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Friday, February 22, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page.

Naws. Viewpoint

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Part-time future

PQ anada’s biggest union, the

300,000-member Canadian Union of

Public Employees (CUPE), warns that

“employers are turning part-time work into a weapon against organized tabor. °, I

The country’s 1:7 million part-time workers. “

now make up 15% of the labor force, com- pared to fess than 4% in the 1950s. As 2 group, says CUPE, they are paid substantially less than full-time workers, with fewer fringe benefits. So the union is new calling for equal

-pay and overtime rates for both. categories,

regardless ef hours per week worked. .

In principle, the demand may seem fair enough, but. it ignores several | of today’s realities,

: The proportion ef. part-time jobs is “growing _for. two. reasons. Firstly, computers and . automation. .ave increasingly taking over work

ns:Secondly, part-time workers.’ “give employers needed flexibility. in’ trimming”

’ their sails to the economic ie winds, » especially | in -

times of recession, -

: “workers are in the small busines seston which.

’

has. always.“been.' difficult “for ‘unions to” ‘organize: because of: ‘the’ high cost:of servicing — i “compared to big ~ “"Meanwhile; ' . small

OF alll mew |

. future. ‘Obviou: iv, they: must be i sronteed. equitable. wages | and working conditions. But al hig ‘fa

righteous tut-tutting’ ‘that’:

nis : ou ~ What's so wrong: about |

pney. from mine Devil to pay: for the °

’ Display Advartising 980-0511 Classilied Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom * 985-2131 ‘. Circulation’ 986-1337 Subscriptions +: 985-2131 “1138 onedale, Ave., North Vancouver, B B.C. N7M 2H4 “ . ; Publisher Peter Speck ; : Marketing Director Operations Manager * Robert Graham Bernt Hilliard ‘Advertising Director Circulation Director Oe eens: : +7 +”... Bit McGown : ” Editor-in-Chief . Noel Wright . Display Adv Advertising Manager’ Production Director Chris Johnson Photography Manager - Terry Peters

“Classified Misnager Val Stephenson .

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Member of the B.C. Press Council

‘55,770 faverage. Wednesday

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THIS PAPER lu RECYCLABLE

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Nee wee wewewe nner”

The trouble with revolu- tions is that -you never know how they’re. going to turn out until they’ re

already over.

ecoriomic revo: in. which - the old.

‘induStries, our

economic mainstay for “generations, are now runn- : ing’ out’ of steam. There's a high- tech” ‘vevolution, which

is seeing automation make “more and more inroads into our working lives.::

There’s a social revotution stemming in part’ from the economic upheaval. With almost a:quarter of a million

» people out-of jobs, many of

-us are having to rethink our. basic ideas about the role of work in a new economy.

But the social revolution has many roots. Some go back to the .counter-culture

Of the 1960s which, for all its - naive slogans, let loose new

ideas about‘‘such: things, as

ecology, human dignity, and:

the need for: people to set ‘their own goals.

‘There’ s a revolution going on in education. Mostly it seems to involve the efforts of largely uneducated cabi- net ministers to create an educational system geared to the 1920s. But the budget forcing many educators and parents to rethink their basic assump- tions about what to .teach

Dear Editor:

Your recent editorial entitl- ed “Art Logic’ (Sun Feb. 3,) and the various articles revealing the controversy over the use of Pauline

Johnson School for either the

arts community. or French

/

and how to teach it.

And there’s a quiet’ potiti- cal. revolution under way. No one is throwing up bar- ricades or . storming. the Bastille, .but ‘some of the

fundamental assumptions of

political life in British Col- umbia are being tossed onto history’s ash heap.

The real nature of this po-

. litical revolution is hard to

define. It will probably not be fully understood: until: it has worked itself out. Perhaps, 20 years from now, the political scientists will be able to explain in detail ex- actly how B.C. politics changed in the 1980s,

Right now, in the middle of the revolution, all we can see are the signs of some kind of. major change. Peo- ple on both sides of the old political spectrum are realiz- ing that what they've been doing doesn’t

realities. Socreds _ believe sincerely in the tenets of..their party now find that their old beliefs don’t really fit these new times. Veteran NDP'’ers who always ac- cepted the party’s principles and policies now find: that

the wisdom of the 1960s is .

out of touch with the 1980s. People all over the pro-

work any. more, And:they’re walking” .. ~ away from the old political

who, used to

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theitiselves: z as. “either left right, suspect’ that those | “time-" honored political labels don a mean very much’any‘more. There’s a growing feeling that we need something i new.

‘Not-just a’ new ‘leadér,’or

new set of’ policies, but a new. approach-. to. the .whole.

question. of politics and gov--

ernment. There's a ‘feeling’ that’ it’s time “for-.a :fun- damental change: . :

If we break free of the old’’: left-right system, the: adver-: sarial paradigm of . politics we've lived with for so many years, what do we put, in its place? :

Obviously, .- there“: is: no point trying to-create an ar-.. tificial middle: between : the; two old extremes, The odds . are, we'd end. up. with the

should, be ‘going. “We. must’ instead’ create: new politics, to answer the

‘neéds and goals ‘of British < . Columbians in a new era,

What would ‘that’ new poli- tics be like? How would it be different from the old politi-

‘ cal realities?

No: one should try to pro- duce an instant manifesto,- detailing exactly how politics.

NOEL WRIGHT ON LEAVE

Letter of the day_ Room for arts and language

linguistic needs of our com, munity would be satisfactori-: ly. met.

Why ‘not think big (or paint with a big brush).

Immersion education has prompted me to ask, **Why nol construct a major com- plex on the school property and consider its use as both an arts and language centre?”"

This could be a new and more modern approach to bi- culturalism. Employment would be created’ through construction, teaching and administering, and, at the same time,

Orel are. . ‘beginning to.

the artistic - and:

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_ they, very. soon. becom ¢om-. . pletely: out. of: date. .

“, /But~ some.” basic ground | -rales” can’ be laid “down. The- old, politics ‘emphasized rigid

ic’ _ which: never. quit

: “politics-wi the ‘emphasis ‘on. flexibility

,on ‘systems: that.can’ speedily: .." o .y adapt to change. Results: will

be". more.” important than’ © bureéaicratic processes.. *

The old ‘politics: assumed : the need for strong, central- ’ ized government:, which ‘im-.

posed its decisions: from the

top down. 7 ros Pane

“The: new: -politiés 's sees ‘the | need | -for,..a:. décentralized : government: which . actively seeks to, distribute: power.'to :

“which encourages people ‘to’ make decisions * for:

“The old: politics was based ; :

on the: clash of opposing in-: J terests: The new politics will:

-be ‘based on the recognition: of common needs and goals.

The: old ‘politics’. 1 forced? ‘ politicians to choose between

being pragmatic ‘or: being vi.’ - i

sionary.. The! practitioners of: : the new politics will have to":

be both pragmatic and vie: : sionary. E

' They know - it’s s time for: ar ‘change. What: that change. will be, and what. it will: . - mean, for British Columbia,, - is up to all of us to decide. ;;

Denese Izzard, . West Vancouver