pert lntneetnn lillheeal tt ssl

BRITISH COLUMBIA

‘Historic’ peace
meet draws 200

“We can go home knowing that we have
been part of an historic event and that we
have succeeded in what we set out to do,”
said Frank Kennedy, president of End the
Arms Race in winding-up the first provin-
cial conference of B.C. peace organizations
eo at the University of B.C. Sept. 21 and

2.

And the applause that followed his clos-
ing remarks reflected the sense of accomp-
lishment and unity that prevailed through-
Out the conference as the B.C. peace
Movement embarked on a new course of
increased co-operation and communica-
tion.

The conference, which delegates decided
should become an annual event, was hosted
by End the Arms Race and brought
together some 200 delegates representing
peace and peace-supporting organizations
throughout the prov-
ince. The trade union
Movement was well
represented, as were
church, professional,
Student and ethnic
groups.

The agenda,
through workshops
and plenary sessions,
Provided for ex-
change of ideas, and FRANK
discussion of themes KENNEDY
for co-ordinated provincial peace cam-
Paigns and set out a selection procedure for
the B.C. delegates who will attend the first
national peace conference set for Nov. 8-11
in Toronto.

An immediate result of the conference
was the establishment. of a joint working
group to study the possibilities. of conver-
sion of B.C. industries working on military
contracts to peaceful production. It will be
made up of trade unionists together with
Tepresentatives of professional groups.

“We will also be generating information
On the effects of DIPP (Defence Incentive
Productivity Program) grants and_ the
Defence Production Sharing Agreement on
BG; industries,” said Brian Short of Engi-
neers for Nuclear Disarmament.

Monitoring Canadian companies in-
volved in military research is of particular
importance at this time following the recent
announcement by the Tory government
that although there may be no official
government participation in the Star Wars
program, Canadian companies will be per-
mitted to bid on Star Wars contracts.

Delegates were not deceived by the “no”
decision of the Mulroney government on
Star Wars. Calling the decision “‘a sham”,
the conference unanimously endorsed

jlaunching phase two of the Stop Star Wars

campaign on a provincial basis and sup-
ported working towards a national cam-
paign in early 1986.

The campaign is to have three stages to
take place simultaneously: first, monitoring
of business and universities to determine
any that obtain Star Wars contracts and
government grants to assist with those con-
tracts; second, public education, including a
“knock-and-drop” campaign which is to
consist of door-to-door delivery of informa-
tion leaflets; and third, political lobbying
and pressure.

‘We're going to have to tell the Canadian
people the implications of the Defence Pro-
duction Sharing Agreement,” said Kennedy.
“Getting Star Wars contracts doesn’t create
any wealth for Canadians, because the dol-
lar value of any contracts obtained we have
to match by buying back military goods
from the U.S.,” he said.

The conference unanimously adopted
the proposal put forth by End the Arms
Race for selection of delegates to the
national peace conference. Based on popu-
lation, B.C. is entitled to send 35 delegates
t6 the conference, and a broad delegation
representing all regions of the province was
the main objective in the EAR formula.

The Lower Mainland and Vancouver
area will be represented by 13 delegates,
Victoria three delegates, Vancouver Island
(other than Victoria) three delegates, and
the Okanagan Valley two delegates. There
will also be one delegate from each of 13
other regions in the province, and one dele-
gate from the B.C. Federation of Labor.

ILGWU campaign
targets sweatshops

_ Members and supporters of the Interna-
ional Ladies Garment Workers Union
(ILGWU) took to the streets Sept. 18 in the
first Of several attempts to end the “sweat
Shop” conditions for an estimated 8,000
Lower Mainland residents employed in the
Industry,

The mainly Cantonese-speaking workers
at some 20 garment shops in Vancouver's
Clark-Venables area were handed leaflets

faring information about workers’ rights
under the Employment Standards Act and
a phone number.

The “Awareness Day” campaign is
He a by the union in conjunction with
the Canadian Labor Congress, the B.C.

ederation of Labor and the Vancouver
and District Labor Council.

Conditions for B.C.’s unorganized and
argely immigrant garment workers are
‘imply “appalling,” said ILGWU organizer
Phyllis Webb.
neeveneday work weeks at the provincial
ae hourly wage of $3.65 are the lot

Many of the workers, of whom approxi-
ae, 90 per cent are Chinese and speak no

er language, said Webb.
sea are paid overtime for a day that

€n lasts up to 14 hours, she said.

Several shops have converted to. piece
work rates of pay. At the labor council
meeting Aug. 20 Webb told of workers who
make caps for $2 per cap after hours in their
homes. It takes 45 minutes to make a cap,
which works out to a wage rate of $1.25 per
hour, she noted.

Worse, the company charges the workers
rent for the sewing machines they take
home, Webb said.

Coupled with the low wages, unorgan-
ized garment workers contend with poorly
ventilated, sometimes below-ground shops
that are poorly lit, she charged.

Lacking English-speaking Skills _and
being generally unaware of existing rights
under Canadian and B.C. labor laws, most
are afraid to protest and “we find they're
really afraid of the word, ‘union,’ ” said
Webb.

So the the Awareness Day campaign,
which will see volunteers hit several more of
the estimated 170 garment shops in Greater
Vancouver during the coming weeks, con-
centrates on “human rights” issues, she
said.

The number to phone for information on
labor legislation and the union is 684-7577.

eS Letters

Get in on Ul hearings

Kim Zander, co-ordinator, Vancouver
Unemployed Action Centre, writes: I felt it
important to notify you and your readers
of an advertisement in the Vancouver
Province Sept. 15 announcing the
“Commission of Inquiry on Unem-
ployment Insurance.”

The ad itself gives no information as to
the place, time or date of the commis-
sion’s hearings. A clever move by the
federal government forces people to
write or call at their own expense to not-
ify the commission that they wish to
make a submission. Then, presumably,
the commission will provide information
on dates and times.

But don’t let that discourage people.
The address to contact is:

Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Executive Director,
Commission of Inquiry on
Unemployment Insurance,
P.O. Box 3432

Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5KO
Telephone: (613) 991-4693

Readers shold note that the deadline
for contacting the commission is Oct. 10,
1985.

Lwould encourage as many people as
possible to contact the commission and
let them know you're interested and
want to make a submission.

Don’t let them reverse the hard-won
rights we have. They, need to be
expanded and improved now!

Nanoose inguiry set

Alan E. Wilson, Gabriola Island,
writes: As we all know, the New Zea-
landers recently banned U.S. nuclear-

~ weapon equipped vessels from their

waters, declaring themselves a nuclear-
weapons free zone. It remains to be seen
whether this is an isolated action, or if it
might spread to other “allied” countries,
even to this country.

All across Canada communities are
declaring themselves nuclear-weapons
free zones. But this status is a farce if U.S.
vessels are then allowed into the harbor,
as they were during the Vancouver Sea
Festival this summer, without being
pressed to declare whether they are
nuclear equipped. U.S. policy is to
neither confirm nor deny the presence of
such weapons aboard their vessels, as
was their position regarding New Zea-
land.

It has now come to light that U.S.
vessels believed to be carrying nuclear
weapons are frequent visitors to the
underwater weapons testing range at
Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island.

In May, the bay was visited by the Los
Angeles class submarines, USS La Jolla.
and USS Salt Lake City, in August and
again in September. Both are designed to
carry a dozen sea-launched cruise
missiles — the nuclear Tomahawk. Each
Tomahawk missile carries a warhead
more than 10 times as powerful as the
bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

More disturbing is the fact that the
Americans are also testing a nuclear
weapons system at Nanoose — the one-
kiloton anti-submarine rocket (ASROC)
which can be used either as a conven-
tional torpedo or a nuclear depth bomb.

The various peace groups in the area
have become concerned about the impli-
cations of the test range, as an issue of
Canadian sovereignty, over the dangers
of nuclear pollution through leaks and
accidents, and not least, over the moral
and ethical problems of contributing to
the arms race.

For these reasons, the Gabriola Island
Peace Association (GIPA) is sponsoring

MICHAEL JUSTICE

PHOTO —

a major inquiry into the Nanoose Bay
situation. The People’s Inquiry will be
held Jan. 18-19 in Nanaimo to examine
whether the agreement between the U.S.
and Canada for the use of the Nanoose
Bay range should be renewed when it
expires in April, 1986.

A number of prominent Canadians
will act as moderators and panelists.
They will listen to and question several
experts and make recommendations to
be presented to the Canadian govern-
ment. The proceedings will be published
in book form.

The inquiry planning committee has
secured Victoria’s Catholic Bishop
Remi de Roo, as moderator for the Sat-
urday session, and Edmonton publisher
Mel Hurtig for the Sunday session. Pan-
elists include Sister Rosalie Bertell of
Toronto, an MD with expertise in radia-
tion, geologist and noted peace activist
Terry Padgham and retired major-
general Leonard Johnson of Generals
for Peace and Disarmament.

Various authorities are being invited
to submit papers on topics arising from
the Nanoose situation. The three major
Canadian political parties have been
invited to make submissions, and scient-
ists, nuclear experts and international
figures are being invited to make submis-
sions through video cassettes.

In early October, members of the
Nanoose Conversion Campaign (the
group seeking to convert the Nanoose
installation to peaceful uses) will embark
on a national outreach tour to public-
ize this issue. In November there will be a
national organizing conference of peace
groups with the aim of forming a
national peace coalition.

There is certain to be a lot of interest
generated this fall about the peace
movement, and about Nanoose in par-
ticular, especially if the Canadian
government renews the Nanoose agree-
ment in 1985.

The issue has the potential to raise an
outcry rivalling that concerning the
cruise missile tests.

U.S. submarine Drum surfaces in Nanoose Bay during exercises in June. It
carries SUBROC nuclear depth charges and soon will carry cruise missiles.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 25, 1985 e 3