| Rally on Dec. 10 for human rights in B.C. Saturday, Dec. 10, Robson Square, 12 noon Wednesday, December 7, 1983 Newsstand OEE IED 48 price oh 40c Vol. 46, No. 46 ‘SUPPORTS E SOLIDARITY] Delegates to the B.C. Federation of Labor convention Clapped in unison, waved placards and pounded the tables Ma thunderous five minute ovation for Solidarity Coali- Hon co-chair Renate Shearer Nov. 30 as she told them: : We vowed then and we vow now to fight this budget and | | this legislation.” : loments later, 800 unionists marched from the con- | | Yention hotel through downtown Vancouver streets to a : Y in Robson Square where they were joined by | | Members of the Lower Mainland Solidarity Coalition. of € tumultuous reception given Shearer was a measure 4 pore Tespect the Coalition has gathered among unionists | th forits fight against the Socreds’ legislation and for the “UPport it gave the trade union movement before and dur- the public sector strike. : to dane aS also a sense that labor had some patching up | do with the community groups in the Coalition since ad of their demands had been left hanging when the 3 Ce agreement was reached by Operation Solidarity Nov. on fact, the social issues are unresolved in the wake of Roreement, Shearer told the convention. final} the mass rallies, the petition campaign and Soli Y the public sector strike, she emphasized that the isto ty movement was ‘“‘the greatest movement in our D We forced the government to back off and slowed its "9gtam down,” she said. ; Sites the social issues remain unresolved — our medical | TE cay, /SStill in jeopardy, tenants can still be evicted without i » human rights have been undermined . . . Ee emphasized that those issues «are not trade & 2 See SOCIAL page 3 SUPPORTS SOLIDARITY: R Some 800 unionists joine to Robson Square in su right Federation Pp Renate Shearer as SS d the march from the B.C. Fed. convention pport of the Solidarity Coalition (top). At resident Art Kube stands with Coalition co-chair delegates give her a standing ovation. United labor warns gov't: | ‘War begins if teachers cut’ | The Bennett government was given a resounding message by the B.C. Federation of Labor conven- tion last week — either it withdraws plans to force teachers to make up the three days lost during the public sector strike of it will face province- wide job action. The message was delivered unanimously by more than 800 delegates who stood up in unison to cast their votes Dec. 1 in favor of an emergency resolution which declared: ‘Whereas the provincial government has already breached the agreement reached with Operation Solidarity on Nov. 13, 1983 by allowing reprisals against education sec- tor workers; and ‘*“Whereas the provincial government has further breached the same agreement by an- nouncing that funds accumulated by school boards as a result of the November job ac- tion must be returned to the provincial government; and “‘Whereas the provincial government is attempting to reward scabs by punishing those workers who respected picket lines and demonstrated sound trade union provin- ciples; ‘Therefore be it resolved that the Public Sector Committee be instructed to bring forth a program of job action to the Federa- tion’s executive council and Operation Solidarity; and “‘Be it further resolved that this program include job action involving all affiliates of Operation Solidarity; and ‘Be it further resolved that this program of job action be implemented if any educa- tional worker is fired or laid off as a direct result of the moneys in wages not being returned to local education systems.”’ The public sector committee was in- structed to lay out its plan of action within seven days of the convention ‘*What we’re agreeing to here is to give the officers of this federation the authority to call province-wide action,’’ said federation secretary-treasurer Mike Kramer, a member of the committee. “There is going to be a rumble in this pro- vince,’’ he warned. ‘‘There is going to be job action and it is going to involve both the public and the private sectors. We’ve got to go back to our membership and prepare them. “If the government wants war, it will get war,’’ he declared to applause. - Layoffs or firings as a result of the govern- ment’s refusal to allow strike savings to stay witi: boards would not come until January when the 1984 budgets take effects. But in at See SOCREDS page 3 Our next issue, the last for 1983, will be out Dec. 20. We’ll be skipping one week to give us time to prepare the enlarged year-end issue and to instal new ‘high-tech’ typeset- ting equipment which we hope to have in operation for the first issue of 1984. Watch for further details in the new year.