|Labor needs new economic program — — page 2 Wednesday, November 30, 1983 Newsstand oa eat are 48 price 3 40c Vol. 46, No. 45 Rae 2 12 a ROME @ “27 ‘Mobilize again. to fight bills,’ B.C. Fed urged so The decision by the right-wing West German govern their territory was greeted by internation ground-launched cruise, the Pershing jet Union within 6-12 minutes, belying U.S. and NAT! ; Ment, large-scale protests and acts of civil disobedience in Continues. es al protests, ment Nov. 23 to allow the deployment of U.S.-made Pershing 2 missiles on including this one, outside the U.S. consulate in Vancouver. Along with 2 is considered a major threat to world peace as it is able to reach targets inside the ‘O claims that the first-strike weapon is for ‘defence’ purposes. Despite the deploy- West Germany and Britain, where cruise missiles are currently being deployed, B.C. Fed. president Art Kube told the 28th annual convention of the B.C. Federa- tion of Labor Monday that the fight against the Socred budget and legislation ‘‘must - continue until we have regained all of the rights that have been taken from us. “‘Anyone who believes that the fight is over is sadly mistaken,’’ he declared. But as the convention opened at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Vancouver, delegates also warned from the floor that if that fight is to achieve its objectives, the entire labor move- ment must be mobilized and a program and strategy mapped out. : The week-long meeting has taken on more than its usual importance this year since delegates will not only set policy for the labor central for the coming year — they will also review the results of the deliberations with the government since Operation Solidarity’s “truce agreement’’ was hammered out Nov. 13. For the first time since the Building Trades were suspended from the Canadian Labor Congress in 1981, the Building Trades, Hospital Employees Union and other unions — all members of Operation Solidarity — are sitting on the convention floor, still without a vote but entitled to speak on the Operation Solidarity report and the unemployment committee report. The report on Operation Solidarity was not scheduled to go before the convention until Tuesday morning but it was clear from the time the opening gavel came down that the events of the previous four months and _ Tenant activists and representatives of Other Solidarity Coalition member groups are frustrated with recent meetings with ted cabinet ministers, prompting the Coalition to call for an ‘‘open and public’’ Process in consultations agreed to as part of © ceasefire two weeks ago. In a meeting Nov. 22 with Consumer and Corporate Affairs Minister Jim Hewitt, leaders of the B.C. Tenants’ Rights ition were not encouraged to believe _ anything good for tenants would be includ- €d in announced amendments to the pro- Posed new Residential Tenancy Act.- Bill S abolishes the Rentalsman’s Office, allows landlords to evict tenants without Cause and lifts rent controls (the latter has dy been done through order-in- Council). These concerns formed the basis Of the tenants’ coalition presentation to €witt, but the meeting left the activists tisfied. David Lane, co-ordinator of the new ts action centre, said Hewitt told the Coalition seeking ‘public’ consultation process | elegation — which also included tenants’ niger chairman Jim Quail and Solidari- ty Coalition co-chair Renate Shearer — that the new act was tendered “‘not in the name of restraint, but what Hewitt called the second mandate of the Socred govern- ment: Reducing government presence in the marketplace. | ‘He said the new legislation would ‘help landlords make a maximum return on their investment.’ We say he’s out to allow landlords to make a buck while allowing tenants no rights whatsoever, said Lane. Lane said Hewitt did say tenants have one right — the “right tomove, a sugges- tion particularly callous in light of recent studies which show skyrocketing rents are imminent. : ne id-September, when vacan in eS Laer Mcinland stood at 2.6 per cent, researchers in the B.C. housing t rted the elimination of rent pe oad allow landlords to jack up See RENEWED page 12 rents on previously protected low-rent dwellings, raising the ‘‘average real rents . . . sharply in 1984 and 1985.” The housing ministry staff predictions were bolstered by a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation survey last month which, noting that Vancouver’s vacancy rate had dropped to 1.7 per cent in Oc- tober, stated that rents will soar with the removal of controls. CMHC considers anything less than a three or four per cent rate as hard times for renters. A similar response greeted Shearer, Marilyn Callahan of the B.C. Association of Social Workers, Jane Rice of Operation Solidarity and Sue Harris of the CIP fightback committee when they met with Human Resources Minister Grace McCar- thy Nov. 23. Harris said McCarthy was ‘‘polite, but frustrating,’’ refusing to budge on the question of reinstating the CIP — Com- munity Involvement Program, under which unemployables and mentally han- dicapped welfare recipients received a $50 honorarium for community volunteer work — or rescinding the cancellation of special child abuse teams. (Since then there has been a ‘‘marked rise’’ in sexual abuse cases in the Lower Mainland, said Harris.) McCarthy was inflexibie on her initial position that the 1984 CIP would include mentally handicapped, but exclude others formerly included in the program, Harris reported. The meetings — which had been set be- fore the truce between Solidarity and Ben- nett was established — make Solidarity sceptical that the private consultation pro- cess will be ‘‘fruitful,’’ said Shearer. Solidarity has pressed Bennett for a meeting on their recommendations ~ establishing “‘a public process which will ensure that the people of British Columbia have a full opportunity to express their opi- nions regarding the government’s legisla- tion and budget priorities,’’ said Shearer.