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BRITISH COLUMBIA
FEDERATION OF LABOUF

“WHAT WE DESIRE FOR OURSELVES,
WE WISH FQGi u

Economic issues,
labor's role focus

— page 12 —

“

The Vancouver and District
Labor Council this week blasted
the Insurance Corporation of
B.C. and the provincial govern-
ment for what it termed ‘‘shock-
ing, exorbitant automobile in-
Surance premium increases.”’

The news of the average 38
Percent ICBC fee hike sparked
the motion at the VLC meeting
Tuesday which condemned the
Mcreases and called for a mora-
torium on implementing the in-
creases until the legislature holds
a full inquiry into the matter.

Marine workers delegate
Walt Jacobs charged that thein-
Creases were worked out in ad-
vance by ICBC and the govern-
ment “‘in order to bring the pri-
vate companies back.” The So-
creds intend to make govern-
ment insurance so expensive
that private companies could
undercut ICBC, he said.

CBRT delegate Tom Mc-
Grath added that former ICBC
President Robbie Sherrell, who
left B.C. five months ago, is re-
Portedly returning to establish a
Pfivate insurance firm. ‘‘Let’s
find out what happened when
that guy was running ICBC,”
Said McGrath.

Other protests over the insur-
ance premium hikes were heard
S week from the B.C. Auto-
Mobile Association and from
he Communist Party provin-
Cial leader Maurice Rush.

The increases will place a
heavy burden on working peo-
Ple compelled to rely on cars be-
Cause of years of neglect for
Public transit by the Socreds,
Said Rush. “Instead of spending
hundreds of millions on the An-
Nacis crossing. and Coquhalla
highway, the government
Should spend that money for

transit, and, if necessary, to-

keep insurance premiums in

line,”?

Rush called for the freezing
Of present ICBC rates pending a
full debate on ICBC in the pro-
vincial legislature.

Harcourt-COPE ||:

victory changes

direction of city

TRIBUNE PHOTO— SEAN GRIFFIN

Ap
nigh
cession of defeat — an
below, pages 2, 3).

Significant victories by Van-
couver mayor-elect, Michael Har-
court and by the Committee of
Progressive Electors, united in a
single slate by the Vancouver and
District Labor Council, has
changed the face of Vancouver
civic politics.

Harcourt’s 3,000 vote victory
over right wing mayor Jack
Volrich and the election of two
more COPE aldermen, Bruce
Eriksen and Bruce Yorke, to join
Harry Rankin on city council
form the strongest reform wing
ever elected to city council

With the two TEAM members
elected, May Brown: and
Marguerite Ford, a majority of
six are pledged to bring in a full
ward system for the 1982 elec-
tions. :

Perhaps the biggest victory of
Saturday night’s vote was the
COPE sweep of five of nine
school board seats, forming Van-

acked eieony party of the Committee of Progressive Electors erupts into applause Saturday
t as COPE school board candidate Connie Fogal writes the news of mayor Jack Volrich’s con-
d Mike Harcourt’s victory — on the results board (more photos, stories,

couver’s first progressive majori-
ty on any civic body. Elected were
Phillip. Rankin, Dr. Pauline
Weinstein, Mike O’Neill, Wes
Knapp and Gary Onstad.

This week the COPE school
trustees indicated they will
nominate Dr. Pauline Weinstein,

chairman of COPE’s education

committee, as the new chairman
of the Vancouver School Board.
There were victories on the
board of parks and recreation as
well with COPE vice-president
Libby Davies and COPE parks
committee chairperson Pat
Wilson breaking new ground.
The two will face a majority of
five NPA commissioners.
Tuesday, all of the COPE can-
didates turned out to the regular
meeting of the Vancouver Labor
Council to congratulate the city’s
labor movement for their efforts
in the campaign.
“This is a historic day,’” COPE
president and alderman-elect

Bruce Yorke told the delegates.
“The victory Saturday night was
a victory for unity, and the labor
movement was decisive in bring-
ing that unity about.”

Saturday night, about 350
cheering and stomping COPE
supporters packed the Russian
Hall in East Vancouver to greet
the results.

There was near pandemonium
in the hall when about midnight
Harry Rankin addressed the
crowd to welcome the victory
which was apparent. ‘‘This is the
finest group of candidates this ci-
ty has ever seen,’’ Rankin said of
the COPE slate.

‘Arrogance is what affected
that council,’ Rankin said,
“They never carried out our
slogan which is put people first.
We won’t build monuments to
ourselves, but serve the interests
of people. Now we will push our
position.”

See B.C. VOTE page 2

A full-day walkout and a

march to Victoria to coincide
with the opening of the
legislature is planned by
teachers from Surrey and Bur-
naby for Dec. 4, as B.C.
teachers step-up their campaign
to win back full indexing of their
ions.
‘“We’ve always been the nice
guys who have always felt that a
good, rational talk does the job.
But we’ve been the nice guys
who gave lost out,’’ ‘Nancy
Munro, pension committee
chairperson for the Surrey
teachers, said Wednesday.

Surrey teachers also initiated
a half-day job action Wednes-
day, when about 1,000 were ex-
pected to march to Fort Langley
where the cabinet was meeting
as the Tribune went to press.

“‘Burnaby teachers are com-
ing with us on Dec. 4 but
because the ferries have a
limited capacity, other local ex-
ecutives will be recommending
their members go on different
days,’’ Munro noted:

The B.C. Teachers’ Federa-
tion is encouraging their 79 local
teacher associations to initiate
their own pension campaigns
until some time around the end
of January, when a provincial-
wide mobilization will begin
should the government refuse to
(budge from its position.

No license

Vancouver city council this
week voted to restrict the ability
of the Ku Klux Klan to obtain a
business license in the city.

With only alderman Warnett
Kennedy opposed, council
adopted Harry Rankin’s mo-
tion instructing the city licensing
department to refer any applica-
tion from the Klan to city coun-
cil for action.

The motion also called on the
provincial government to re-
- strict status under the Societies
Act to the Klan by referring any
application to the legislature.

Reagan win
not move
to right
— CPUSA

— page 6 —