| - me | lene Marzari, page 2. Exiled Chilean Communist leader Luis Corvalan visits some Chilean high school students — in Moscow. The Stasova International School was founded 50 years ago as a boarding school for children whose parénts are working underground or are in prison in capitalist countries. The school presently has 300 students from 22 countries. New tenant law favors landlords, say critics The new legislation increasing tent controls from seven to 10 per cent favors landlords and gives nothing to tenants caught in Van- couver’s plummeting rental hous- ing market — that is the consensus of tenant organizations, the NDP, the Communist Party and the Van- couver and District Labor Council. The legislation, introduced last Friday by consumer and corporate affairs minister, Jim Nielson; will also give units built after Jan. 1, 974 an avenue of appeal for ‘‘ex- Cessive’” rent increases through rent Teview and bring permanent Tesidents of hotels, motels and Tooming houses under the Residen- Tenancy Act. However, those two amend- Ments are so compromised by other Pro-landlord amendments, that Teater Vancouver Renters Association president, Tom Talonde slammed the Residential ey Amendment Act as “a leguothing, negative piece of gislation for tenants. The GVRA is totally opposed tO the raising of the rent control ceiling to 10 per cent and is deter- mined to bring Nielson out of hiding so tenants can confront him,” Lalonde said. He also criticized the ‘‘loosened up procedure for landlords to evict tenants’? when the rental housing vacancy rate has fallen to its lowest See TENANTS page 2 ote ROE ALTE t aN BSE TT The mass support given the - Canadian Union of Postal ~ Workers by trade unionists across the country — echoed at the Canadian Labor Congress con- ~ vention this month — may have ~ won postal workers their first col- lective agreement without a strike. CUPW president Jean-Claude Parrot, who was joined at the bargaining table Tuesday by CLC president Dennis McDermott, emerged from the talks with postmaster-general Andre \ Ouellet to announce that an ‘Lacklustre’ A convention which even Dave Barrett (left) remarked was ‘peaceful,’ last weekend’s NDP gathering in Penticton was one of the most lacklustre in years. But one significant deci- sion enables the NDP to contest municipal elections, page 3. aE PERN A as i NEA ea u NDP meet COPE nominates slate COPE is the first civic group to get into the 1980 election cam- paign in Vancouver, and the Vancouver Labor Council has endorsed all of its candidates, plus Mike Harcourt and Dar-- The results of Quebec’s referen- dum vote Tuesday marked a “‘fatal defeat”’ for the Parti Quebecois op- tion of sovereignty-association — but the vote demonstrates more than ever the need for the working class to take the leadership in the fight for national equality, the Par- ti Communiste du Quebec declared Wednesday. The statement, outlined to the Tribune in a telephone interview with PCQ leader Sam Walsh, was issued by the party’s national com- mittee following the historic refer- endum which saw PQ leader and Quebec premier Rene Levesque run into a solid 59 percent No vote in his effort to win a mandate to ne- gotiate his separatist option. The No vote won convincingly, even among French-speaking vot- ers although the Yes ballots were in the majority in 16 of the 110 dis- tricts, most of them working class ridings and areas of heavy PQ sup- port. The vote was greeted across Canada as a vindication of federal- ist policies, with most provincial premiers adding that ‘‘a commit- ment to renewed federalism”’ must follow the vote. All however, mere- ly reiterated the need for more pro- vincial rights, brushing aside the continuing issue of the national in- equality of Quebec. But it is that very question that must be addressed in any future constitutional talks, the PCQ de- clared in its statement. ‘“‘It is evi- dent that a new Canadian constitu- tion must reflect the economic im- croc 08 ‘Mass support for CUPW agreement in principle had been worked out, paving the way for a collective agreement. The meeting itself was of major significance — the first time that the government has negotiated with CUP W before the union has taken a strike vote. CUPW was preparing to take a strike vote but may now use the same procedure to conduct a ratification vote. The federal cabinet showed that it could move quickly to negotiate an agreement when, following the rejection of the Jutras conciliation report by the Sr eae Ome cree eo Ieee IQUESE VAYAN ! Clamor del pueblo 7 Vote ‘a fatal defeat for PQ’s sovereignty’ portance of the western provinces and remedy their justifiable griev- ances... “But we are in full accord with Rene Levesque when he says that no constitutional negotiations can be useful unless their point of de- parture is the existence of two na- tions in Canada and their equal- ity,” the statement said. It. warned. that the ‘‘working class can no longer remain at the tail of the Parti Quebecois’’,and urged the convening of a confer- ence of ‘‘trade unions and political organizations of the working class’ who are for a democratic solution to the national question to reach an understanding on common posi- tions.” The statement continued: , ‘The principal reason for the de- feat is to be found . . . in the stub- born insistence of the PQ on sover- eignty-association, a solution to the national question which is unac- ceptable to the Quebec population, however sweetened it was in the ref- erendum question the PQ posed. ‘Even though a percentage of the Yes vote was made up of the working class and members and supporters of the PCQ, there is no doubt that many who voted: No wanted profound change — but not by the route of independence or political separation. . . “‘Today, on the morrow of the referendum, the political spokes- men of monopoly in English Can- ada are asking for the convening of a federal provincial constitutional conference to ‘renew federalism.’ Fidel Castro has called for vigilance in Cuba to the threat of a new blockade or military attack from the U.S., as millions demonstrate in Havana, declaring their sup- port for the revolution and ~ Que se vayan — good rid- dance — to the motley as- sortment of criminals and” anti-social elements leaving for the U.S. and Peru, pages © 6-7. # —_ ‘Joe Clark even speaks of anew constitution — but none of these pious declarations even touch the essence of the crisis of confedera- tion. “This renewal of federalism which most provincial political parties urge — including the Lib- eral Party in Quebec — envisages a new division of powers in favor or the provinces and at the expense of the federal government. “It is evident that a new Cana- dian constitution must reflect the See NEW page 12 Pension bill ‘outrageous’ The B.C. Federation of Labor was expecting to meet this week with the B.C. Government Employees Union to map out a campaign against the provincial government’s ‘‘outrageous’’ pen- sion legislation introduced into the legislture May 14. The meeting follows the Federa- tion’s and the Government employee’s swift condemnation of the pension bills which Kinnaird said ‘implement an arbitary pay cut . . . and remove the effec- tiveness of the pension plan’. Warning of huge deficits in pen- sion funding for the future, Wolfe tabled five bills Wednesday which among other provisions, ended See PENSION page 12 ast oo government nominee of the board, it authorized Ouellet to in- tervene directly and negotiate a settlement. The swiftness was in response to the massive labor support shown the postal workers which was reaffirmed by the CLC ex- ecutive and the convention earliex this month. Although details have not been released — the agreement in prin- ciple has yet to be put into con- tract language — any settlement is expected to be based on the terms of the conciliation report filled Ra a NI PS wins contract wage offer. .' 4 g May 16 by Germain Jutras which, according to CUPW Vancouver local education director Evert doogers “‘b« gins to address the: real problems of postal workers.” Among t' ie recommendations in tl 12:0r are: a shorter work week (based on a_ aid meal break); a reduction in night shift work; improved health and safety procedures aimed at reducing the high accident rate; changes in dis- ciplinary procedures; and accept- ance of the government’s latest’ om 4 8 a0 t ¢ &H.2 9%