between the two, which may contribute to a bridge of

peace.
However, the fact of the matter is that while Canadi-

ans dedicated to peace welcome Trudeau’s persistent

initiative for peace, they have to say: it would be a more
honest effort were he not a party to the testing of the
U.S. Cruise nuclear missile in Canada (tests which the
U.S. sought because Canadian terrain resembles part of
the Soviet Union) and were he to take a stand against
the first use of nuclear weapons. This the USSR has

‘done, while the U.S. and NATO countries refuse. Tru-

deau would be more convincing if he backed those
millions of Canadians who want Canada declared a
nuclear weapons-free zone.

In all ages and situations it has been said that one
cannot have it two ways. In this instance, if Trudeau
wants all-out backing for his peace efforts, he has to
fulfill a duty and give backing to the many Canadians
who judge by deeds.

Trades fight is for all

The round of contract bargaining between Construc-
tion Labor Relations and the Building Trades Council
that opened last Wednesday and broke off the follow-
ing day was not just another set of negotiations.

It was a formal declaration war in an offensive
already mounted by the major employers and the
government of this province against trade union rights
and wage scales. And if the front that has been opened
now is against the Building Trades, the target ultimately
is the whole trade union movement and even trade
unionism as a force in this province.

Fundamental among the 16 sweeping concessions

sought by CLRA is its demand that the Building Trades
give up union security. That is exactly what elimination
of the “reservation” of ‘“tnon-affiliation” clauses from
collective agreements would mean. Without those
clauses, Building Trades workers could not ensure that
non-union workers will not be brought on to the site to
undermine union wages and conditions. Without those
clauses, Alabama-style right-to-work laws are brought
one step closer, as contractors would be free to hire
non-union as well as union — and eventually to
exclude the union entirely.

In fact, the Building Trades are on the the new front
line in the Socred-employer assault on trade union
rights and conditions.

The trades are staggering under the blows of massive
unemployment, with the rate approaching 60 per cent
in some trades. As one Interior union leader noted
bitterly, “our guys are being starved into going to work
for whatever they can get.” And with the provincial

—

government itself responsible through its megaprojects
for much of the construction work that is taking place,
it is in a command position to hand more and more of
the work to its friends in the non-union sector and
pound union workers with yet more unemployment.
Indeed, it has done just that with its phony low-bidder
policy.

The Labor Relations Board under the Socred
government has relentlessly cut away at the rights of the
Building Trades unions, including that most basic right
of union security. And what has not yet been cut away
could be eliminated when Labor Code amendments are
introduced in this session of the legislature.

Already the contractors have wrested concessions
from the Building Trades in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

That must not be allowed to happen in this province.

The Building Trades have vowed that there will be
“no cuts, no concessions,” reaffirming a pledge that was
made, significantly, to the founding meeting of Opera-
tion Solidarity by se Trades Council president
Roy Gautier.

But it will take the same unity of the labor movement
that brought Operation Solidarity into being to make
that pledge stand. It will take not only a commitment to
give full support of the Building Trades in their contract
fight, but also a commitment to action to resist the
encroachment of the non-union sector. And it will

require a commitment to mobilization on the same’

scale as last October if the Socred government should
ever seek to impose by Labor Code amendment what
the contractors have not been able to achieve at the

bargaining table.

Drawing by Yuri Ivanov

‘aii fli

"The state — that’s = i Halt XIV used to say. “The world — a
that’s me” sounds more appropriate to my ear. zi

- For the year ended Oct. 31, the Mercantile Bank of Canada, —
Montreal, managed to hike its profit by 29 per cent over the pre- —
vious year — $20,024,000 against $15,467,000. Secret, say MBC: —
improved interest rate spreads (what it pays vs what it gets), and —
substantial recovery of interest on loans considered not collect: ;

—TRIBONE RiIBUNE

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN

Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON 4

_ Business & Circulation Manager — PAT O'CONNOR
Graphics — ANGELA KENYON

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f they ever handed out awards to provin-
cial governments for taking the scalpel
to social services, including education, the
winner every year would be British
Columbia’s Socreds. That point’s been
made repeatedly, so the terseness of the

People and Issues

Union, is doing so well he’s ready to pick
cotton for three weeks to prove it.

Bert is one of some 20 “brigadistas”
who will be leaving Vancouver Feb. 6 to
participate in Nicaragua’s annual cotton
harvest in Leon, near the Central Ameri- -

B.C. Teachers’ Federation in a recent
release on provincial education financing
is understandable:

“This table may be of interest to your
readers. It shows that once again British
Columbia has spent the lowest percentage
of its budget on education of any province
in Canada,” it reads.:

Using Statistics Canada figures, the fed-
eration lists each province’s expenditures.
The Socred’s piddling 15.5 per cent for
schools in the 1982-83 fiscal year, is in
glaring contrast to a national average of
21.2 per cent.

Some other provinces prove close
runners-up, but the Bennett government
still wins the Big Axe award for chopping
services to people while handing out gifts
to its corporate friends.

For the other provinces, the figures are:
Newfoundland, 25.3 per cent; Prince
Edward Island, 24.1; Nova Scotia, 24.0;
New Brunswick, 23.6; Quebec, 25.4; Onta-
rio, 20.6; Manitoba, 18.3; Saskatchewan,
15.9; Alberta 17.6.

any readers will have heard U.S.

ambassador to Canada Paul H.
Robinson Jr. hold forth from right field on
a variety of topics, usually for the benefit
of the media. Several months ago, for
example, he was widely quoted for his
comment that Canada “spends too much
money on social services” — on health
care and other programs. More recently,
he denounced Canadian opponents of
cruise missile testing and later told repor-

ters that he was confident — actually his:

words were “it is done” — that Trudeau
would consent to the tests even before the
official request was made.

But if you're not content with getting
those quaint views second hand, you can
take advantage of an opportunity to hear
him in person at — where else? —a
Fraser Institute luncheon at the Hotel
Vancouver on Feb. 16. We’re not sure
what’s on the menu for your $25 cover
charge but we’re sure that the fare — if
you'll excuse the pun — will be “hawk”
cuisine.

Robinson, of course, has no qualms
about moving from the discreet world of
diplomacy to direct meddling in other
countries’ affairs — in fact, like most
right-wingers, he revels in it. But his
appearance at the Fraser Institute function
certainly attests to that group’s inter-
national influence and connections..

Later this year, if Robinson hasn’t put
you off lunches forever, you might want to
attend the Institute’s annual general meet-
ing where another American, William F.
Buckley, will be the featured luncheon
speaker. He goes for a higher rate —
$40 — but after all, the Institute says, he is
“one of the most effective critics of left-lib
orthodoxy.”

* * *
e said last summer that he was doing
fine after an operation to remove a
disc from his back. We can now report

that Bert Ogden, welfare director of the
United Fishermen and Allied Workers

can nation’s west coast. With the others,
Bert will be harvesting one of Nicaragua’s
major export crops, freeing native Nicar-
aguans for the urgent task of defending
their country against U.S. financed
counter-revolutionaries.

In the spirit of such international bri-
gades, Bert and the others will be paying
their own way — approximately $1,500
each, some of it coming from various
fund-raising efforts — and will be living
like Nicaraguans. After three weeks of
what is reportedly back-breaking work,
the volunteers will head to Managua, the
capital, to meet with leaders and workers
from various enterprises.

Bert will also be the main speaker at a
special Solidarity with Central America
affair this Sunday, Feb. 5. Held in the
auditorium of the King Edward Campus,
1155 East Broadway St. in Vancouver, it

will also feature live Latin American music ~

and folklore, and two films. It begins at
7:30 p.m., and tickets, at $3 are available at
People’s Co-op Bookstore or at the door.

4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 1, 1984 ©

+ OG 18 es et eS -*