EDITORIAL A ‘conventional’ myth The most amazing noises are emanating from many Western military and political people these days. Faced with a relentless Soviet peace offensive which strips away position after position from the U.S.-NATO side, we’re once again being told that nuclear disarmament in Europe is impossible — yea, dangerous — because of an overwhelming Warsaw Pact conventional force superiority. There are two serious aspects to this argument: first, the claim of Warsaw Pact conventional force superiority is a lie. Second, it is deliberately used to prevent nuclear disarmament in Europe. The London Institute for Strategic Studies, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. Brookings Institute, plus such luminaries as US. special adviser Paul Nitze and former U.S. defence secretary Robert McNamara have all stated that a rough parity exists between NATO and Warsaw Pact convention forces in Europe. In some areas (tactical aircraft, combat helicopters), NATO has an edge. It has 94 battle-ready divisions to Warsaw Pact’s 78, (counting France and Spain, which NATO leaves out of its public calculations). On the other hand, the Warsaw Pact has an edge in intercepter-fighters and tanks. The alliances have approximately equal strength in personnel and artillery. Compared as a whole, the strengths are more or less equal. Critical here is this 1986 estimation by the London Institute: “The conventional overall balance is still such as to make general military aggression a highly-risky undertaking. . .” Neither side has, it says, “the overall strength to guarantee victory.” The USSR, however, believes that the conventional forces of both alliances & amassed in Europe are plenty dangerous and pack a powerful punch. As well, & {=~} {| mt 1 IINE it the USSR anticipated the “conventional superiority” folk tale would resurface & to once again fool the gullible. Pie Hise That’s why Gorbachev proposed that, along with moving forward on nuclear ‘tee di Peta Ae AP be ON disarmament and the zero-zero option, plus the destruction of chemical wea- Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK Jaers ou aR (including Canada) meet to discuss deep cuts in Graphics — ANGELA KENYON The Mulroney Tories, instead of increasing military spending, should Published nei a Ae siieat seriously examine this all-embracing proposal. Rather than having Defence Phone (604) 251-1186 Minister Perrin Beatty conjuring up Soviet submarines in the Arctic, Ottawa ISSN 0030-896X “should be arguing for NATO to take up Gorbachev's challenge for disarma- : Subscription Rate: ie Hes sia ie $10 six months poe GS, in Europe as a first step toward complete and general Scbcid cist Sy ;ogibiataieatineinaeeo ANATOMY‘. oF A FREE-TRADER ith a verbal adroitness that has no doubt served him well in his various positions as a former deputy minister of labor and currently president of the Busi- ness Council of B.C., Jim Matkin has tried ever since Bill 19 was introduced in the legislature, to create the impression that business doesn’t wholeheartedly endorse the legislation. Unfortunately, it’s an impression that some in the labor move- ment have been too willing to accept. But you don’t have to come out of the board- room cheering to demonstrate support and if anything, the employers in this pro- vince have successfully played up the notion that there is some distance between them and the Socreds — a notion that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, the evidence that is now emerg- ing is that it was not senior deputy minis- ters who were instrumental in framing the legislation — it was lawyers well versed in the employers’ positions who provided the legal framework. Even Matkin, in an interview with the Financial Post April 20, was a little more forthcoming than he has been so far. According to the reporter who wrote the story, Matkin “believes that its (Bill 19’s) 29 major amendments are only an effort to redress what business has seen as a pro- labor tilt in decisions by administrative tribunals in the last 14 years.” Matkin himself then states: “If you look at each of the 29 amendments, you could actually put a case number to each.” Precisely. In fact, we think that is exactly what lawyers for the province’s major employers did — and then went to Victoria with proposals for amendments. Once the results of their work were tabled, People and Issues a a a A AS a Ne eR SN A SR RNS the employers then proceeded to line up to tell anyone who would listen just how “balanced” the proposed legislation is. Accordingly, Bill Kerkhoff, who has led the charge for the anti-union contractors, stated: “I think the government has done a good job ... without favoring one side or the other.” David Weller, president of the B.C. Construction Association, opined that the bill takes “an even-handed approach.” The president of the B.C. Mining Asso- ciation, Tom Waterland, said he thought those who had drafted the legislation “‘are trying to get a balance.” Even Matkin, in the Financial Post story finally came right out and said what he and the others have meant all along. “We support the legislation,” he noted. “It may be imperfect, but we say, let’s give ita try.” The labor movement hasn’t certainly given its answer to that. But there shouldn’t. be any doubt anymore as to where the employers stand. * * * Foes’ Island Communist Party organizer Ernie Knott gave us the news last week that long time Tribune supporter Bob Kerr, for years a major fig- ure in the progressive movement in Victo- ria, passed away in hospital. He sends the following tribute on his life. “Robert (Bob) Kerr, a veteran Com- munist Party activist and trade union organizer, died in Victoria April 11 at the age of 90 years. Kerr, who was the son of a Scottish small grocer, saw service at age 16 in World War I and later during the Span- ish Civil War where he was a political commissar for the Canadian Mackenzie- Papineau Battalion. “He was interned along with other Canadian Communist Party leaders from 1940-42, held at the camp at Kananaskis, Alberta. Following his release, he joined the Canadian Seamen’s Union, becoming its educational director until the union was smashed in 1949 by the combined forces of the federal government, the RCMP and Hal Banks, president of the Seafarers’ International Union. “A capable, active union organizer, Bob successfully led the campaign to organize the Canadian Collieries coal mine at Cumberland in the early 1930s. Later, he became a prominent figure in the old Victoria Trades and Labor Congress. “He was predeceased by his wife Con- nie, who died at age 97 on December 2, 1986. ““A memorial will be held in Victoria for Bob and Connie at a later date, to be announced.” * * * A: it has done for all the years of its precarious but much-acclaimed exist- ence, Vancouver’s Co-op Radio, takes to the air waves again this May with its fund- raising membership marathon, 10 days of special programming intended to get new members to keep Vancouver’s only listener-supported radio going for another years. The marathon gets under way on May Day and over the next nine days, as Co-op’s radio guide notes, “the hundreds ~ of volunteers who keep Co-op Radio going will be working overtime to produce special programs in an effort to get your support for the station.” There are a number of programs that Tribune readers might find interesting, | including a special on various styles of music — covering pop, jazz and folk — from Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, May Sat | p.m; May Day and Song, featuring a historical review of the music of May Day, May 1, 5:30 p.m.; El Salvador Today, with representatives from Radio Farabundo Marti, Wednes- day at 9:30 p.m; and of course, regular programs such as Union Made and What the Folk. Tune in Co-op at 102.7 on your FM radio dial and 684-8494 on your tele- phone., A regular membership costs $35. eS HE n-to-Ottawa trekker Willis Shaparla tells us that what may be your last _ chance to see the On-to-Ottawa presenta- tion, with songs by Tom Hawken and Steve Gidora and narrative by Shaparla and Bob Jackson, is coming up May 18 at 2:30 p.m. in Vancouver's Carnegie Centre at Main and Hastings. The farewell show, as they call it, will mark the 52nd anniver- sary of the 1935 occupation by the single unemployed of the Vancouver museum, once housed in the Carnegie building. — 4 - 12. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 29, 1987