Call for social program cuts ‘orchestrated’ The call by the president of the Canadian Manufactur- ers Association for cutbacks in federal spending on social programs is part of a “‘well-orchestrated big business agenda designed to make sure that more of the country’s wealth is allocated to the very rich and the corporations,” Carpenters Provincial Council president Bill Zander charged last week. “The government has entered into a pact with big busi- ness to manipulate the Canadian economy,” Zander said in a statement issued by the union Mar. 6. “In order for the corporations and the wealthy to benefit from Tory poli- cies, the majority of Canadians have to suffer higher taxés, higher unemployment, fewer social programs, a decreased standard of living and more poverty.” Zander was reacting to a much-publicized submission to the federal finance department in which CMA president Laurent Thibault called for substantial cuts in social pro- grams as a means of a cutting the federal deficit. Thibault said the Canada-U.S. trade deal ‘“tmakes it more urgent that we tackle the outstanding issues that affect our compe- titiveness.”” The CMA brief and Thibault’s accompanying letter to Wilson were part of an orchestrated demand from the corporate sector for deficit reduction based on cuts to social spending — a demand that has reached a crescendo in the last few weeks before Finance Minister Michael Wilson brings down his budget. Major business groups, including the Canadian Federa- tion of Independent Business and the Business Council on National Issues have called for spending cuts, pointing particularly to universal programs such as family allowan- ces as targets for cutbacks. The International Monetary Fund, which in the past has pressured countries such as Chile and Jamaica to accept drastic austerity programs, also joined the campaign this week. In a confidential report to Wilson, the IMF called for a $9 billion overall reduction in the deficit and sug- gested that the biggest cuts in spending should come in the next two years — presumably to give the Tories room to manoeuvre before the next election. At the same time, however, the CMA called in its brief for a whole new range of tax breaks for manufacturing corporations to help them “improve competitiveness.” But the corporate sector is already paying far less than its share, Zander pointed out. “Corporations, including CMA members, benefit even more from Tory policies,” he noted. “Their share of the tax pie has fallen from 23 per cent in the early 1970s to a projected 17 per cent by 1992. “But that’s not enough — they want the money that has been allocated to single mothers, low income earners, children and pensioners,” he charged. Zander also noted that tax burden has become propor- tionately much heavier for low income earners than for the wealthy since the Tories came to power in 1984, Taxes on family incomes of $25,000 have gone up 39 per cent since 1984 while those on families earning $100,000 have increased only 11.2 per cent. Similarly, the high interest rate policy maintained by the government will be most onerous for working people since unemployment rates are expected to climb above eight per cent as a result. High unemployment may be acceptable to big business because it applies downward pressure on wages. But it “translates into a need for more unemployment insurance and social services, not less. “The biggest problem facing the country right now is not the deficit or social spending,” he said. “The. biggest problem for the people of Canada is to figure out ways to stop the erosion of our democratic rights to a clean envir- onment, universal health care and education, and the maintenance of social programs that benefit the majority.” F: = FHIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver BC V5K 1Z5 Phone 251.1186 eee ee ee ee eee eee ee MPOSTAECOCO 2... ee teen eee lamenciosing lyr. $200 2yrs.$350) 3yrs. $500 Bill me later Donations. wast tia i NSTRIKE "A Fair : Sttemens Pickets outside W.J. Mouat School in Abbotsford. Strike targets ‘open shop’ Continued from page 1 The Abbotsford board’s campaign is based on six teachers who initially refused to join the union (another six or seven have resigned from the ADTA since the strike began) and have demanded the right to an open shop contract that would enable them — and any new teachers hired — to opt out of union membership. But the union shop has been ensh- rined in most teachers’ contracts throughout the province and is sup- ported by 99 per cent of the ADTA membership, Anthony emphasized. Out on the picket line, teachers have been drawing attention to the union shop agreements wearing else- where in the province with buttons which say: ““Why Not Here?” Only the tiny school district of Creston, which has with some 125 teachers, has signed an open shop agreement. But the ADTA rejects any comparison, pointing out that Cres- ton has declining enrolment and few new teachers are likely to be hired that would affect the opting-out clause. But in Abbotsford, the school dis- trict hires some 120-150 new teachers a year, Anthony said. And the open shop could quickly become divisive, particularly if the board made a pros- pective employee’s union status a hir- ing issue. Moreover, he said, the board is already dealing with the union shop in the Teamsters contract which covers custodians, secretaries and bus drivers for the school district. In a last-minute effort to avoid a strike, the ADTA did offer to leave the six teachers out of the union, with the provision that all new teachers would be required join the union. But the board also rejected that position, insisting instead on the open shop together with i ee the establish- ment of acom- mittee that would review teachers who sought to leave the union on religious and other grounds. “There’s also # afeelingaméng # our members ANTHONY that we gave up too much even to offer what we did,” Anthony noted. Although some 80 issues were resolved in the 11 months since bar- gaining began, there are still 25 other outstanding issues “but the board has refused to negotiate them until the union membership issue is settled.” As a result, they too would have to be resolved before picket lines could come down, said Anthony. No new talks are scheduled or planned, he said, but a board meeting is set for March 13 and teachers are hoping that the two trustees who have already dissented from the board’s stand can get new support under the pressure of public opinion which seems to be shifting in the teachers’ favour. “(School board chair) Ed Fast claims he’s got the public on his side but he really only represents the con- servative element in the community — the churches and businesses,” said Anthony, noting that parents have been calling to assist and have also circulated a petition in support of the “} teachers’ right to a union shop. But failing a change on the board, “our members expect a long strike and a hard one,” Anthony said. On picket lines outside area schools, the mood was upbeat as teachers responded to dozens of . honks of support from passing cars and accepted coffee from residents. ‘Tim Raine, a member of the ADTA’s action committee which is co-ordinating the strike, said he had — “never seen such cohesiveness as there has been around the issue of the union shop — even the older members are saying, no way will they accept an open shop. “Tve been going to meetings for 15 years,” he said, “‘and I’ve never seen our association so united.” The 300 school support staff across the district, members of the Teams- ters, have been honouring teachers’ picket lines. 15 districts still without pacts With 87 per cent of B.C.’s public school teachers now working under collective agreement, the teachers union is down to bargaining with the “hard nuts,”’ a B.C. Teachers Federa- tion official says. George North, head of the BCTF bargaining division, said 58 teachers associations have achieved collective agreements, leaving 15 districts to go. Two others are just beginning talks for new contracts, including Fort Nel- son which last summer became the first teacher association to strike a col- lective agreement as a union shop with a one-year contract. Those remaining districts are the ones where trustees are the most intransigent, playing hardball over issues such as working conditions and wages, and in two notable cases attempting to deny teachers a closed shop, North reported. Not all the districts with collective agreements have totally union shops, North acknowledged. Eleven.teachers associations have modified union shops. New teachers must join the union, North stipulated. ~The most recent victory against an open-shop effort came in Vancouver when the Vancouver Teachers Feder- ation won its case against 25 “‘dissi- dents” represented by the notorious anti-union law firm, Jordan and Gall. The Industrial Relations Council ruled March 3 that the anti-union teachers must join the district’s public or secondary teachers associations or, be fired. . The teachers had sought an IRC injunction against the stipulation issued by the Vancouver school board in accordance with the district’s closed-shop agreement. North noted that compulsory membership in the BCTF had been in | legislation for 40 years until the advent of Bill 20, the Teaching Profes- sion Act, in 1986. The same bill led to the organizing drive which saw — teachers vote overwhelmingly for union representation. The open-shop demand is the key stumbling block in Langley and Abbotsford districts. In others, such as Chilliwack, Agassiz-Harrison, Ket- tle Valley, and Central and South | Okanagan, issues include class sizes — and wages.