ier t | { i | | 4 _ Cupw STRIKERS AT VANCOUVER POST OFFICE . ® SOUTHERN AFRICA: | ~The atrocities of a - Crumbling system are | detailed in an eyewitness report from a delegation of U.S. lawyers to Zim- | babwe, Namibia and | South Africa, pages 6-7. ser Bowen mer DAD OF Pome wre woreD rox wae moran om core EI soe BE +<- 0% ® WARD SYSTEM: If Van- couver votes for it on November 15 it will break the main prop of estab- lishment rule in the city for the past 40 years and open up new possibilities for the reform move- ment, page 3. ® AUTO: A special two page feature looks at Current problems of Canadian autoworkers and contrasts it to life in a .socialist auto plant, \__ Pages 8-9. y, a ' PhD economist, " anhetione of support in the face of federal government offensive. B.C. Fed backs embattled CUPW =Séan Griffin photo Aatiaiaie group seeking ‘LRB order against UFAWU The vice-president of the anti-union Pacific Gillnetters Association will be asked to reconsider his decision to withhold evidence when the extraordinary Labor Relations Board hearing into PGA charges of union “blacklisting’’ against resumes this Friday in Vancouver. Don Ekroth, one of several leaders of the non-union dissident fishermen’s group, precipitated an abrupt adjournment of the hearings Sunday when he refused to divulge the names of packer boats which had allegedly bought fish from him during the strike in July by members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. He claimed that to do so would be to leave them open to union reprisals. them The claim of union ‘‘in- timidation” together with a further claim of loss of income due to an alleged UFAWU “blacklist’’ of boats which scabbed during the 1978 industry strike, has been the basis of the case which the PGA has sought to establish in its bid for a cease-and-desist order against the UFAWU. The PGA originally came before the LRB two months ago asking for the order, and claiming that a union blacklist against boats which fished during the strike has resulted in the denial of ice, float space and the use of packers. But the evidence that has emerged in several days of hearings has indicated that the foundation on which the PGA’s case rests is largely hearsay and COPE proposes tax cuts - The Committee of Progressive Electors (COPE this week claimed that its proposal for a graduated business tax in Vancouver would reduce taxes for 90 percent. of businesses in the city, with the largest 10 percent of businesses paying more. The analysis was released by COPE mayoralty candidate Bruce Yorke and COPE aldermanic candidate David Schreck at a news conference Monday. Schreck, a applied the graduated business tax currently used in Winnipeg to Vancouver businesses and found that 13,709 of the city’s 15,202 businesses would receive tax cuts, some as large as 36.8 percent. At present small business and large business pay a straight 9.5 percent tax on the annual rental value of their premises. The graduated tax advocated by COPE would see small business pay as little as 6 percent with the largest businesses paying 14.5 percent. Schreck called the proposal ‘‘a unique, self-contained package’’ that would maintain existing tax revenues but redistribute who pays. ‘‘The tax issue clearly see TAX page 2 xX contradictory testimony. Even the claims of income loss have lacked credibility as several PGA members have conceded that their incomes are up — some of them: substantially — over the previous ’ year. ; see COMBINES page 12 Union votes to go back A B.C. Federation of Labor staff conference outlined a_ six-point program of support for the em- battled Canadian Union of Postal Workers Wednesday as the federal government began a full day’s offensive’in its week-old punitive war against the 23,000 strikers workers and their union. On Wednesday evening, the ferocity of government’s attack, which included raids of union of- fices, the issuing of arrest warrants for union leaders and further threats against strikers’ jobs, finally compelled CUPW to call a halt to its strike. National president Jean-Claude Parrot, himself facing charges of defying the strikebreaking legislation, called on his members to return to their jobs. . See background Labor Comment page 12 That decision was carried out by a mass membership meeting in Vancouver Wednesday. Local president Lloyd Ingram, also facing charges along with 30 other Vancouver CUPW members, announced that strikers would . return to work at midnight Wed- nesday. Meanwhile, officers and _ staff members of unions affiliated to the B.C. Federation of Labor met Wednesday afternoon to map out a plan of action in support of the postal union. ~ The six-point program adopted by the conference called for: e The establishment of a co- ordinating committee made up of officers of the Federation, officers of CUPW and labor councils; e Acall on local labor councils and affiliated unions to send telegrams to Trudeau and to MPs demanding the repeal of C-8, the back-to-work legislation and calling on the see FED page 12 Peace groups denounce U.S. N-bomb decision The decision this week by U.S. president Jimmy Carter to order production of key components of the neutron bomb brought swift reaction from both the B.C. Peace . Council and the Coalition for World Disarmament which called on prime minister Trudeau to protest. A mammoth international campaign against the weapon, described by scientists as “‘hideous _ in its destruction of human life’’, was successful in April in com- pelling Carter to announce deferral of production, but the order for components marks a significant move towards further develop- ment and ultimate deployment. No reason was given for’ the change except the terse statement by White House press secretary Jody Powell: “We are simply ready to proceed now.” “We are appalled by your decision to have assembled crucial . components for the neutron bomb,” Jim Roberts, chairman of the Coalition for World Disar- mament said in a wire to Carter. “We. call on you to abandon see CARTER page 11 JIM ROBERTS ,. “appalled” by Carter decision on N-bomb. — te wa = wee ne