“Bx

a OER,

omnenonaeemel

OT ne ee ee ee ere

ee ee

CANADA

Turning terror into a career

New crop of ‘experts’ push racism, curtailing civil liberties

Shoniker makes headlines. On he barges
to state with certainty that Direct Ac-

v

There’s an incestuous love affair blaz-
ing between the western media and those
riding the “‘terrorist’’ hobby-horse to
fame and fortune.

So-called “‘experts on terrorism’ are
sprouting like mushrooms and assail us
from every quarter. They vie with
psychologists, travel agents and colum-
nists for different angles on the terrorist
beat. The reasoning is obvious: if Reagan
can bomb a sovereign nation under the
‘terrorist’? umbrella, anything is
possible.

The orchestrated fear has* so far
forced cancellation of European
travel by U.S. sports and music groups.
Rambo himself, Sylvester Stallone,
won't go to the Cannes Film Festival this
year, nor will Wonder Woman. “* Terror-
ism’? has become Reagan’s and the
media’s number one preoccupation, de-
spite the fact that U.S. deaths. in 1985

attributed to terrorist acts numbered 23
compared to nearly 10,000 handgun-

related murders.
* * 6
Toronto Star readers awoke April 26
to a front-page headline: ** Terror teams
said poised to hit Canada’’. The Globe &

Mail April 28 wrote ‘‘Rise of terrorism in
Canada is likely, security experts say’’.

_ Both stories gave extensive coverage ©

to atwo-day conference April 26-27 in St.
Jean, Quebec, attended by 120 ‘‘security
experts’? sponsored by the right-wing
Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies.
Without the Reagan-inspired “‘terror-
ism” hype and the Libyan raid to create
the atmosphere, such a conference nor-
mally would attract little notice.

It's here the media performed mira-
cles. Television and press coverage were
heavy and sometimes lurid. Previously
unknowns were catapulted centre-stage

._and the race was on for the most out-

landish, irresponsible and frightening
comment. |

Extensively quoted was an Ontario
crown attorney, described as a “‘free-
lance Consultant on terrorism’’. Peter
Shoniker, who claims he’s worked for
several foreign states, told the gathering
that Canadian terrorists ‘‘are trained in
Libya, South Yemen and Lebanon” and
‘‘are preparing to kidnap and assassinate
politicians in this country”’.

No proof, no facts, nothing. But

tion, ‘‘an outgrowth of the dreaded
Baader-Meinhof gang”’ (get it?), ‘““have
780 members in, seven cells.’’ Another
‘‘expert’’ warn’ us to expect ‘‘an out-
break of terrorism sometime in the sum-
mer or early next year.”’ The press eats it
up.
There was much more: Participants
‘‘made up mainly of military, security
and police officials’’, all agreed terrorism
will increase as a result of Reagan’s

Libya raid. They stopped short of urging

more raids which obviously do wonders
for their careers.
Then comes the stinger: ‘‘Canadians

have to be prepared to sacrifice some of

their civil liberties ... there is always.a

trade-off between reduced civil rights _

and increased state powers when spying,

wire taps, surveillance and other tech- -

niques are employed in the fight against
terrorism’’, these ‘‘experts’’ say.

Former solicitor-general Robert. Kap-
lan goes further: ** Unfortunately, greater
target-hardening”’ (expertise jargon) “‘af-
fects privacy, personal liberty and free-
dom of the press,”’ he warns.

A ‘‘world renowned terrorism expert.’
from Israel who now runs something cal-

led Counter Terror Study Group out of

* “Canada’s home-grown terol

By KERRY McCUAIG

Canada is coming of age with its recent
moves to implement pay equity. Workers
under federal jurisdiction, and govern-
ment employees in Quebec are now co-
vered by equal pay for equal value legis-
lation and Ontario and Manitoba are
soon to follow suit.

‘For a concept which first gained inter-
national acceptance back in 1919 and of-
ficial endorsement by Ottawa and most
provinces over three decades ago it has
been a long time coming. For women in
job ghettos, who have averaged 60 per
cent of male earnings since the onset of
the industrial revolution, it is a justice
they have longed for. But under a system
which has derived untold benefits from
using women as a cheap source of labor
how effective can we expect the legisla-
tion to be?

The Pitfalls

The Manitoba law has three dis-
tinguishing features: it is ‘““pro-active’’,
applies a neutral job evaluation scheme
and will establish a Pay Equity Bureau
with a broad mandate. A similar system
is expected to be adopted for Ontario
government workers. But there are pit-
falls.

Under the plan the government will
allot an extra one per cent of the total
public sector employers’ wage bill each
year for four years to address gender in-
equality. This process is expected to add
$2,300 to the income of the lowest paid
female worker. First, this isn’t an overly
generous pay raise over a four year
period; but this aside — with no
mechanism in place to continuously
boost the earnings of lower paid workers
after the agreement is exhausted, a pay
gap will quickly reappear.

In addition there is no recourse for
workers to challenge the pay equity pro-
visions which are negotiated.

It will be interesting to monitor the
general wage increases won by workers
in these jurisdictions during the catch-up

program will governments resort to hard
bargaining and stingy wage settlements?

cise. Behind the highly touted $2.3-mil-
lion wage increase granted to 470 parlia-
mentary librarians under the federal pro-
visions lurks a seamy story. The 120 his-
torians who were used as the comparison

period. To hold down the cost of the —

Monitoring would not be an idle exer-

Pay equity a limited reform

group did not receive another pay raise
for three years after the pay equity ad-
justment for the librarians was paid —
hence both groups were held back.
Neither the Ontario nor the Manitoba
legislation spells out the crucial ‘‘job
evaluation mechanism’? which will

determine whether pay differentials are
based on ‘sex discrimination: The Man-’

itoba Act only states that jobs will be
evaluated according to responsibility, ef-
fort, skill and working conditions, leav-

‘ing it up to labor-management negotia-
tiations to finalize the scheme.

Job Evaluation Bias

This can hardly result in revolutionary
pay settlements. Existing evaluation
methods discriminate heavily against
work dominated by women, and favor
management positions. Any evaluation
method also starts from existing pay
rates, which the Ontario Green Paper
studying that province’s legislation notes
are set by the private sector job market
(where the gap between women’s and
men’s wages is greatest).

For example the Aitken job evaluation
system used in Minnesota merely
rationalizes- existing pay inequities by
removing inconsistencies. Jobs done by
workers are constantly assigned low
scores, while management respon-

sibilities score high.

Therefore someone who does routine
repetitive work, as onan assembly line or
in data processing, receives only 10
points — there are no rewards for
monotony — while someone involved in
“policy formation’’ can score 150. A

_worker “‘under close supervision”’ again

gets only 10 points, a manager who
‘‘works independently”’ racks up 90.
There is a bias towards jobs performed
by male workers but here the spread in
points is signifiantly less. An office is

considered to be ideal and merits five

points, but a worker who faces the
‘‘distinct possibility of total disability or
death’ while on the job earns only 40.
Similarly ‘“‘continuous heavy laboring”
counts for only 30 points, a 25 point

spread from work causing “no undue ~

fatigue”.
It must also be noted that in the
environment of the workplace any scru-

- tiny of a worker's employment is stress- ’

ful. Because the act requires women
to seek out comparable work

its inception in 1979; and Ottawa in

_ workplace.
‘worth to the employer, not its social

remunerated by its value to society, a

performed, in the main, by men, the po-
tential exists for male workers to resent
their female counterparts for causing this
unsolicitated examination of their jobs.

The two provincial acts limit them-
selves only to workers employed in the
civil service. Public sector workers in
other provincial institutions or workers
for municipal government are not ‘consi-
dered. In order to diffuse opposition
from business, Manitoba has ignored
workers in the private sector and Ontario
has been judiciously dragging its feet on
this matter despite pre-election promises
for comprehensive legislation for both
sectors.

The federal legislation which also cov-
ers workers in crown and state-regulated
corporations has been under constant at-
tack from the business community since

nearly all cases has acquiesced.

Bell Canada Ruling

The most recent example involves
workers at Bell Canada. The Commu-
nication Workers of Canada lost a
five-year battle to have the wages of
4,000 operators boosted to the same level
as a group of 80 male warehouse work-
ers. The Canadian Human Rights
Commission, which enforces the legisla-
tion, bought Bell’s argument that it was
wrong to compare a large group of
women to a small group of men.

This represents a serious setback for
pay equity. Most women workers can be
found in similar situations.

Undermining the whole concept of pay
equity is the fact that business and its
governnients run the system in their in-
terest. No legislative reforms can chal-
lenge the very nature of capitalism which
owns and therefore sets the rules of the

‘The value of a job.is determined by its
relevance. In a system where work was

child care worker would not be left with
an income ten times less than a corporate
executive whose only social function is
to generate increased profits.

But the justice of equal pay for work of
equal value remains. If in fighting for this
reform, working people and their organ-
izations begin to challenge the way this
system values work and allots income, it
will be a battle well worth fighting.

: 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 7, 1986

i tg Rin ney

Lee RUN RENN, Fy or ex tebe ry es y RE CALA

commenté

Tom M

Winnipeg, told how Israel ge
done by massive security nets a”
munity-based spying. He left ov
occupation, resettlement, jaili®
ings and aggression. The “expert
onel Yoram Hamizrachi,
Shoniker’s Direct Action theory

more likely to come from ethil
munities such as Sikhs, Armeni®™
Native Indians.”

The colonel, without evidenc®
said, ‘‘North American Indiaf®”
being trained in Palestinian !
camps.’’ Pretty heady stuff.
and Hamizrachi were clearly 9%)
neck in the race for the most 0U
statement award.

1K * of

The danger, of course, is thi
people are deadly serious.
self-appointed guardians who ©
thrive and survive in an atmosP
fear, uncertainty and manly
paranoia. They are pefectly ¢ .
more than content, to ‘‘sacrificé
civil liberties ‘‘to combate tem?
Others speak for the powerful po |
bye. ee,
Interestingly, when questione
tails to back up his accusations, >")
told reporters they would have tot
word for it. There you have it~
taps, civil rights curbs, neigh
spying, massive security M@
searches at theatres — all on the Wo
the likes of Shoniker, Ham!
former Mountie John Starnes,
and a bevy of police and militaty
under the umbrella of a conse!
think-tank. It’s enough to ma®
wonder who the real terrorists @

Indian journalist P. Sainath, eb
ing the media binge last summer
the hijacking of the Italian linet
Lauro’’ and subsequent U.S. 1
of an Egyptian aircraft, gives a fas
ing glimpse into how the pres
Time Magazine reported the even

“Time's Oct. 21, 1985 covel
combines reports of both hijack!
(but) there was only one hijackin®
bloodedly perpetrated’ by Pal@
guerrillas. The other hijacking ¥,
hijacking. It was, Time informs H
‘aerial interception”, Sainath wil

‘In 12 pages, Time uses ™
‘hijack/ers/ing’ no less than 63
exclusively in referrence to the #%
ians. By contrast, the terms ‘ae!
ception/interceptors/interceptes)
used 18 times to describe the
jacking of the Egyptian aircraft:

“Other terms used to desc
American act were ‘bold, nom
stroke’, ‘daring stroke’, ‘oP®
‘mission’, ‘a message’, ‘military
The same story uses the
ror/ism/ists’ 58 times when d@
the Palestinians,’ Sainath Mi
‘‘They’re also called, ‘criminals *
ers’, ‘bandits’, ‘murderers’, kidn4
assassins’, ‘gunmen’, ‘pirates #p
tremists’,’’ and the story sayS
‘made a point’, while Arafat
loudly’”

ok * ok

Sainath would have been in ™
ment to follow Canada’s media!
to the St. Jean conference. EX
the Canadian Press coverage in the
28, Globe & Mail across six col
find “‘terrorists/ism’’ used 21 tim
700-word story.

Trivia buffs will notice that s
example of Time using “terrorise
58 times in its story has bee? ©
passed by Canadian Press wril€
the CP story rambled on to 7,
at its ‘‘terrorists/ism’’ pace, the
would have appeared 210 times