Mtl Matsa MMA WMH TLAUTLL LAAT HL ULHRA 1 0 0 RRR Members of Women Against the Budget, a Solidarity Coalition member which has targeted the Socreds’ cuts to services for women since the July 7, 1983 budget, distributed copies of its new leaflet on the Labor Code amendments to downtown Vancouver office workers Friday. WAB plans a ‘funeral march’ on Aug. 6 (B.C. Day) at the B.C. Place Stadium. - representatives urge end to dispute as bus cuts attacked Vancouver city council voted unanim- ously June 26 to urge the Metro Transit Operating Company back to the bargaining table after hearing several community condemn government underfunding of public transit. One day later, that vote was repeated, again unanimously, by the directors of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, on the initiative of Vancouver alderman Bruce Yorke. The criticisms of the 14 delegations representing business, churches and private citizens were echoed by several council members, frustrated by a “platypus” of a system that denies the city government any knowledge of, or control over, local transit. _ Maple Ridge joins n-free ranks Peace groups in the Haney area are flushed with success after Maple Ridge municipal council voted unanimously June 25 to declare the town a: nuclear-weapons free zone. “We'll be going after Pitt Meadows council next,” said a jubilant Eila Male, of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Peace Group. The vote, following presentations by sev- eral delegations representing area peace organizations and chapters of national groups, came only two months after the council had rejected an appeal to sanction Vancouver’s Walk for Peas held on Apr. 28. Maple Ridge council also refused requests two years ago to hold a referen- dum, along with dozens of other B.C. and Canadian municipalities, during municipal elections urging the federal government to work for world disarmament. But that’s all changed now, said Male, citing four years of consistent effort by local peace activists and a local media that has _ Sven prominent coverage to peace events and initiatives. Not only did the council pass the nuclear- free resolution. It also voted to urge Ottawa to hold a national referendum on bilateral nuclear disarmament in the next federal election. The nuiclear-weapons free zone’ declara- tion follows the initiatives of other B.C. municipalities — Vancouver, Victoria, Vernon and the Sunshine Coast regional district — as well as other Canadian cen- tres such as Metro Toronto. Unlike Vancouver’s declaration, Maple Ridge’s nuclear-free position will not take . are speaking out.. the form of a civic bylaw, since some coun- cillors felt that was outside council’s juris- diction. But the intent is the same: no nuclear weapons or components may be - stored, transported through or assembled in Maple Ridge. “Perhaps legally, we can’t do much — morally, however, this resolution means we -we have to start some- where,” said Ald. Bill Hartley. “The municipal government is the one closest to the people. I’m saying, ‘let’s do something.” We can’t hide from nuclear war, but at the local level, with this kind of decision, we can expand the earth’s nuclear- free zone,” Hartley declared. “This is not a guarantee or defence against nuclear war — it’s a gesture. If other councils did likewise, it would form a torrent of peace no one could ignore,” said Male in agreement. The central question that bothers most people these days is jobs — job security for those who have a job but never know when the axe will fall, and job opportunity for the thousands who have been laid off and for young people who have never had a chance to get a steady job. Our provincial governments tells us that it is not their responsibility to provide jobs; that this must be'left to the private sector. But it is also clear that the private sector is not and cannot provide these jobs. The number of jobs in resource extraction industries is steadily going down as new technology is introduced. Tourism and Expo 86 won’t solve the problem. Neither will high tech industries which will provide only a relatively few new jobs at relatively low wages. The only way to really turn the B.C. economy around would be to build a strong manufacturing base — to use our rich natural resources to build secondary manufacturing industries. But capital in this country isn’t inter- ested. Neither is foreign capital. Their only concern is to export our raw materials, to feed manufacturing industries in other countries and then to sell us back high our own resources. That’s what happens, for example, when we ship our ‘coal and iron ore to Japan. That’s what happens, too, when we export electricity to the U.S. at prices one- third of that paid by B.C. residential customers. What can be done to turn this situation around? priced manufactured goods made from Municipalities can reverse job crisis Many other cities in Canada are grap- pling with the same problem. Toronto is one of them. There the Metropolitan Toronto Labor Council has prepared a series of thoughtful and thought provok- ing proposals for providing jobs in that area. They are worth looking at — there are some ideas that could be applied here too. The first point the council makes is that “the goal of an industrial strategy has to be’ full employment,” adding that “current economic strategies that rely on a private- sector led recovery are not intended to achieve this goal and are unlikely to res- tore economic recovery.” Relying exclu- Harry Rankin sively on the private sector as the engine of growth, it warns, is doomed to failure. ‘The council urges that municipal governments must get into the act and take some initiatives to build job-intensive industries. It also makes the point that municipal government must “become advocates of new social and economic pol- icies at the federal and provincial levels.” In support of this assertion it points out that “the business sector has consistently supported cutbacks in public services, reduced taxation, deregulation, wage res- traint and a diminshed role for trade unions in representing the interests of workers.” It notes also that “full employment has never been the goal of private industry. The goal of the-private sector is profits. Employment i is only a side effect of this primary objective.” Getting down to cases the labor council proposes that Metro Toronto take the initiative in providing jobs by undertaking a program to build housing, improve pub- lic transportation and build facilities for the treatment and recycling of all forms of waste, including garbage. Then it proposes action to build more basic industries — electrical products, machinery, automotive products, clothing and textiles, medical equipment and pro- ducts, food processing and so on — pointing out that these industries could replace costly imports from abroad. Where will the money come from to finance such industries? Federal and pro- vincial funds are one source. But an even greater source than can be tapped is the huge pension fund that is accumulating in Canada, a fund that now runs into billions of dollars. As for ownership of these new indus- tries, it suggests a variety of forms: private ownership, municipal ownership, joint public-private ventures, employee-munici- pal ownership, among others. The central thesis advanced by the labor council is that we have the resources, the skilled labor force and the funds. All that is needed is the will and that requires some political decisions. Municipal government would be a good place to start in providing jobs and turning the economy around. ‘and regional transit commissions co™ _ plan by several area businessmen to s' 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 4, 1984 The picture that emerged was on of oor tinuing government cutbacks in we that have meant the erosion of transit vies and worsening labor relations t trans! the root cause of the two-week ol lockout in Vancouver and Victor dele Particularly outspoken among t ger gations, none of whom attacked ines ‘workers, were members of the bvS community, who have seen their com jo " plummet in the wake of the MTOC10¢ vf “MTOC seems to be followia thea ‘eit? of the Fraser Institute, and has decid withdraw from the market place,” nfl mented William Burrill of the Commu Fi Business and Professional Associatio® Canada. Burrill was referring to the Pp government’s layoffs and cuts to.serv! an including MTOC’s overlord, the C® corporation B:C. Transit. He charge government cutbacks harm small busi His sentiments were seconded by ! in pendent businessman Charlotte Lippe who said she had had to lay off a clerk a newly opened second store downlt? di Condemning continuing service cuts 10 transit, she said: “It seems that this p!® int cial government cares for big busin (only).” “We stand 100-per cent behind w Co rovind? workers,” said Tim Louis, a leader B.C. Coalition of the Disabled. one a he had “no problem identifying one 9 root causes of the dispute” — the a” pany’s insistence on introducing pat drivers. i The Independent Canadian Hoe Union has raised the alarm over MT os! plans for part-time drivers — a sas by no other transit system in Canada ee since the program will facilitate upc? cuts to routes while creating an employe Position that pays less in terms of ben and offers less in terms of job seu “The union has been asked to collab® Most in service cutbacks,” said Rev. Barry ‘a head of the Citizen’s Committee for Transit and Satisfied Workers. “We ask a your intervention and we think it’s rut Yorke hit the MTOC asa “dummy ‘bo poration, a charge followed by Ald. 14 Davies, who accused Victoria of “settiN& a system whereby people have absolutely : idea who is boss.” ft Even the normally cautious Maya Mr i Harcourt hit the three-tiered ee system — consisting of B.C. Transit, i ing local mayors and aldermen a “platypus.” oo Harcourt laid out the fnistrale I of politicans have felt sitting on a com miss that has no decision-making powers" fi which receives no advance information ? ; route changes. P) The motion, passed unanimously, Wi, the MTOC to “cancel the dispute, main ie existing services and seniority provisiO! enter into a joint consultative process yt the union on operating efficiencies, “ agree to the immediate re-opening negotiations.”’ on ' In the meantime ICTU has dene yp a transit “service” under the heat “Transpo 177.” Under the plan, 30 ch tered buses were to begin operating in couver streets beginning Wednesday, 0 offet rides for-$1. kc! ICTU, which has indicated it will pie transit depots, considers there may be mo af to the move than a few businessmen see to make a fast buck. ICTU officials also cite “reliable source who report the provincial governme hopes to keep the drivers off the job uni the : - end of September.