BRITISH COLUMBIA

Teachers talking, but still opposing Bill 20

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A one-day walkout had been indicated as early as this week, depending on the outcome of the vote, but the federation postponed it following Brummet’s invita- tion to a meeting to discuss the legislation.

McMurphy said that the BCTF was “prepared to enter into discussions with the government to see if the legislation can be withdrawn or substantively amended.

“We hope these negotiations can be fruitful ...(but) we have a strong mandate to continue our opposition to the legisla- tion as it is presently written,” she said.

There seemed to be little possibility Monday of any movement on the part of the government despite the mounting opposition to both Bill 20 and Bill 19, the Industrial Relations Reform Act. Premier Bill Vander Zalm declared that only minor wording changes would be considered, insisting that if teachers or others wanted to change the philosophy of the legisla- tion, “they should run for public office.”

The expected job action next week will involve a one-day study session which will take teachers out of classrooms to study

both pieces of anti-labor legislation as they affect teachers.

That will be coupled with the beginning of the instruction-only work to rule cam- paign which will then continue until the BCTF holds a strategy conference to determine if it would be continued and/or further action taken.

McMurphy said the strategy conference — a date for which was to be set this week — would also consider further job action which could be further province- wide walkouts or action on a district by district basis.

Faced with the inevitable questions by reporters about the students losing classes, McMurphy put the blame squarely on the government for any disruption.

“This legislation, unless we fight it suc- cessfully or modify it substantially, will result in conditions that no one wants in schools,” she said.

She added that the action by teachers in voting for job action against the legislation was unprecedented “and that should give you an idea of how serious teachers feel the impact this legislation will have on education.

“Tt will disrupt the school system. And that kind of hurt for students is much more significant and will occur over a longer period of time than will any short- term withdrawal of services.”

She emphasized that the legislation was yet another piece in “‘a constant barrage of legislation against the school system.

“We've had bill after bill, budget cut after budget cut directed at education. The education system has been brutalized,” she said.

Coupled with its program of job action against the legislation, the BCTF has launched a major information campaign with brochures and radio, television and newspaper advertising to win public sup- port against the legislation.

A new brochure issued Monday, entitled, “If the teachers are stifled, who will speak out for the kids?”, warns that the government “‘is setting out to destroy the BCTF” in order to maintain total con- trol over education and to suppress any criticism from teachers and principals of its policies.

It calls on people to write Premier Vander Zalm, Education Minister Tony

ELSIE McMURPHY . ‘Bill 20 another bomb thrown at education.”’

Brummet or their MLA and urge that the legislation be withdrawn “until this dan- gerous situation can be sorted out.”

Some 300,000 copies of the, brochure will be distributed by teachers in commun- ities throughout the province.

SAGE: ‘Youth must act to end nuclear threat

Four members of Students Against Glo- bal Extermination have arrived in British Columbia, as part of a cross-Canada tour to promote their message of resistance to nuclear war.

A majority of Canadian teenagers expect that nuclear war will happen in their lifetime and feel powerless to change the situation, according to survey of high school students conducted late last year. But SAGE is out to change those statistics, by encouraging teen- agers first to talk about nuclear war, then learn about the issues and finally take action to stop the threat of global extermination.

Seth Klein, Alison Carpenter, Desiree McGraw and Max Faille, all students from Montreal, launched their tour of B.C. in Kamloops last week with presentations at three local high schools. Local organizers of the meetings, the Kamloops-Shuswap Peace Council, were impressed by the stu- dents’ intelligent and enthusiastic approach to disarmament. Pointing out that youth will account for two and a half million new Votes in the next federal election, the SAGE Students encouraged the Kamloops stu- dents to make their beliefs known through letters to politicians and active participation IN peace organizations. :

An information meeting hosted by the SAGE students to discuss forming a youth disarmament group in the area was attended by representatives from three Kamloops schools.

The SAGE students are scheduled to Speak in communities in the Okanagan and

East Kootenays before heading to Van-

Couver to lead the Walk for Peace. Following the Vancouver walk and rally, the students head for Vancouver Island for 4 week where they will visit a dozen com- Munities speaking at local high schools. ey will also be the featured speakers at a Nanaimo peace conference entitled “Hope In the Nuclear Age, Saying Yes to Peace” Scheduled for Saturday, May 2 at Malas- Pina College. The conference, sponsored by the Gabri- Ola Island Peace Association and the alaspina College Disarmament Group, is

_ Specifically designed for students, parents

and teachers, although everyone is welcome to attend. For further information on the

conference contact June at 247-8015 or Jean at 247-8368.

After their Vancouver Island tour, the SAGE students will return to Vancouver as guests of the Vancouver Youth for Peace Action group. Throughout their 10 day stay in the Lower Mainland the four students will speak at 25 Lower Mainland high schools, and on the last day of the their stay in Vancouver, they will participate in a meeting of high school students to discuss plans for peace action in the Lower Main- land. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. May 20 at the YMCA downtown.

Vancouver Youth for Peace Action also hopes to sponsor a public meeting with the SAGE students during their stay but no details were available at Tribune press time.

SAGE students, (left to right) Seth Klein, Alison Carpenter, Desiree McGraw and Max Faille, bring message of action to B.C. students.

Veterans take peace message to USSR

The words, written in both English and Ukrainian, on the inside front cover of a book of Ukrainian poetry are simple ones: “To a soldier, from a soldier. We are working for peace, for the happiness of all people of goodwill.”

But for Marjorie Nichol, a Vancouver grandmother and veteran of the Second World War, they are a treasured memory of her first trip to the Soviet Union, and she quotes them now to explain why she is travelling to the Soviet Union again at the end of this month as part of a goodwill visit sponsored by Veterans Against Nuclear War.

“Veterans are a unique group in the peace movement. We know what war is all about. We can build bridges that can be built in no other way,” Nichol said in an

interview.

Nichol, who served as a pilot in both the U.S. Women’s Air Force and the Marine Women’s Service during the war, first visited the Soviet Union in 1985 as part of a delegation of peace activists.

“In Kiev, we were introduced to Maria Bobyreva. She was a most impressive sight with her chest full of medals earned for her role as a partisan in what the Soviets call the Great Patriotic War, but she didn’t say very much. When she found out that I too was a veteran, all the barriers came down,” Nichol said.

Bobyreva, who now teaches at the Kiev Institute for Foreign Languages, gave Nichol the book of Ukrainian poetry as a gesture of their new friendship and their joint work for peace. “It was the most beautiful gift that I brought home with me from that trip,” she said.

Nichol emphasized that veterans have a special responsibility to educate others and help expand the peace movement. “Our meetings with like-minded Soviet veterans will be of benefit to everyone.”

She will be one of 13 British Columbian veterans to participate in the Veterans Against Nuclear Arms goodwill visit to the Soviet Union. The delegation of 32 veterans from VANA branches all across Canada leaves Montreal April 29 and will travel to Moscow, Volgograd, Kiev and Leningrad, for meetings with Soviet vete- rans.

The Canadian veterans also hope to visit with peace-minded veterans in var- ious European cities after their visit to the Soviet Union.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 22, 1987 e 3