| 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.