4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 22, 1987 No one is totally happy > by Premier Bill Vander Zalm Lost among all the rhetoric surrounding the changes being made to B.C.’s labor laws is the urgent need to protect the rights of those who're left on the sidelines during labor disputes — the pec- ple of B.C. It’s symptomatic of the ‘“‘me first’? mentality and attitude of some special interest groups that’s go- ing to have to change if we're ever to shed our reputation as an unstable location for investment and development. What's also interesting is that neither the labor movement or the business community is totally hap- py with the labor law changes that are being made — a sure sign that we haven’t tipped the balance too much in either direction or favored any special interest group. Any fair-minded person who looks at the changes, and most of you are now aware of. what’s entailed, will recognize that they'll Letters to the editor will be considered for publication only when signed. 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Advartising is accepted on the condition {hat In the . event of typographical error, that por lion of the advertising space occupled by the erroneous Item will not be. chatged for, but the balance of tne advertisement will be paid for al the applicable rate. - Advertisers must agsume responsibili- ty for errors in any classified ad which is supplied io the Terrace Review in handwritten form.; ~ in compliance with the°B.C. Human Rights Aci, no advertisement will be published which discriminates against a person due to age, race, religion, col: or, $ox, Nallonality, ancestry or place of origin. 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V&8G 1M7 . Phone: 635-7840 bring about positive . results in terms of im-. proved industrial relations — if the parties directly i in- volved will make a sincere effort. What’s most surprising — and I think it’s very un- fortunate — is the: deci- sion by the labor. com-. munity to adopt a blanket policy of non-cooperation and pull out of such — worthwhile programs as the drug and alcohol task force, apprenticeship planning and training and other joint initiatives. This attitude, and threats of ‘‘non-com- pliance’’ with the new In- . dustrial Relations Council with its improved media- ‘tion procedures and powers to protect innocent victims of labor disputes, is particularly strange. Who can quarrel about giving individual union members more democracy on the shop floor? What’s wrong with giving workers. and employers the right to communicate more freely with each other?. What's so terrible about making sure that there's fairness in union hall dispatch pro- cedures? And what’s wrong with _making sure that the public interest is protected from lengthy, costly and wasteful labor disputes? It doesn’t help when labor leaders tell rallies that “‘there’s gonna be confrontation all the way” or that ‘‘we may have to turn B.C. upside down’’ or that B.C. should brace itself for a wave of strikes and job ac- tion. The only action they say will be acceptable, would be complete withdrawal of the legislation and a new -round of hearings into our labor laws. ~ What’s forgotten i is that we've already held hear- --ings at which we got more than” ‘700 submissions from unions and in- dividual British Colum- bians, - While our offer to listen ‘— to address specific con- cerns — remains open, we can’t and we won’t bow to. ‘an attitude that says ‘‘it’s either our way, or no way”, As government we will not capitulate to blanket demands from special in- terest groups because by doing so, we'd be ab- dicating our responsibility to individual workers and more important, the public at large — the peo- ple of British Columbia. That’s where our first duty lies and we can’t and - won't step back simply because any group decides that its own interests must always come first. _ UNSIGHTLY ~ SMELLY TNS Fan. SURE, WELL CLEAN UP AGID RAIN, AS SOON AD. CANADA CLEANS UP THOSE. TREES AND L _iniote Gain DI “We could use a fresh =e Letter_ To the editor, ' The Provincial Govern- ment must be con- gratulated for the clever way they recently in- troduced the Industrial Relations Act (Bill 19) and the Teachers’ Profession Act (Bill 20). These two pieces of legislation so drastically change the rules of the game that it takes a con- siderable amount of study and analysis to understand | what the provincial government is trying to do. Neither the public nor the media will take that time and the Premier, who appears to be counting on that, seems to pretend that he cannot understand: what all the fuss is about. A truly democratic gov- ernment would have in- troduced a discussion paper so that the public could have voiced an opin- ion about the changes. However, we aresupposed | to believe that the Labour Minister, on his tour ‘through the province, heard the majority of presentations supporting the coronation of Ed Peck as the Labour Czar of B.C. We at least deserve some honesty about what entations proposed to make the labor-manage- ment relations climate in B.C, less confrontational. We surely could use another fresh start now. So much misinforma- tion is being forwarded on the Teachers’ Profession Act, That teachers will receive full collective bargaining rights is fac- tually false, That teachers asked for a provincial col- lege of ‘teachers is false and they certainly don’t want the government con- - trolled bureaucracy being proposed, nor do they want to be forced.to pay for it. That the College of Teachers is *‘comparable - to the B.C, College of Physicians and Surgeons ‘or the Legal Profession’s Bar Association’’ is also false, Even-a cursory ex- amination of the member- ship, structure, autonomy and procedures show vast differences. What is true is that for the past five years teachers, through their professional associations - including the BCTF), _ COMMENTARY _ I had a talk ‘with Terrace wheelchair ‘athlete Paul Clark and his wife Karen about what message people might glean from the example of Rick Hansen. Karen thought that disabled was a term that could be used to describe people who were limited by their grouchiness or by their unhappiness. Paul thought that people should look at the blessings they have and make the best of them and to foster é a positive outlook on life. I think that everyone can learn from the examples of f people like Rick Hansen and paul Clark, both tremen- dous successes in their lives, ' The message that 1 get is, everyone is limited i in some regard, but unlimited in others, and they should pursue those areas where they can make progress focusing on the positive, not the negative. ‘I have friends who are limited because they don’t believe in themselves despite having wonderful healthy bodies, They lack confidence or ambition because they think that they will fail if they v venture into something too ambitious. - Perhaps if they look at the examples : of Rick and Paul, they will feel that almost anything is possible and this will help to dispell their limitations due to doubting mindsets. it was that the 700 pres- - I told Paul that I didn’t regard him as disabled since . we all have limitations of one sort or another and that he has done more with his life than most so called able ‘bodied people, and that there should be a new term | developed for his situation. After all, we all make do within certain physical and mental boundaries which together form our niche in life. Perhaps the trick is knowing which limitations can be expanded and which cannot and then philosophically — accepting those that. can’t and flying with those that. Can, : _ Jorma Jyrkkanen, - Terrace, B.C. have been protesting the: . government’s war on the. education system. ‘Since. teachers witness first hand the effect of any reduction . in social services to. chil-. dren and families, it’ should come as no: sur-" prise that any teachers’. association which wants to.; be considered ‘‘profes-.. sional” will have to wat-. chdog the. provincial gov-: ernment, particularly as to. its education policies, What the provincial’ Socred government is try- ing to do is quite clever. : You can almost see the. boys in the smoke-filled: room — “what we'll do is. this, guys — we'll legislate . the formation of a new. _organization which we can control, have it usurp many of the functions of: the BCTF, force teachers ‘to be members along with. _ other agents of. school. boards,. then we'll throw. ina few functions which, the Ministry provided: before, and when you've: got it all together, force teachers to pay for the whole bureaucracy. Brilliant!’” 7 - “But we're not finished _ yet. Next we make mem- bership in the 68-year-old BCTF voluntary. We. force teachers” unions or associations to completely renegotiate sick leave, due process, closed shop pro- visions, etc. — renegotiate everything they’ve ever. had in a contract, but. we'll restrict what they can tenegotiate. Oh boy, that will keep them busy for 2 long time. Brilliant! As long as we don’t get the teachers too upset.’ “Oh well, then we can always accuse them of us-. ing their students as pawns, Brilliant!”’ Helmut Giesbrecht, Terrace, B.C.