. By JIM STANFORD lin, ee detest act of civil disobedience Angee ern history of the British peace eens the Campaing for Nuclear tes eect (CND) launched a whole aig ase in the campaign against ras ees on Feb. 6 with a success- ae * Ong blockade of the U.S. Cruise , oe os = Molesworth. ine hours over 5,000 activists Perel blocked the six gates to the . Bon an 125 km north-east of Lon- aa pay and construction per- B eavi a prevented from entering or oa nlike previous blockades the cA not attempt to get token con- Past the demonstrators. Binet cout was impressive consider- . oe took place in the midst of ais ee winter storm this year. ew pe Peretienss heavy snow and Way t vinds left many activists on their af 9 join the blockade, stranded on the Ways. Bevo will be the second of two “af, siles Ph e UK to receive Cruise mis- ; Structio € base is currently under con- ene and an expected 64 Cruise will oF oo there by 1988. There are Bearion : of the American first-strike mon a eployed at Greenham Com- : ~Oase in western England.

Police Backed Off

cones police violence has esca- made at Stee there were no arrests National . Molesworth blockade. CND elegested ouncil member Peter Strauss Political d that the government made a Sched €cision not to interfere with the in fearing the political con- ive :. of mass arrests. the en women blocked one of Protest th gates in an all-women - ced was a strong delega- the organ; omen Against Pit Closures, ss Bee ation of miners’ wives that Strike. of last year’s coal. miners’

vo

et, view of CND vice-chairperson Marked €nt, the Molesworth blockade an important development for

the peace movement. The blockade was

“a serious attempt by conscientious people to prevent further deployments’, an attempt to ‘‘explain to their fellow citizens that the policies which have led to the deployment of these nuclear mis- siles are illegal and immoral”’.

Public opinion polls have consistently shown that a sizable majority of UK citi- zens oppose the Thatcher government’s Cruise and the massive Trident sub- marine programs. But neither polls nor the numerous large demonstrations (in- cluding a march of 100,000 through Lon- don three months ago) have convinced the government of the political necessity of nuclear disarmament.

Events like the Molesworth action show that Britons are ready to take mat- ters into their own hands. Another effec- tive direct-action component to the anti-Cruise campaign have been the Cruise-watch activities. Cruise-watch supporters have continuously monitored the movement of Cruise missiles in and out of the Greenham Common base, publicizing their movements.

This completely under mines the use- fulness of the mobile Cruise launchers,

_which are supposed to be able to ‘melt

into the country-side’ in order to launch their surprise attacks. Largely as a result

of the Cruisewatch efforts, no Cruise missile manoeuvres have been carried out for several months.

Basic Case Campaign

The Molesworth blockade is not the only new thing from CND this year. In tandem with this more aggressive style of campaigning against Cruise, CND has also launched a new public education in- itiative, called the ‘Basic Case’ cam- paign.

Under the slogan ‘The Chance of a Lifetime’, the ‘Basic Case’ is designed to convince those Britons who may oppose Cruise and Trident, but still support the maintenance of other British nuclear weapons, of the argument for nuclear disarmament.

Peace activists have long been frus-

For nine hours, 5,000 ac- tivists blocked the U.S. Cruise missile base at Molesworth, England. The second base now under

construction, Molesworth will house 64 GLCMs when completed in 1988. Added to 96 missiles at Greenham Common, the strike force will total 160. Polls con- sistently indicate majority opposition to Cruise mis- siles on British soil.

TRIBUNE PHOTO —JIM STANFORD

trated by a majority of the population supporting CND on specific weapons programs (like Cruise, Trident, or Star Wars), yet remaining unimpressed by the merits of nuclear disarmament in gener- al. As Kent says, ‘‘Until we convince the majority of voters in this country that nuclear weapons do not defend them, we will not have a government committed to disarmament’.

Basic Case will involve door-to-door canvassing, creative and catchy advertis- ing, work-place and community-based educational meetings.

Basic Case pilot project was intro- duced by the Bristol CND group in 1985, resulting in a higher profile for the peace movement and increased public support.

CND Chairperson Paul Johns explained the Basic Case to CND dele- gates at their annual conference late last year in Sheffield: “‘We have to couple demonstration with dialogue, protest

with persuasion, and successfully stimu- late a national debate on defence and disarmament. And this debate must take place on the doorsteps as much as in parliament’’.

It is a tribute to the breadth and flex- ibility of CND that campaigns as diverse in style as Molesworth and the Basic Case can be combined within a single organization.

CND is a rough equivalent to the Canadian Peace Alliance, but with a longer history and a much stronger man- date for centrally-coordinated cam- paigning. At the local level, semi- autonomous CND branches have shown a remarkable diversity in terms of membership and activity, and are gener- ally supported by virtually all peace ac- tivists ina given locality — from the most die-hard ‘‘direct action’’ campaigners to activists who work in more traditional manners.

- 300 more jobless Cominco

L — Civic leaders were 8 this B.C. town will expe- € highest unemployment Limiteg nada with Cominco that 399 S announcement last week the axe, More workers were getting ee ey Officials suggested Since 198 ots could follow.

nt of th, Tail

dian Pacific Enterprises is the majority shareholder, decided to sacrifice the workers’ livelihood to cover its losses in the crisis-ridden metals market. :

Trail has a population of just under 10,000 with the surrounding area numbering close to 15,000 more. Mayor Chuck Lake expects the jobless rate in his town to rise to 20-22 per cent as a result of the company’s action.

Letter Carriers fight cutbacks

WINNIPEG — Cutbacks in postal service to the public could figure prominently in a possible strike by the 22,000-member Letter

aati ye Meee:

Carrier’s Union of Canada, (LCUC).

Without a contract since Dec. 31, the union said Feb. 9, after negotiations with Canada Post Corp. broke down, that it would be conducting a country-wide strike vote later in the week.

Union officials say wages aren’t the hottest issue in the talks. What has the LCUC concerned is the new trend at Canada Post of setting up group postal boxes in new subur- ban neighborhoods instead of expanding door-to-door delivery. The letter carriers see this as a threat to jobs and a denial to a few tax- payers of their right to receive the same service as all Canadians.

Sewage workers

want health tests

TORONTO — The detection of cancer-causing substances in recent air tests at the city’s main sewage treatment facility has prompted Local 43, Canadian Union of Pub-

lic Employees, to request the test- ing of about 100 current and all retired or former workers.

Local 43 in a statement Feb. 11 said 120 cases of skin rashes have been reported to the nurse at the Ashbridge’s Bay treatment plan, since Jan. 1985. Among the chemi- cals the workers are exposed to are such cancer-causing substances as polychlorinated biphenylls (PCBs), trichlorethylene and benzene.

Tests on 16 chemicals in the air at the treatment plant have been completed. The union is awaiting the results of tests for another 154 toxic substances that appear in the plantas a result of the processing of sewage waste.

Rich-poor gap widening

OTTAWA — Studies commis- sioned by the three largest unions in

ae 7 :

the country for a public sector con- ference they’re planning for next month show that government spending cuts are contributing to the widening chasm separating the rich from Canadians trapped in poverty.

The conference is being planned by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the National Union of Provincial Government Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada to focus on the effects of public sector cuts on the livelihood of Canadians.

The papers will look at such aspects as the impact of the cuts on the welfare system and those forced to live on it, education and unem- ployment. They will also look at the postive effects of a strong public sector as a key element of the econ- omy and a means of stimulating its growth.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 19, 1986 ¢ 7