Newsstand Price aoe Vol. 47, No. 24 Wednesday, June 20, 1984 Ina few days, the Tribune’s friends and supporters will be sitting down after 12 weeks of hard fund-raising to mark the conclusion of the 1984 financial drive. In doing so, they'll be Tepeating a tradition going back decades im which the commitment to B.C.’s_ working class weekly is observed at the annual Tribune Vic- tory Banquet. Thanks to the tireless efforts of those thousands of people to whom Promoting the paper is of paramount importance, the victory banquet has been aptly named. Each year, we’ve been able to celebrate a drive that not only reached, but surpassed its yearly target. It is a sign of the times that one ingredient has been in shorter supply im recent years. Ironically, as the need to sharpen the struggles against the attempts to make working, poor and middle class people pay for that crisis through cutbacks, wage concessions and layoffs, — increases daily, the ability of our friends to respond lessens. So we find ourselves noting, with some alarm, that there is still a signifi- cant Shortfall between the current achievement and the victory we ail want to celebrate at the banquet this Saturday, June 23. With a hold-the-line target of $85,000 — the same figure as in 1983 — fund-raisers have collected a a of $68,379 as of Monday, June So we make our final and urgent appeal to our supporters: let us not be defeated by the times. Just as a fight- ing spirit to achieve a better life founded the Tribune’s forerunner in 1935 — the depth of the Great Depression — so must this spirit be alive today in these equally crucial times for the future of B.C.’s people. We remind our long-time suppor- ters of the pledges they made in the early weeks of the drive. We ask those who have given what they could in past years to top that effort in 1984, And we ask those who may be reading the Tribune for the first time, and those who have received the Paper gratis over the years at plant ates, peace conferences or union or community meetings: if you’ve appre- ciated the paper, now is the time to make that appreciation felt with a donation. We invite everyone to the Victory Banquet at the Russian People’s Home, 600 Campbell Avenue, in Vancouver, and urge those who haven’t sold or purchased contest tickets to do so in the few remaining days. With your help, the moment of truth for the Tribune can be a joyous one. economic crisis — and government | - INDEPENDENT = > eANADIAN TRANSIT On METRO TRANSIT WNPENDENT au TRANSIT UNION as UCKED Vancouver transit workers (I to r) George Jerritt, Ray Easthope and Don Slaughter maintain line at Oakridge terminal following Metro Transit’s Friday lockout. Story page 3. Xe SA Carpenters protest Kerkhoff Members of the Carpenters Union were to return to work on the Expo con- struction site June 19 but not before they had registered their protest over the awarding of a Expo construction project to right-to-work contractor, J.C. Kerk- hoff and Sons. Carpenters staged a three-day walk- out, launched last Thursday when Kerk- hoff appeared on the site to begin work on the $4.5 million contract. And on June 18, more than 700 Car- penters from locals throughout the Lower Mainland turned out to a meeting at the Italian Cultural Centre to vote on the proposed agreement between Expo management and the Building Trades which the union’s provincial council had urged they reject. Council secretary Lorne Robson said Monday night that the results of the secret ballot vote had not been tabulated but noted that the sentiment at the meet- ing was “overwhelmingly against” the agreement. contract That tentative agreement, worked out last week between Expo chairman Jim Pattison and the B.C. and Yukon Build- ing Trades Council, allows non-union contractors, including Kerkhoff, to work alongside union labor on the Expo site provided that they pay their employees the union-negotiated wage minus the benefits package, worth an estimated $5 an hour. It also lays out other provisions, including access to the site and settlement of grievances. The Carpenters object to a number of those provisions as well as the wage deal, said Robosn. “Our members were really concerned that the wage standard is effectively set at $5 below the union rate” he said, adding that Kerkhoff employees also work a 40-hour week and are paid only time- and-a-half for overtime, compared to a 35-hour week and double-time for over- time for the organized trades. see AGREEMENT page 11 Pat Shields (i) was one of many voilun- teers who hit Vancouver streets Satur- day in a Vancouver Peace Assembiy organized petition blitz for the Peace Petition Caravan Campaign. The drive, Supported by peace, church and other organizations and the Canadian Labor Congress sims at achieving more than 1 million names across the country. -