Wednesday, Nov. 2, 1983

Newsstand OCEAN 48
price Coe. :
40c Vol. 46, No. 41

of Grenada

condemned
as ‘act of
aggression’

stories page 8, 9

The United States’ military invasion of
® sovereign Caribbean state of
feénada proked swift response

&8cross Canada last week, as

demonstrators from Halifax to Van-

Souver took to the streets to demand

immediate withdrawal of the invaders

8nd self-determination for the small

Sland country. In Vancouver some

" answered the call of the Central
American Support Committee, the

Communist Party and other
Stoups. to demonstrate outside the
i ‘S. consulate hours after the Oct. 25
Nvasion. They demonstrated again at
©bson Square Saturday, where
raser Valley resident Al Crawshaw (r)

hose brother and family are still on
®@ island, urged everyone to sign a
Mass telegram sent to the U.S. em-
bassy in Ottawa, and to increase
Pressure on the Reagan administra-
tion to withdraw. Further demonstra-
Ons are planned, including one in-
aving both Americans and Cana-
lans at the Blaine/Douglas border
®fossing this Saturday at noon.
es

U.S. invasion

ee

— page 6, 7

| struggle waged over the direction of this
| province’s social and political life.

| which precipitated this strike, Bill 3, af-

Strike action launched
against Socreds’ Bill 3

The issue of Bill 3 firings still unresolved,
the 35,000 members of the B.C. government
Employees Union launched their province-
wide strike at midnight Oct. 31, setting in

motion what could become a strike >

throughout the public sector and ultimately

a general strike should the government take —

punitive action against them.

Picket lines began going up immediately
at midnight at various locations including
the Vancouver courthouse complex as well
as the Ministry of Human Resources centre
in downtown Vancouver and by morning
virtually all government buildings including
the legilature, liquor stores, licence offices
and ministry offices were behind picket
lines.

The strike — mandated by an 87 per cent

vote. throughout the BCGEU — was the
culmination of more than a week of round- —

the-clock bargaining sessions at the Labor
Relations Board, punctuated late Monday
afternoon by a cabinet press conference at
which Premier Bill Bennett sought a delay in
the BCGEU strike deadline.

But in the final analysis, the bargaining
brought no new proposals from the govern-
ment which remains determined to impose
the provisions of Bill 3 in one way or
another.

See Gov't page 12

A strike
for all

The picket lines around government
operations throughout B.C. this week are
more than the dramatic and symbolic
statement of labor’s position to the
Socred government. Those pickets are
also the front line of an historic people’s

ESITORIAL

Much moreisat stake than the rights of
B.C. government employees. The issue

fects all public sector workers and attacks
the most basic trade union right, freedom
of association. When all the cosmetic and
semantic amendments to Bill 3 are assess-
ed it is apparent that the Socreds have not
really moved one inch from the line of
march they set out on July 7. They still de-
mand the right to fire any public sector
worker indiscriminately. The BCGEU
and Operation Solidarity had no choice
but to commence escalating strike action.

Beyond Bill 3 this strike is about the
whole legislative program of the govern-
ment. It is about human rights, tenants’
rights, and about vital social services,

See STRIKE page 12