“Act now on
KKK,’ rally
tells Kaplan

ee

More than 100 members and supporters of the Coalition Against Racism marched in the pouring rain
outside the Coachhouse Inn in North Vancouver Sunday where federal solicitor-general Robert Kaplan
was scheduled to address a Liberal Party luncheon. Coalition chairperson Delecia Crump and several
demonstrators later met with Kaplan to demand that the federal government press the prosecution of
the Ku Klux Klan and other racist organizations under the provisions of Section 281(2) of the Criminal
Code. Kaplan insisted, however, that the onus was on provincial governments to allow prosecution
under the relevant section. The Coalition and scores of other groups have many times pressed provin-
cial attorney-general Allan Williams — so far unsuccessfully — to permit prosecution to proceed.

Employer claim
that wages are

ahead of prices
proven false

— page 3 —

TRIBUNE PHOTO—SEAN GRIFFIN

Striking municipal workers at-
tempted to reopen discussions with
Vancouver city council Tuesday,
and city council responded by lock-
ing its doors to the public for the
first time in over 25 years.

About® 300 strikers, mostly
members of the Vancouver Muni-
cipal and Regional Employees Un-

‘ion, turned out Tuesday at noon to

support 38 senior city employees
who were to appear before council
to appeal for a resumption in nego-
tiations after being broken off for
the third time on Monday.

But when the unionists arrived
they found city hall’s doors locked
and a contingent of uniformed and
plainclothed policemen on hand to
“guard” the building. VMREU
spokesman David Cadman report-
ed that the police warned the strik-
ers to stay clear of the entrances to
city hall.

Inside city hall, the lights were
turned out on the third floor where

— page 12

DENNIS McDERMOTT
..» Suspension set for
Apr. 30.

the council chambers are located
and as media and aldermen arrived
for the 2 p.m. meeting they were
told that it had been cancelled.

Eventually an uneasy mayor
Mike Harcourt emerged from his
office to explain what was going
on. The doors were locked and the
meeting cancelled he said, because
of police ‘‘intelligence informa-
tion’’ that the strikers were going to
occupy the building and that would
endanger priceless city archives,
maps and microfilms.

As Harcourt spoke the 38 senior
staffers, most of whom had more
than 10 years of service with the ci-
ty, neatly dressed and without
picket signs or placards, waited
quietly onthe front steps of city hall
in amazement.

A statement from the VMREU
denied any intention of occupying
the buildings. ‘“We are saddened
that city hall is terrified of its em-

See GVRD page 2

Fed walkout shelved
as TWU wins pact

B.C. Federation of Labor
president Jim Kinnaird an-
nounced Monday that the Fed-
eration had ‘‘postponed indefi-
nitely’’ its regional strike in the
Kootenays as a result of the
B.C. Tel settlement but warned
that its action should not be in-
terpreted as ‘‘backing down
from the employers.”’

.“In an attempt to indicate to
the employers of this province
that organized labor does not
want to continue to operate in
the present industrial relations
climate unless the employers
force us to, we have postponed
the Kootenays protest.

‘Should there be any indica-
tion from the employers that
they want to continue negotiat-
ing in an arena of mistrust and
confrontation, we can reinsti-

tute our protests immediately,”’
he added.

He said that B.C. Tel, by its
actions, had ‘thrown the prov-
ince into industrial relations
chaos,’’ noting that the
15-month-old dispute ‘‘will go
into the books as one of the
most vicious in history.

Asked about the stand of the
Employers Council, he warned
that it had not changed despite
the settlement.

. “But we madeit clear that the
Federation would play a role in
these disputes,”’ he said.

The effective shutdown in the
Nanaimo area March 6 and the
impending walkout by some
10,000 workers in the Koote-
nays — which would have af-
fected the important Cominco

See TWU page 3

spaseniacanaal