"dcba470b-bf9f-4dd0-b1ee-c96d4904a40b"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1213576"@en . "Kinesis"@en . "2013-08-15"@en . "1982-04-01"@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/kinesis/items/1.0045571/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " VMJIDE 6 After being forcefed unnecessary typing tests for too long, one secretary has had enough. 8 Polish women activists interned at Goldap remain strong in their defiance of the military junta Q Has the revolution in Nicaragua brought with it sexual emancipation for women? Heather Conn reports mixed reactions to this question 1 1 Women Workers in the Home are preparing for a lively Mother's Day celebration on May 8th. This issue features a poster and resource kit 1 5 Eva Kupczynski is a tapestry weaver of unusual talent and colour sensitivity who believes in working big \u00E2\u0080\u0094 her works range in size from 35 square feet to a notable 140 square feet! 1 6 Pat Feindel reviews the film P4W \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a powerful portrayal of women \"doing time\" in Kingston Penitentiary for Women. For once, she says, the women have been allowed to speak for themselves 1 9 To be anti-Zionist is not necessarily to be anti- Semitic, says Chavah Mintz. In her article, she makes a case for an anti-racist stance which embraces the rights of all people who experience racial and ethnic persecution This scene from International Women's Day reminds us that Mother's Day celebrations are just around the corner. Photo by Ces Rosales. SUBSCRIBE TO KiMESiJ Published 10 times a year by Vancouver Status of Women 400A West 5th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J8 \u00E2\u0096\u00A1 VSW membership - includes Kinesis subscription - $20 (or what you can afford) \u00E2\u0096\u00A1 Kinesis subscription only - $13 \u00E2\u0096\u00A1 Institutions - $40 \u00E2\u0096\u00A1 Sustainers - $75 Name Address_ L _Amount Enclosed_ Please remember that VSW operates on inadequate funding \u00E2\u0080\u0094 we need member support! Special Collections Serial APRIL '82 KIMSiJ news about women that's not in the dailies 2 Kinesis April. 1982 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 1982 r*i FT k April 1982 Kinesis 3 ACROSS B.C. Divinsky's \"humour\" draws angry response When Vancouver municipal elections roll around in November voters would do well to remember the remarks attributed to Aid. Nathan Divinsky during a recent speech at the University of British Columbia. In the student newspaper, the Ubyssey, Divinsky is reported to have criticized single, pregnant women for keeping their babies instead of offering them for adoption. He is said to have remarked: \"No one asked her to uncross her legs.\" Divinsky has since refuted all criticism maintaining that his statements were not reported accurately. Divinsky, who has a reputation for filling a lot of air time during City Council meetings, explains that his remarks were said \"in reminiscing humour. I wasn't saying that was the situation today or that I think this is the answer.\" The Ubyssey reports Divinsky as saying that women who run away from their husbands, where the husband is the family breadwinner, should not get public assistance. \"They should never have left their husbands in the first place,\" he said. In a follow-up letter to the Ubyssey Divinsky wrote that he believes: \"...people must bear the responsibility for their own actions. Today, of course, many people become single parents with the full expectation that they have a right to be supported by society. \"I am a great believer in freedom...What I do object to is people exercising this freedom and then expecting society to pay for it.\" Accurate reporting or not, his comments have stirred up strong rebukes from Mayor Harcourt and Susan Hoeppner of Vancouver Status of Women. In a letter to City Council Hoeppner asked if Divinsky would be able to survive if forced to raise a child on $540. per month as many welfare women do. \"Divinsky's analysis of women who run away from their husbands is feudal and shows no knowledge of the violent situations in which many women live. Surely a representative of Vancouver City Council should not be permitted to advocate such woman-hating.\" Q Red Rag shut down by UBC administration The Red Rag, the obscene newspaper published by the University of British Columbia's engineers, is dead. (See March Kinesis) Engineering Undergraduate Society president Lance Balcom made his announcement three days after administration president Doug Kenny placed a padlock on the Society's doors. Following the publication of the Red Rag during Engineering week Dean Martin Wedepohl wrote to Kenny recommending the closure as a punitive measure. \"The EUS asked me what they could do to have it opened but as far as I'm concerned, it's closed indefinitely,\" Wedepohl said. \"I'm in no position to bargain with them.\" Wedepohl said the engineers made a bargain- with him two years ago when they signed an affidavit promising to change the nature of their publication. Balcom said that he and EUS president-elect Rich Day have initiated a series of steps which will make it very difficult for the Red Rag to appear again, but he refused to elaborate on the details. In a letter to the student newspaper, the Ubyssey, Balcom lamented that efforts to change the publication had failed. He described the rag's beginnings many years ago as a satire, and \"very good satire at that\". \"The most suggestive thing in the 1958 Red Rag was a classified: 'Wanted: piece of tail, contact model airplane club'. Times change as do attitudes,\" wrote Balcom. \"The vision of some within engineering was not lost but the ability was lacking.\" Vancouver Status of Women staffer Nadine Allen said she is skeptical about Balcom's promise that the publication is dead. \"Being old and cynical I'll wait,\" she said. VSW is re-opening its 2-year-old Human Rights complaint against the engineers to ensure that the Red Rag is never published again. Q (The Ubyssey) Brown moves to outlaw sexual harassment A British Columbia woman may have the legal right to sue a person who has sexually harassed her. Rosemary Brown, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds, plans to introduce to the B.C. Legislature a \"Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act.\" The Act defines sexual harassment as: \"unsolicited, non-reciprocated behaviour of a male towards a female that asserts her role over her function as worker, tenant, student, client, patient or person.\" If a woman is psychologically or emotionally hurt by a sexual advance, she can claim sexual harassment. If the Act becomes law, women would have recourse against anyone who uses economic power and authority to restrict their \"equal access to the work place, services or tenancy ...\" The following is a list of activities defined as sexual harassment: unsolicited physical contact, persistent propositioning, coerced intercourse, gender based insults and taunting, physical assault, attempted rape, and rape. More information on this Act can be obtained from Brown's office, 6340 Kingsway, Burnaby, B.C. V5E 1C5, 4-37-9452. (North Shore Women) Q Feminist appointed to head commission on part-time work Joan Wallace, former Vancouver Status of Women staff member and active feminist, has left her five-year position as general manager of the Retail Merchants Association of Canada and switched to her eighth job in a long career. She is heading up a 10 month position for a royal commission inquiry into part-time work in Canada. She recognizes it as a significant step towards implementing the kind of social change she has fought for these past 20 years. \"One of the things I'd like to do is change the image of part-time work,\" she says. Wallace thinks part-time workers are not taken seriously enough in the job market and so are vulnerable to the whims and economic caprice of employers. She suggests there should be more sharing of full-time shifts between part-time workers who prefer shorter work weeks, prorating benefits to cover employees while fairly protecting employers. She also says people approaching pensionable age should be able to ease into this phase of life by working just a few days a week if they choose. Appointing a woman to head the commission was a positive step, she says. \"I think the reason they appointed a woman is because most part-time workers are women,\" she says. \"And the number of part- time workers in the labor force has really grown.\" Wallace's commission will employ at least five persons, and \"hopefully some part- time people.\" It will recommend legislative and policy changes to broaden employment opportunities and improve pay for part-time workers. Submisssions are being invited from employers, part-time workers, unions, and other interested parties, and the commission will make its report in December. Hanne Jenson offered Human Rights post The announcement of Wallace's appointment was closely followed by a notice that the high-profile position of B.C. human rights branch director has been offered to the current acting director, Hanne Jensen. The post has been the centre of controversy since Kathleen Ruff took an aggressive approach to the job when she was appointed in 1973. Jensen took over as acting director last summer after Nola Landucci was abruptly replaced. Jensen said she had not yet assigned priorities but believed she was heading into a \"massive job\" given growing concern about racism in B.C. She believed her role could be to \"provide leadership and bring together people concerned to show the small minority that causes problems that racism is simply not acceptable in B.C.\" As for her approach to the job, Jensen does not think comparisons with her predecessors would be fair. Since Ruff left the position, \"the times have changed and the mood is different,\" she said. \"Ruff was fighting an uphill battle for basic principles-the mere acceptance of the notion of equality for women met with opposition at the time.\" Jensen first joined the branch as a human rights officer in 1974 when Ruff was at the helm and was promoted to senior human rights officer in 1977. In 1981 she became the chief officer in charge of investigations into human rights complaints. 0. 4 Kinesis April 1982 ACROSS CANADA Quebec feminist battles English press for right to be heard In the fall of 1980, students at Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec burned student handbooks on campus because the handbooks contained gay material. That incident, and the harassment of Daron Westman, the gay activist who edited the handbook, received nationwide press coverage. Not long after, in October 1980, a feminist student called Sondra Corry was attacked for protesting a poster which she believed condoned violence against women. This incident, unlike the first one, received little publicity, no doubt because university officials were still hurting from the bad publicity arising from the handbook episode. It began when Corry pasted a protest sticker onto the pornographic female image which appeared on a film poster on campus. Some students who were members of the film society, the student government, and the student newspaper (The Campus ) saw her and reacted angrily, threatening to fine her. The Campus later slandered Corry in a front page article, and in an editorial on the next page, characterized her as a \"paranoid schizophrenic\" and \"just plain stupid\". The same day, Corry was ordered off campus by a security guard. It did not end there. The next Monday, when Corry went in to her job as typesetter and freelance writer for The Township Sun she was told there was no work for her. She moved quickly to publicize the harassment and spent the next five weeks trying to interest the English press in the story. It was a futile effort. Even the Canadian University Press refused to pick up the story, despite the strong human rights policy on its books. Corry was finally able to rouse support in neighbouring Sherbrooke, where a dozen local women's groups formed a coalition in her defense. In late November, the coalition held a press conference, demanding that the university administration publicly uphold Corry's rights on campus. They asked for assurance that any woman or group of women would have the right to express feminist ideas on campus, and demanded a full retraction of The Campus article and editorial. Neither administration nor student representatives responded to these grievances. A STOP! This \u00C2\u00BBs Offensive', Insulting, and (^grading to WOMEN > ^ But still the English press refused to warm to the story. The Sherbrooke Record, a local English daily with close connections to The Township Sun, instead went on the attack, slandering Corry and ridiculing the coalition. The Record also refused to print letters of support which poured in not only from local women's groups, but from women's and student's groups in Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto and Boston. The paper claimed that it had neither time to translate the letters (many were in French) nor space to print them. But Corry insists that to her knowledge, it was the first time the Record editor had refused to print serious letters of concern from community groups. A year and a half later, the incident is still unresolved. Corry sees it as the beginning of censorhsip of feminism in the local English press, stating that feminist activities have been consistently ignored by the English language press in the area. For Corry, the lack of interest in the local press is especially disturbing because until October 1980 she had worked as a freelance writer specializing in women's issues, and had been published regularly by the English press. She now believes she will never again be published by the English press in Quebec. The repression of a segment of the community, whether large or small, is serious, and Corry has chosen to fight it by laying a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission. The case is scheduled to be heard in late March. She has charged Bishop's University with political discrimination, with collusion for encouraging The Campus, The Township Sun, The Sherbrooke Record, and the Canadian University Press to censor the story, and with slander and loss of access to the press. Corry has also charged that the university influenced The Township Sun to have her fired from her job. The coalition defending Corry is currently working to raise support on her behalf by publicizing the case. For more information write Sondra Corry, 1299 Amherst, Sherbrooke, Quebec or Denise Benoit, 940 Walton, Apt. 4, Sherbrooke, Quebec. 0. Supreme Courts open the door to women judges Regional CACSW office to open in Vancouver The first regional office of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women will open in Vancouver soon, announced the Minister responsible for the status of women, Judy Erola. Eileen Hendry, local women's activist, is among a number of recent appointments to the council and will undertake the office's inception in British Columbia. \"I'm delighted about the Vancouver office because it gives us a West Coast base, and I've observed that we have a very active women's community in B.C.\" Erola said. The advisory council has formally rejected calls for a new structure emphasizing independence from government, choosing instead to set up regional offices in an attempt to reach the grassroots. (Vancouver Sun) The first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada will be Bertha Wilson of the Ontario Court of Appeal, who is regarded as a moderate liberal with an occasional penchant for writing innovative law. The appointment of Madam Justice Wilson, 58, comes as a relief to women's group in Canada but as no great surprise. She was considered a front-runner among possible candidates to replace Mr. Justice Ronald Martland. Judge Wilson's membership on the court is expected to tip the court's traditionally conservative learning towards the more liberal views championed in what are often minority judgments by Chief Justice Bora Laskin. The following week in Nova Scotia Constance R. Glube, 50, was appointed Chief Justice of the trial division of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the first woman to be named chief of a court under federal jurisdiction. The new Chief Justice has been Scotia court since 1974. the Nova (Province) Mud wrestling sparks sexism guidelines Guidelines on what constitutes a sexist programming activity were adopted by the University of Saskatchewan students' unioi (USSU), following a controversy over a planned mud wrestling show. Some USSU council representatives said mud wrestling shows, which feature women wrestlers in bathing suits, are sexist. A council committee was formed tc study the issue of sexist programming events and its guidelines were adopted by the USSU council. In future all events will be screened for sexist content, according to the following guidelines: Does it serve to turn men and women into biological subunits (by displaying sections of a person's body in dissected portions)? Does it portray women and/or men as unequal objects exclusively for the purpose of sexual consumption or gratification? Is it designed to inflict harm on women and/or men and to demean them? Does it tend to display men and/or women in traditional gender roles, so that an unequal and unbalanced physical, emotional and/or political position is created? What is its underlying theme? Is that theme consistent? (The Goliard) April 1982 Kinesis 5 INTERNATIONAL Latin American women protest violence and repression Throughout Latin America, last Nov. 25 was marked by demonstrations as part of the international day of protest against violence against women. In Lima, Peru, hundreds of women from feminist organizations, unions and political parties, and poor women from the slums demonstrated. To show the relationship between violence against women and repression by the state, the feminist group LIMPUPER has publicized the rape of peasant women by soldiers, and an incident in Lima in which two women who were merely discussing feminism in a cafe were arrested by the secret police and threatened with rape, robbery, imprisonment and torture for two hours before being released. Colorado teen sues over toxic shock The first trial over the possible link between tampon use and toxic shock syndrome opened in Denver, Colorado recently with the disease nearly as big a medical mystery now as when it was discovered In 1978. Proctor & Gamble is being sued for $2 million by a Colorado teenager, Deletha Dawn Lampshire, and her parents, who claim that the girl suffered serious illness because she used the company's Rely tampons. Since its discovery in 1978, about 1600 cases of toxic shock syndrome have been identified. More than 200 suits have been filed against Proctor & Gamble since the company removed the tampon from the marketplace in September 1980. Most have been combined into a class-action suit, but the Lampshire case moved so quickly that it is being tried by itself. The girl's suit says she suffered permanent psychological and physical damage because of the illness. It seeks $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in exemplary damages. (Vancouver Sun) Depo-Provera misused on Australian Aboriginal women Depo-Provera is currently being given to Aboriginal women in Western Australia through the Aboriginal Medical Service and the Health & Medical Services Department's Community and Child Health Section. These agencies are responsible for the health services for most of the approximately 50,000 Aborigines in the state. In the white Australian community, where the dangers of Depo-Provera are better known, it is rarely used. However, more than 20 Aboriginal women who had been given injections told a reporter they had no idea of the potential risks. The fact that Aboriginal women have a genetic tendency to develop diabetes on modern diets poses an additional hazard in their using Depo-Provera; research has shown that Depo-Provera poses special hazards for diabetics and pre-diabetics. The Aboriginal Medical Service claims to have used Depo-Provera for 7 years on an average of four to five women per month. The Western Australia Family Planning Association claims to use Depo-Provera on \"mentally retarded women and those who forget to take the pill.\" These agencies can easily obtain as much Depo-Provera as they want from the State Health Department. Forty-two percent of the inmates of Nyandi, the Western Australia maximum security unit for teenage girls, are Aborigines. Depo-Provera is used routinely there on girls judged \"promiscuous\" or mentally retarded. But why is birth control necessary in a unisex, maximum security facility? Is Depo- Provera being used instead as a tranquilizer? Indications are that the drug is being misused. (Cultural Survival Newsletter/ New Directions for Women) Icelanders to run all-women slate of politicians Icelandic women, in a landmark move, will offer an all-female slate of candidates in the country's fall elections. A Swedish newspaper reports women Icelanders are fed up with inaction by male politicians and have set up their own political headquarters in the capital city of Reykjavik. The women will urge all Icelanders to vote the all-female ticket in city council elections around the country this fall. A demand for adequate childcare facilities is a major plank of the women's platform. (New Directions for Women) Hatch amendment may nullify abortion rights The Hatch amendment, which was voted out of the U.S. Senate Subcomittee on the Constitution, is now in the judiciary committee where it may be voted upon by the end of February or early March. The amendment would nullify the Supreme Court Decision legalizing abortion and allow Congress and the states to restrict abortion by law. According to reliable sources there are seven sure votes against the Hatch amendment, eight sure votes for it and 3 unde- cideds. The pro-choice position needs two votes to tie and defeat while the anti- choice side needs two votes to win. Anti-abortionists in the U.S.A. are having enough trouble trying to decide whether to support the Hatch amendment. Despite a December 1981 vote by the largest anti- abortion group, the National Right to Life Committee, to support the Hatch Amendment, the split has gotten larger, with some calls within the NRLC for the resignation of its president. The Catholic church is working hard to make sure the Hatch amendment\u00E2\u0080\u0094the first time it has endorsed specific anti-abortion legislation\u00E2\u0080\u0094 is passed. In several dioceses, including large ones such as New York and Los Angeles, church leaders have been circulating petitions in support of the Hatch amendment. In Chicago, parish priests gave out more than 600,000 \"Life Roll\" cards, which worshippers were asked to sign to pledge opposition to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. ,\",.,. \" \" -, , (Off Our Backs) Japanese women take back credit for inventions The Japan Women Investors Association is making sure creative women get the credit they deserve. Vice-President Reiko Matsutoya says women have often missed out on recognition. Women invented the corset and weaving machine in Japan, but official records list men as the inventors, according to Matsutoya. To prevent repeats of this problem, the group offers improvement suggestions, help in getting patents, and hard-won tricks of the trade from veteran inventors. (HerSay/ New Directions for Women) Marriage fee funds domestic violence prevention When prospective newlyweds in Montana pay $30 to the county clerk for a marriage licence, $14 goes to protect against the prospect that their union will degenerate into black eyes, split lips, or worse. That fee finances Montana's domestic violence program, which deals primarily with battered wives. The marriage licence surcharge pays about three quarters of the necessary funding that the legislature has appropriated for the program. Montana is one of 15 states to finance such programs through marriage licence surcharges. Q (Vancouver Sun), African women journalists launch federation The Federation of African Media Women was launched in October 1981 after a series of regional conferences by African women journalists to discuss problems they and women in their countries faced. The Federation is the \"realization of a wish to keep in touch with one another, to share news and information about one another and developments within the media.\" The Federation was started in Salisbury, Zimbabwe during the African Women's Features Service (AWFS) workshop held in October, 1981. The AWFS was started in 1980 with funding by UNESCO and UNFPA, and has a regional co-ordinator in Nairobi. The workshop, a first, was attended by correspondents from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Ethiopia. \"In its first year of operation, AWFS produced 120 features on women which have been widely published in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean,\" states the FAMW newsletter. The Salisbury workshop was convened to discuss issues related to women and development, and to train participants in feature writing skills. AWFS aims to have a team of committed women correspondents from each African country who will look at women's issues, especially those in rural areas. According to participants, most countries are not giving women's issues, or women journalists, the status they deserve. Not many women have access to the media, and only a very few hold senior positions. For information about the Federation of African Media Women or a newsletter subscription, contact the Editorial Office, Interim General Secretary, ZIANA, P0 Box 8166, Causeway, Salisbury, Zimbabwe. (From Media Report to Women) 6 Kinesis April 1982 WOMEN WORKERS Typing tests represent unnecessary discrimination by Mary Lakes Why do so many women opt out of secretarial work as a career? One reason is the coercive and excessive testing that women submit to in order to be considered available for most types of office work \u00E2\u0080\u0094 among which the typing test, with its extreme physical and mental coordination and split-second timing, is undoubtedly the most demanding. Typing is regarded almost universally as the key to obtaining secretarial employment, yet as any secretary knows, it is but a part of the job. Today's secretary may be required to know everything from double-entry bookkeeping to graphs, from driving a car to operating a switchboard and various business machines. However, these skills become almost totally obscured in competition for a position where the typing test predominates. As well as being faced with the reason, the experienced secretary doesn't make a superior test speed, she will likely wind up in a junior position where her real skills will manifest themselves. She will be producing more work than her peers, but without the recognition she deserves. An additional factor typing tests fail to reveal is the regeneration speed of the experienced typist who, having lost speed in the month since her last typing job, can regain her original speed within a day or so of resuming typing. If a shorthand test is necessary, it may be given at a higher speed than purported or using specialized vocabulary which makes it more difficult to take. Or it may have been recorded by an untrained person speaking with an erratic tempo. Thus the secretary who might have maintained a consistent speed is \"knocked out\" by sudden changes in speed. It is significant that although typing is a motor skill, it has not been recognized as a trade, nor has the typist been elevated to the status of a tradesperson. usual application form, aptitude tests and often a personality assessment, a secretary looking for work must usually undergo a typing, shorthand (if she has it) and dictaphone test before she is considered available, regardless of how many years she has worked or how recently. Although these tests are usually administered by women, they are almost all required of women by men. Women must take tests devised by any Tom, Dick or Harry, subject to equipment which can alter the outcome. And the tests may be given by someone with no training. These factors, combined with the usual intimidation involved in a testing situation, make for a psychologically stressful situation. There is a prevailing myth \u00E2\u0080\u0094 commonly used against mature women \u00E2\u0080\u0094 that some people just don't benefit by experience. As one counsellor remarked, \"You're over 30 now and it isn't likely your speed will increase.\" This ignores not only the stressful reality of typing tests, but also the value of the experience held by mature, experienced secretaries. If for some Finally, the dictaphone, in use for over 40 years, has only lately been added as a testing requirement although it can be operated by any typist capable of typing a letter. Information gained from testing may be retained without the secretary being advised of the results. Not only that, she may have spent half the day doing tests only to be informed there is no work available. The effort expended may also be sold to buyers of information, but the secretary will not receive payment. Rather she will be out transportation costs to and from the employment office. Federal, provincial and municipal governments and personnel agencies will not accept one another's test results, which indicates a lack of confidence in current testing techniques. Nevertheless, unless the secreatry suc- combs to testing, she risks being deemed unavailable for work. (At present, willingness to submit to testing is strongly related to maintaining eligibility for unemployment- insurance benefits. ) It Is significant that although typing is a motor skill, it has not been recognized as a trade, nor has the typist been elevated to the status of a tradesperson. Rather, the skill of applying perfect eye, hand and mental coordination has been demeaned, while trained operators in other occupations receive respect for their skills. When asked why secretarial skills are singled out for such onerous testing procedures, interviewers usually say that employers demand it. It is not unusual to find secretaries who have taken 50 or more typing tests over a ten-year period, and with the consistent pattern of demand for short-term casual workers, this situation may yet become the norm. In each case, the secretary is placed in the stress position of having to validate her claim as a proficient member of her occupation* One 59-year-old secretary said, \"After possibly 100 typing tests in my career, I have built up an aversion to them that'is almost painful.\" Certainly, the continual testing of secretaries has become the natural state of affairs. Job access has been strictly controlled by specifying a required typing speed, which in turn depends on test results. However, prior to and during World War II only government jobs required a typing and shorthand test. Before the development of large government employment offices, personnel departments and public employment agencies (which have proliferated since 1950), graduates of commercial schools were considered to have attained the essential proficiency in typing, and speed was not questioned. Education and experience were recognized as assets which did not require additional proof. Typing is a specialized skill to be recognized in the same manner as welding or any other skilled trade. To insist on current forms of testing is blatantly discriminatory to the women who make up the secretarial trade. What is needed is a provincial typing test given under uniform testing conditions, with standard machines and instructions, administered by qualified personnel, and rewarded by a trade certificate good for six months or longer. I would like to see a group form to gather information and press for change in the above situation. To become involved, contact me at 688-0783 \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Mary Lakes. Domestic workers organize for equal labour status The following speech was delivered by Angie Ola-0 of the Committee for the Advancement of the Rights of Domestic Workers on International Women's Day, 1982. Generally, women in our society are the more oppressed sex \u00E2\u0080\u0094 inside and outside the workplace. Because of my limited knowledge of women in other countries, I will speak about places I have been \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the Philippines, where I came from before being a domestic worker; Hong Kong, where I worked for a year as a domestic worker; and now here in Canada, still a domestic worker. I'm sure there are some countries where women have made qualitative gains in their struggle to be freed from exploitation and oppression. It is very evident that an increasing number of women and men are becoming more progressive, especially on the issue of women's exploitation and oppression. This is due to the fact that women are becoming more aware of the role they play in the development of the society they are in, and militantly organize themselves and act progressively on the issues they are being faced with. Domestic workers are predominantly women workers, and, like other women, we became aware of our difficult status in society. Because of this status, we organized ourselves and formed CARDWO \u00E2\u0080\u0094 the Committee for the Advancement of the Rights of Domestic Workers. First, a brief background of who and what are the forces that make us become domestic workers here in Canada. Most of the domestic workers, like me, came from Third World countries like the Philippines. There is the worsening economic crisis back home which the Marcos government cannot hide and which most of the immigrants here in North America were able to escape from. This same government wanted us to leave the country, even with just work permits, so as to solve part of its unemployment problem. At the same time, the dollars being sent by immigrant workers to support their families back home are being added to the dwindling Philippine dollar reserves. So, practically, the worsening economic and continued on page 7 April 1982 Kinesis 7 CHILDCARE Quality daycare hampered by poor funding by Susan Hoeppner To work and raise a child in a society that takes little or no responsibility before the child is six, is to be caught in a maternal nightmare. For those of us who have lived through our children's pre-school years as single working parents, the memory of frustration and guilt is all too prevalent. Wondering from month to month if we can scrape up fees from meagre incomes, closing our eyes to daycare situations where too little space exists, where childcare becomes child-holding. Wondering if in the future our children will forgive us for a situation in which we had no choice. Women who work shifts often have to arrange up to four different childcare arrangements. And we are all familiar with the fear of our children becoming sick. Spaces scarce and costly A. group of people concerned with the daycare situation on the North Shore recently produced a brief exposing the appalling inadequacies in the care of young children in that community. Since what money is available is allocated and administered provincially, their findings reflect only too well what is happening in the rest of B.C. Consider the following facts: *There are 848 daycare spaces for 6,255 children of working mothers on the North Shore. *5,407 children in North Vancouver are being cared for by unregistered or unlicensed workers. *95% of children under two who require daycare are in unregulated homes. For under threes on the North Shore, there are 24 spaces currently available, at a cost of $330/month per child. For children aged 3-6, there are 517 spaces available, at an average montly fee of $200-250. In licensed family daycare situations with 1 or 2 children involved, there are 200 spaces available,_with fees ranging from $250-350/month. And in licensed family daycare situations involving up to five children, 107 spaces exist, with fees again ranging from $250-350/month per child. None of the fees mentioned include subsidies, and needless to say, the waiting lists for each and every space are long. The effect of this situation on parents and children does not have to be experienced to be understood. Workers caught in economic trap Then there are the childcare workers to consider. According to the North Shore group's brief: \"The present salaries for daycare supervisors reflect the value that society places on the care and development of young children. The average salary (Dec/ 81) for full-time head supervisors with early childhood education training and at least several years experience is $14,000 (with the lowest reported at $9,600). The average for a full-time qualified E.C.E. Supervisor is $12,000 (with a low of $9,000).\" These figures were compiled from thirteen non-profit daycare centres on the North Shore. Staff in daycare centres are faced with a constant contradiction between concern for the potential of the children involved and poor pay, lack of professional development, and lack of equipment and resources. Many feel caught between their legitimate demand for a decent living and the economic inability of parents to pay more for childcare. The provincial government has succeeded in shirking its responsibility for daycare by maintaining parent boards as the technical employer in daycare centres. CARDWO SPEECH continued from page 6 political life back home brought about by the repressive and oppressive government, drove us out of our country. We answered the many ads for domestic workers abroad, where \"abroad\" in our culture means \"green\" dollars and opportunities. Then, there is the pull factor \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a constant demand for domestic workers in Canada from the 60's to the present, to fill in the critical lack of subsidized childcare facilities for working Canadians. The federal government has created a supply of domestic workers by means of its immigration policies. These policies, through the temporary work permit system, put domestic workers under exploitation, intimidation, threats of deportation, harassment and other kinds of abuses by employers as well as by immigration officers themselves. Domestic work has been of little value for years. First, this particular work sector is mainly composed of immigrants and therefore has been viewed as a source of cheap labour. Second, this work force is not in industrial or agricultural production and therefore has been shortsightedly seen as a sector that is not contributing to the economy of the society. But what we domestic workers realize is that of all households employing us, 71.4$ have done so to free both spouses for the labour market. Further, 67.2% of these households are in the $40,000 and over income bracket. So, In addition, education cutbacks present a serious threat to the training of new daycare workers. Early childhood education programs throughout the province are threatened. Recommendations The North Shore brief concludes with the following recommendations: 1) that the present funding system be improved to meet the economic realities of daycare costs; 2) that the eligibility level for subsidies be increased; 3) that staff be increased to licensing facilities and Ministry of Human Resources staff to adequately assess, monitor and support day care; 4) that a full family daycare program be implemented which involves recruitment, assessment and regular support services to these homes; 5) that community resources be made available to family caregivers, for example, community education courses and regular visits from a public health nurse; 6) that municipal councils encourage the establishment of new centres in new buildings through the incentive of zoning trade-offs; 7) that recognition be given to the present development of a training program for out-of-school caregivers; 8) that early childhood education programs at Capilano College and North Shore Community and Continuing Education Departments be maintained and not be reduced because of funding cutbacks; and 9) that the present system involving three Ministries be reviewed, with the focus on integration of administration and more effective policy and planning. Q while both spouses are working in their respective professions, we are left at home taking care of the children, feeding the dog, washing the dishes, doing the laundry. Some are even asked to do car washing, lawnmowing and window cleaning. Statistics also show that 49.3% of the domestic workers are taking care of at least one child aged between zero and five. These being the early formative years of the child, we therefore have a sizeable role in moulding the character of the future generation of Canadians, in the same way as teachers. These are basically the foundations as to why we organize; why we demand the same benefits as other workers who pay income tax, UIC and CPP; why we believe there should be equal labour status for all workers, whether they be temporary or permanent residents in Canada, men or women; and why we believe our struggle is not only an issue for domestics and for women, but also for the rest of the work force. We are aware that organizing is a lot of work and that it is especially difficult because of the particular nature of our work. It is so individualized, working in private houses with our employers, we do not even know where to locate other domestic workers. For those with whom we are in contact, it is hard to find time to meet and plan due to our long hours of work. Due to our immigration status, those involved in CARDWO already may have to leave the country for some reason. Others who are not involved and know of the organization may be afraid to get involved because they may get deported, intimidated, or harassed by their employers, Immigration officers and/or their country's consulate, like that being done by the Philippine consulate to some of our people. But we shall not be discouraged or intimidated by these difficulties, nor by the forces that want us to keep quiet. We shall keep informing people, asking people to get involved and support our cause, and organizing. That is the only way to win a struggle for a just cause. 0_ 8 Kinesis April 1982 INTERNATIONAL Polish women continue the struggle from prison by Gwen Kallio and Karin Konstantynowicz On December 13, 1981 the Polish military junta declared a \"state of war\". Since then over 80 internment camps have been designated or constructed to house Solidarity activists and supporters - and among them exists a special camp for women. Recent information has been received from the Solidarity underground regarding the status of women internees. According to the report, which was smug-, gled out of Poland and distributed to Solidarity Information Offices abroad, the women internees have recently been removed from Fordon, a women's prison in northern Poland to a special camp near Goldap, 400 metres from the USSR border. Internment centres are filling up The trip from Fordon Prison to Goldap took 20 hours, with the women transported in railroad cars, standing*the whole way. During the course of the trip, the women were harassed by the police who told them they would soon be seeing \"wide tracks\", a reference indicating deportation to the Soviet Union. Despite these threats, the conditions at Goldap, a former vacation resort for radio and TV employees, are much better than in prisons such as Fordon. Presently at Goldap there are 100 women internees, although the centre can accommodate 320. Reports from the prison state that new prisoners are arriving daily and that additional furniture is being brought in. This could indicate that the internment centre at Goldap will be a permanent one. Women such as Anna Walentynowicz, Alina Pienkowska, Joanna Duda-Gwiazda and Krystyna Laskowicz are actively working from within the prison organizing fellow prisoners and issuing outiside communiques. Among those interned are women who have been leaders and prominent activists in the independent trade union Solidarity. In spite of their internment, these women continue to organize and fight back. The report states that Anna Walentynowicz has gone on a hunger strike. Anna has been a persistent and vocal advocate of workers' rights since the late '60s. As a model stakhanovite worker, Anna won several awards for production during her 16 years as a welder and crane operator in the Lenin shipyards in Gdansk. It was not her work record, but her activities in support of independent trade unions that led to her dismissal in August 1980, five months before her official retirement date. The demand for her reinstatement was the central issue in the August 14, 1980 strike at the Lenin shipyards. Her struggle in prison clearly shows that Anna Is still fighting. The report reveals as well that Anna is not alone in her dissent. Women such as Alina Pienkowska, Joanna Duda-Gwiazda and Krystyna Laskowicz are actively working from within the prison organizing fellow prisoners and issuing outside communiques. While in Fordon, Alina and Joanna attacked the terms and conditions under which they and their fellow prisoners were being held. They counselled others not to recognize the authority of prison officials, since their status as internees had not been clarified. In addition, they demanded the right to communicate with other women internees, with their lawyers and with outside supporters. Their demands may have been responsible for their eventual transfer to Goldap from the Fordon prison. The action and demands made by these- women clearly demonstrate the strength and determination of women fighting oppression in Poland. Women bear the brunt of economic deprivation The very qualities that enable the interned women to carry out their actions can also be seen in the day-to-day lives of working women throughout the country. Polish society is a society under siege, both economically and politically. Working women are bearing the brunt of economic deprivations. On their shoulders fall the weight of what has been termed the \"double burden\". This means that in order to survive, a woman with a family must work, maintain the home, usually without the aid of modern appliances stand in queues for hours, and raise her family. Since the state of war, the weight of that burden has increased. Prices have risen by as much as 400%. Workers who have supported Solidarity are being issued black cards, which excludes them from employment. Ration cards are being taken away from families of supporters and activists. If a woman has not been jailed herself, there's a strong possibility her husband has. Anna Walentynowicz Alina Pienkowska Women in Poland have limited choices before them, given the traditional and religious nature of Polish society. Nonetheless, they are predominant in many important professions and skilled trades. Often however, and in contrast to western women's reality, the choice is not between family and career, but how best to combine the two, as they often must. Prior to the state of war, groups of academic women were beginning to identify and articulate the opporession of Polish working women. They were planning to take a list of demands regarding childcare, repro- , ductive rights and women's rights to Solidarity. Needless to say, the imposition of the state of war and the suspension of Solidarity has interfered with the immediate realization of their goals. Spirit of defiance still strong The women in prisons provide heartening evidence that that the spirit of Polish women has not been silenced under harassment or incarceration. They remain defiant despite the extra burdens recently imposed on them. Their voice will not be silenced. And this spirit of defiance exists on the street and in the queues, as elderly women are reported being carted away by the police for. loudly voicing their disdain for the junta and its policies. SOURCES: CONNEXIONS, \"Yes, there is a women's movement in Poland\", Issue #10, May 1981. SPARE RIB, \"Solidarity Sisters\" by Eva Kalezyneka, February 1982. JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, \"The Situation of Women in Poland\", Spring 1971. NEWSLETTER OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR STUDIES, \"Reflections on Women in Solidarity\", #11, July 1981. GDANSK SOLIDARITY INFORMATION BULLETIN #3, February 14, 1982. April 1982 Kinesis 9 INTERNATIONAL Contradictions persist in Nicaragua's sexual revolution by Heather Conn A three-year-old girl in a sequined bikini prances provocatively to applause in the local circus. Meanwhile, an ex-prostitute proudly sells clothing she has learned to sew at_a rehabilitation centre. A young woman with four children sits at home night after night while her husband drinks and carouses outdoors with his buddies. Meanwhile, a single mother watches her son laugh and play in a centre for abused, abandoned and neglected children. On the street, men whistle, honk, crane necks, turn heads, glance suggestively, stare and hoot, driving their cars so blindly they come close to crashing. Meanwhile, men from a local neighbourhood help women construct a free daycare centre, promoting community involvement. Such are the contradictions of the sexual revolution in Nicaragua. With many newly created social services, women now have benefits previously unheard of \u00E2\u0080\u0094 accessible birth control, free medical and day care, pre-school centres and shelters for children. Yet at the same time, they face countless obstacles that prevent their full sexual emancipation \u00E2\u0080\u0094 abortion is illegal, (lesbianism is rarely addressed), rigid parental stereotypes still exist, the church strictly guides morality and machismo is a perpetual problem. As Magda Enriquez, executive member of the national women's group AMNLAE, explains: \"The revolution is determined to eliminate all types of exploitation. But that does not mean that it has happened already. This is an entire process. \"Men have to learn to dignify women and dignify the sexual relationship,\" she says. \"This is something people have to be educated on. That's our task \u00E2\u0080\u0094 to educate people on that.\" Concern for sexual oppression a privilege On a recent visit to Nicaragua, members of Vancouver's B.C. - Nicaragua Women's Support Group sought obvious changes in women's sexual condition: Is sexual freedom and choice allowed or encouraged? Are there facilities for women who experience violence in the home? How integrated are health programs? Are abortion and birth control readily available? In almost every case, the response was: \"This is not a problem here. Women are not asking for that. They are discussing food, jobs, defence, education.\" What we learned was that concern for women's sexual oppression was the privilege of those from a developed country. In Nicaragua, the revolution has not encompassed a total moral and social transformation. Instead, the basic survival of all the nation's people has been the priority \u00E2\u0080\u0094 providing food, running water, electricity, the ability to read and write and the right to live without fear of torture, death or imprisonment. So, by comparison, women's sexual status is not a major issue. In fact, in health matters the prevention of malaria, disease and infant mortality has taken precedence over female reproductive rights. In the words of Ariarea Fernandez, a Mexican journalist who joined the revolution in 1979: \"I'm sure all the health programs have been made in the order of important things...before the problem of women. They are going to consider this some time but first we do the main things because we are a poor revolution.\" Enriquez adds: \"We do not feel that women are a class by themselves. We feel that women are part of the class that was exploited, that was oppressed and repressed by the dictatorship. So, our priority was the rebuilding of our country. \"When you have to rebuild and entire country, there are other priorities than the struggle of women by themselves.\" While in Managua, we watched a woman neighbour go into labour outside the front door of our hotel. She had no partner to comfort her, but instead received support from our hotel proprietor and local children. After several minutes an ambulance appeared and she was taken to a free public hospital. Like many Nicaraguan mothers, this woman wanted her child. Even without partners, many pregnant women of all ages are seen on the street, in the marketplace, at home. In fact, more births have occurred since the war than in many previous years, says Enriquez. Many women hope to have children to replace those who were among the 50,000 people killed during the war, she adds. Today, the large scrawled word Ninos (children) is still visible on fences in some neighbourhoods. It was used during the war, to indicate areas with many children, in hopes that National Guard planes would not drop bombs there. \"It's like a revindication of women here to have as many children as they want to have,\" says Enriquez. \"The dictatorship had programs of birth control against the will of the people that were in f^act impulsed by the health campaigns that were promoted by the United States. \"There were women whose tubes were tied without asking their consent or the disc was put in or diaphragm was put in without taking into consideration the decision of the woman.\" Today, birth control is available. It is a free service offered at hospitals that provide advice and instructions on its use. However, there is no. widespread integrated health program informing women of different methods and choices. The main complaint is that there is not enough birth control. We found contraceptive pills in markets throughout Managua; a month's supply is sold for 75 cents. But we saw no accom panying instructions or recommendations. A woman is likely to take them at her own risk, regardless of hormone levels or harmful side effects. Prostitution an economic problem While visiting a rehabilitation centre for ex-prostitutes in the western coastal town of Corinto, we met young women who had not received the benefits of birth control, One pregnant girl, aged 15, clutched a magazine entitled \"Mama\". Another sat watching cartoons on a black and white television, her billowing stomach propped up with a pillow. The centre's walls showed photos of young children in different monthly stages; advice was provided on daily care. It was evident that pregnancy was a major problem among young prostitutes \u00E2\u0080\u0094 many had no family or financial support to raise a child. Yet, with the revolution, prostitutes have received emotional support and community help. They are no longer viewed with shame and hostility, but instead have become accepted, employable members of society. \"At the beginning, there was an ideological problem,\" says Enriquez. \"It was the problem of the woman who has been a prostitute for 15 years in a small town. It's very hard for a community to accept her as a \"normal\" person. \"But we have been able to place them in the community and the community is really learning. There is no problem for the town to accept them as such because there is an entire change of mentality. \"There is an understanding that prostitution is not a moral problem,it's an economic problem,\" she says. \"These women have been forced to sell their bodies as merchandise because they have no other economic alternative to feed their children. That is something our people are understanding.\" Currently, there are three rehabilitation centres funded by AMNLAE, church groups and the ministry of social welfare. They train women in pre-school education, sewing, typing and craft skills. In Managua, prostitution among young girls is still a problem, but attempts are being made to build a centre there. AMNLAE hopes to combine the centre with a high school, so girls can finish grade school while learning an employable trade. In the past, dictator Anastasio Somoza and his National Guard supported prostitution by paying brothel owners and their madames, many soldiers were regular patrons of brothels. Today, such practice is condemned. According to Catalina Navarro de Hernandez, a woman from the small southern town of Suan Juan del Sur: \"The government is trying to get rid of prostitution now. There are public vigilantes on guard duty. There used to be two bars here with women (prostitutes) but not now. \"Before at night you couldn't walsk in streets from fear. Somoza's men used to beat people with rifle butts if they were out in the streets after dark. Now it is safe.\" Women take an active role in the policing of their streets. Along with men, they are members of armed volunteer civilian \"vigilante\" groups who patrol neighbourhoods at night. Theft is more of a concern at continued on page 10 10 Kinesis April 1982 INTERNATIONAL NICARAGUA continued from page 9 night than rape in Nicaragua; single women walk the streets alone at all hours without great fear of sexual attack. However, it is still considered safer for a woman to be accompanied by a man; one police officer we met on our first night in Managua was incredulous that my female companion and I did not have a male escort. Currently there are no rape assault centres in Nicaragua. When we questioned Magda Enriquez about violence in the home, she replied: \"That's really not a problem here. I'm sure that there may be some husbands who beat their wives but at this point in the revolution for a man to beat his wife and the woman to just stand still, it really doesn't happen...it's not a problem.\" Male-female violence ever present It is true enough that many women in Nicaragua are trained in the use of weapons and can defend themselves with arms. Those in the military and police carry guns and are unlikely targets for attack. However, male-female violence is still everpresent. Near a large market in Managua, we saw a woman and man physically punching one another until blood was streaming from the woman's face. While in Bluefields on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast, we saw a very intoxicated man on the street berating and screaming at his wife and daughter. Soon after, the police bodily removed him to jail. In another home nearby, a woman's drunk son had passed out on the kitchen table and refused to be moved. He got violent and angry when his mother and sisters tried to to pry him from a chair. The combination of alcohol and violence remains a constant threat in this Central American nation; however, offices of Alcoholics Anonymous can be found in many towns and there are serious attempts to solve the problem. Violence in the home has been confronted in the area of child abuse. There are currently three homes for abandoned, neglected or abused children in Nicaragua. They deal primarily with children aged 6-12, providing counselling, recreation and education facilties, or a farm and garden for outdoor activities; all have strong community support and participation. \"They are mostly children from single mothers who see themselves forced by circumstances to make a living and the kids end up living in the street for most of the day,\" says Jose Garcia, a Save the Children Fund employee who oversees the homes' functions. \"In some cases, the woman is abandoned, living in terrible conditions and takes out on the child most of her frustrations.\" Garcia says that in most cases, attempts are made to get the child back into the home with combined family counselling. If this is not possible without danger to the child, the home of a relative or other community member is sought for permanent safe refuge. The police are very supportive and responsible in dealing with abandoned children,\" he adds. \"In Matagalpa, before our house opened there, the police were practically housing about 15 children in the police station. \"They were abandoned, with nowhere to go. The police were quite responsive, quite fine and co-operative.\" Thus, a Nicaraguan mother need no longer feel a slave to the family, unable to properly care for her children. Free day care facilities now exist near work sites to allow women full participation in production. But there are still not enough to adequately service all families in Nicaragua. \"Lack of day care is a very, very serious problem,\" says Enriquez. \"Even here in the AMNLAE office in Managua, we do not have a day care centre. We work full-time and there are about 80 children among all the women who work here.\" However, Vancouver's B.C-Nicaragua Women's Support Group gave AMNLAE a cheque for more than $2,000 during their recent visit. The money will help construct a day care centre in Alinsa, a port where women form 80 per cent of workers in a shrimp and lobster packing plant. A woman can now choose to send her child to pre-school, a new, free service offered by the revolutionary government. As Becki Conn, from the department of pre-school education, explains: \"Education in Nicaragua today is more than just teaching the basic skills. It's creating a whole new values system of respect, equality, breaking down the sex roles. It's giving children a chance to really explore and,learn for themselves and be creative, with social, intellectual, emotional and physical skills.\" Yet, despite these avowed ideals, many traditional values still exist in the treatment of women's sexuality. One Canadian woman visiting Nicaragua told us: \"For heaven's sake, don't ask about homosexuality. It's like they're still living in the Fifties.\" And sure enough, lesbianism and homosexuality are not volunteered subjects of conversation. The governing FSLN (National Sandinista Liberation Front) takes no official stand on homosexuality. When we asked 24-year- old Luis Caldera of the FASLN's international relations department, he said: \"There's no aspect of legality that has been done on homosexuality. There are no sanctions at all against gays or lesbians. The individual is not penalized. There are no laws or restrictions that say gays can't be professors, have housing, etc. There is not a prohibition of homosexuals.\" He adds: \"There's no social imposition or weight that makes it necessary that the Church, the Front take on sexual orient ation. It's not fulfilling the needs or doesn't enter into the context of the needs of society. It's not a problem that we've had to deal with.\" A black lesbian in the Bluefields military reserve said she received equal treatment with men. One of her male army companions simply said jokingly, \"She doesn't like men\" and that was the end of the matter. But in a society where the family is declared the \"natural unit of society\" in the statute of rights, it is unlikely that alternatives to the nuclear, child- bearing family will be enoucraged. For this reason, numerous foreigners working for the Nicaraguan revolution on a long-term basis said they have greater hopes for a true sexual revolution in El Salvador. This country has already received much solidarity work and financial support from gay groups in North America. There are now ongoing consciousness- raising programs dealing with sexuality in this nation and the issue has been more directly confronted than in Nicaragua. Most Nicaraguan men we talked to wanted to know our marital status. Where was our husband? Were we travelling alone? Did we have any children? If we were with a man, they wanted to know exactly how long we'd known each other. Yet, they rarely volunteered similar information about themselves. In fact, we spent a lot of time with one Nicaraguan man before we found out he had a wife and two children. He then proudly told us he had been out with his three brothers on Christmas Eve, had gotten drunk, had a great time, then added with a smile \u00E2\u0080\u0094 no wives were there. An indeed, his wife did not accompany us on any outings, nor were we invited to his home. Sexism survives despite the revolution Many carry-overs of sexist society are still present in Nicaragua. In department stores, slick glamour magazines warn women to heed fashion trends, find a man , and be someone's Senorita Right. Well- dressed made-up women still cruise out of fashionable discos in Managua. AMNLAE is trying to raise enough money to create a new magazine that offers an alternative, revolutionary perspective of women. The group hopes to have sexist advertising outlawed, although images of fleshy, scantily-clad women still persist. In local entertainment, small town family circus clowns tell sexist jokes emphasizing women's physical attributes. A woman enters the ring doing a bump-and- grind dance while the emcee tells the male audience not to make their wives jealous. Television programs feature sex kitten singers and leggy, Las Vegas-type dancers as backdrops for male entertainers. So, for the visiting observer, Nicaragua's sexual revolution is two-sided. There is no doubt that social services and health conditions have greatly improved since the brutal rule of Somoza; in fact, under his government, a ministry of social welfare did not actively exist. However, women still have far to go before they achieve full emancipation. Besides programs addressed to female needs, an integrated education program is needed to confront men's sexist values and conditioning. As Fernandez says: \"I think this is a very large process. Machismo is one of the biggest problems in Latin America.\" As one tourist said to the Nicaraguan men in uniform who eyed her like a juicy slab of fresh beef: \"What kind of revolutionaries are you, anyway?\" Only time will tell. Q April 1982 Kinesis 11 WOMEN WORKERS IN THE HOME MOTHER'S DAY WAS THE FIRST LABOUR DAY All over the world, women celebrate Mother's Day. In North America, suffragette Julia Ward Howe began Mother's Day celebrations as a way for women to gather to organize for women's rights. Somehow since then, Mother's Day has lost that focus and instead become a day when mothers are thanked for carrying out their \"duties\" all year without getting recognition, pay or any guarantee of future security. Many mothers are expected to prepare large family dinners on Mother's Day, while other mothers don't even have the money or food to be able to do that. For the past two years, Vancouver women have reclaimed Mother's Day by holding an event focusing on the work women do as mothers and on the rights we deserve. This year on May 8th, a Mother's Day fair will again be held at Grandview Park (on Commercial Drive at William St. next to Britannia Community Centre). The fair will take place from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and will include music, speakers, information booths and food. There will be booths from Family Places, Matsuri (Japanese women's group), India Mahila Association, Maternal Health Society, Vancouver Status of Women, and other women's groups. Speakers will talk about welfare rights, child care, immigrant women's concerns, and a variety of other topics reflecting our lives as Canadian women. There will be clowns with face paint and puppets for the children, as well as music and food to make it a good atmosphere to get to know each other and share ideas. We hope you and your children will join us. Wages for housework \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a measure of our worth by Darlyne Jewitt and Ellen Woodsworth Wages for housework is a demand that has been growing stronger and stronger since the first resolution for wages for housework was passed unanimously by 900 women at a Montreal conference in 1974. An international campaign grew out of that conference, and since then many groups and thousands of individuals have raised the demand. Reclaiming Mother's Day as our own celebration - in Vancouver as in London England, Toronto, New York, Padova Italy, and many other cities around the world - has been a way for us to talk about the work we do as mothers, and to share our common concerns about our work. We celebrate through our own stories of our lives, our songs, our food, our sewing, our writings, our joy, pain and power. Housework is the only work that workers do 24 hours a day, seven days a week all year long. We have no pay, no sick leave, no holidays, no grievance procedures, and no pension plan of our own. When we take a second job as waitress, nurse, teacher, prostitute, daycare worker, secretary, social worker, clerk, domestic or factory worker, we are still doing housework. We are in women's job ghettos working for low pay because we work for no pay in the home. Welfare provides some small wages for housework, but the government is attacking even that small amount. And because single parents on welfare are not seen as workers, not even the rest of the working class has come out to protect that wage. We have to organize ourselves to gain recognition for our work, and that recognition must come in the form of real power - money We want a wage from the government financed with the profit that big business makes off our free work in the home, work which makes up over one-third of the country's Gross National Product. The money is there to pay us, but it is being misused on things like 29% military spending increases and sellout coal deals. We demand a wage for all we do. Wages will give us the self worth and money to refuse abuse from husbands and boyfriends, the money to take our children and leave. Many women have attempted suicide because of years of abuse and degradation as a housewife. Those years would not be endured were we paid wages with which to house and feed ourselves and our children. We want control of our lives independent of the income of the man we live with. And we demand a pension to pay for the work we continue to do after 65, for housework never ends. Men may retire, but women just tire. We want wages for housework, and we are going to fight for it - internationally, nationally and provincially. We invite you to join the fight on May 8th. Mother's Day should be recognized throughout the year by Peggy Lenti and Christl Phipps Excerpts from a discussion by women attending a Moms & Tots group, on the significance of Mother's Day: What is the historical significance of this day? I'm sure it's Hallmark Cards! Why isn't it on International Women's Day? As a holiday I think it's silly. I don't think we need a mother's day...it should be recognized throughout the year. Mothers are labourers. I don't mind Mother's Day. I acknowledge my mother with a phone call or a letter. I'm tired of paying homage to this sentimental ideal. It's a painful experience thinking about my mother. I think my bitterness about Mother's Day is confined to my relationship with my mother, and not with my children. I see my daughter at school facing Mother's Day. Many children are confused because they have two mothers or two fathers; it only makes them feel badly because they are different. They're only allowed to make one ceramic vase for Mother's Day. I would rather give my mother some recognition on another day when there is not all the external expectations. There should be an awareness of who a mother is. She is not just the woman behind the sink, which is what I feel a lot of the time. I think it's great for kids to get an appreciation of women's work at an early age. My son expresses his appreciation for what I do and I really encourage it. I don't think people's values have changed that much. Our values are still predominantly male-oriented and males have to do with things like power, control and money. Motherhood does not have much to do with many of those things. For that reason, motherhood isn't valued in our society. I think what is happening now is that women have more pressure to go out and gain power, earn more money and gain more status. Money is power; if you have money you have power or more claim to be a valued person. How much do you earn as a mother? You go to a benefit and they ask, five dollars for employed or three dollars for unemployed. I certainly don't feel unemployed. What am I? We're outside the system. We are not considered. Does that i : unproductive? I don't think Mother's Day as a special day is that important for me. I would rather have support all year round than receive one bouquet of flowers. In one way I feel that we should forget - about Mother's Day, it's a farce. We could use it as an opportunity for a real awareness of women and our role in life. EVERY MOTHER IS A WORKING WOMAN Illustration by Jeanne Taylor 14 Kinesis April 1982 WOMEN WORKERS IN THE HOME MOTHERS TAKE ACTION MATERNAL HEALTH SOCIETY A woman's right to give birth naturally, in a setting of her own choice and with attendants of her own choosing, is a right that is too often taken away from women in our so-called advanced culture. The Maternal Health Society seeks to assist women to take back power over their own birth experiences. Our quarterly publication, \"Maternal Health News\", publishes articles on childbirth, midwifery, caesarian birth and related topics. It aims to educate consumers and professionals alike on current facts about childbirth alternatives. Subscriptions are $7 to $10 per year. Cheques should be made payable to the Maternal Health Society. Box 46563, Station G, Vancouver, B.C. V6R 4G8 MATSURI (JAPANESE WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION) Matsuri was founded in January 1979 by Japanese immigrant women. Originally a literary magazine with the goal of encouraging women to express their opinions and sentiments, it is now a group aimed at stimulating women's awareness of society, both socially and professionally. Our objectives are not only to support each other, but to help people progress towards a more amicable and productive coexistence. 3047 Clark Drive Vancouver, B.C. V5N 3J2 Tel: (604) 874-5884 WELFARE RIGHTS COALITION The Welfare Rights Coalition is a group of people on welfare determined to improve conditions for all who are receiving social assistance. We have learned that our problems are NOT personal, but shared. We are taking control of our lives: learning what our rights are, how to appeal decisions we don't consider fair to us, publishing information for welfare recipients, and providing public information. Meetings are held every Wednesday to build broad-based support for our fight. All those on welfare are invited to attend. Living on welfare means surviving well below all recognized poverty lines I Recent cutbacks remove us and our children farther away from the poverty lines. We must recognize that the cutbacks represent harassment of the poor. There is inadequate daycare, there are not enough jobs. The Coalition recognizes that mothers are already working fulltime, raising our children in our homes. Write us c/o 400A West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. INDIA MAHILA ASSOCIATION Our group came into existence in Vancouver with the recognition that there was no organized voice for Indian women in the community, and that cultural, religious and political events were male dominated. Meetings among a few women in 1973 led to the establishment of the Mahila Association with specific aims of addressing the situation of Indian women in the Indian community and Canadian society at large. Currently, our objective is to share our skills and information with our sisters, to help one another become aware of our rights and how to defend them, and to provide emotional support for each other. We look forward to sharing your ideas, experiences and comments. India Mahila Association P.O. Box 67714, Station 0 Vancouver, B.C. Raminder Dosanjh: 325-3327 Harminder Sanghera: 325-1662 WOMEN WORKERS IN THE HOME is a group of women and organizations concerned about the status of women in the home. We can be contacted through Vancouver Status of Women, 400A West 5th Ave., Vancouver. 'OUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE. YOU WILL HAVE TO PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF. \"/ wanted to go out and change the world but I couldn't find a babysitter' \u00E2\u0080\u0094 In the Lower Mainland only 1 daycare space exists for every 18 children. VANCOUVER LESBIAN MOTHERS DEFENSE FUND When a lesbian mother's custody of her children is challenged, the outcome depends more on the judge's beliefs and attitudes toward homosexuality than on the facts of the mother's parental fitness. What is on trial is not the mother's ability to care for her children, nor the right of the child to choose to live with the parent of her/his choice, but rather lesbianism itself. The Vancouver Lesbian Mother's Defense Fund was formed to meet the needs of lesbian mothers fighting for custody of their children. The group has resource material available, such as trial transcripts and papers which document healthy and loving environments for children of lesbian mothers. Vancouver Lesbian Mother's Defense Fund P.O. Box 65593, Station F Vancouver, B.C. COMMITTEE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE RIGHTS OF DOMESTIC WORKERS The Committee for the Advancement of the Rights of Domestic Workers (CARDWO) was formed in May 1981 to improve the situation of women who work in other people's homes doing housework and child care. Most of the domestic workers in CARDWO are from Third World countries, and are in Canada on temporary work permits. Many have left children of their own in order to come to Canada to look after other people's children. The general lack of financial and social recognition for housework and mothering carries over to paid domestic work. Many domestics are being paid as little as $150 per month. We often work regular 12-14 hour days with no overtime pay and don't get regular days off or statutory holidays, Although we pay UIC and CPP premiums we cannot collect from these plans. As well, we are subject to imtimidation, sexual harassment and racism. CARDWO has been organized to give domestic workers a voice so we can fight for our rights and demand recognition for the very hard and necessary work that we do. For more information contact: Angie: 321-5364 Lulu: 931-2726 or 684-8467 or write to CARDWO c/o 728 East 37th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. (basement) WOMEN WORKERS IN THE HOME invites you to join our Mother's Day celebration on May 8th. It will be held at Grandview Park, Commercial and Charles St. from 2 to 5 p.m. Speakers \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Childcare \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Information Tables \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Food \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Entertainment CULTURE April 1982 Kinesis 15 Eva Kupczynski a weaver of natural forms and colours by Michele Wollstonecroft Eva Kupczynski makes tapestries - huge fluid textured works which range from subtle monochromatic colour relationships to a colourful fully-saturated palette. The visual is complemented by the tactile in Eva's work. Her tapestries vary from flat to highly textured, and in some cases, relief work. The pieces are rectangular in format, and range from approximately 35 square feet to a notable 140 square feet. At a working speed of three weeks to three and a half Detail from \"Indian Summer\" months, this is clearly the work of a patient woman! The detail within the work discloses Eva's geniune love for the weaving process, as well as her remarkable colour sense. Within even the smallest shapes are all the ' nuances found in nature. A shape may include five to seven different combinations of wool. For example, a \"white\" shape may be comprised of blue, pink, salmon, brown and grey wool. The subjects of her work include both landscapes and abstract images. But those which are explicitly landscapes are composed of the same elements of shape and pattern as the abstract pieces. Many of her abstract works reflect landscape imagery and implicitly natural forms. It is as if this artist ha~s been apprenticing with Mother Nature \u00C2\u00AC\u00E2\u0088\u009Eand has transferred the qualities of nature's energies into tapestry. Much of the abstract imagery in Eva's tapestries recalls the B.C. coast. Huge areas of sky and water, clean shapes and large spaces are abruptly interrupted by mountains and treetops, clumps of wool in relief. The occasional slit left where the wefts of\" one colour dramatically meet those of another colour convey a sense of the geometric. And colour changes seep within and among otherwise self-contained shapes. In some of her earlier pieces, Eva attached large woven rolls which give,the impression of forms advancing and receding. Once she was able to achieve the same visual effect with colour relationships, Eva discarded the use of rolls. The surface quality of her work varies. Eva says, \"I touch the wool and I know what I could create.\" Eva uses commercially spun wool, but for special effects spins her own wool and silk. For example, in her current work the surface is not only engraved with slits between the wefts, it is covered with small curly tufts of wool which grow out of the tapestry like lichens on a treetrunk. This effect requires special spinning. The tufts are of two sorts - those that appear soft and brushed (carded wool) and reflect the light, and those made of un- carded wool, which curl like unbrushed ringlets and absorb the light. Hers is an extraordinary colour sense Eva is originally from Poland. Before moving to B.C. she lived in Sweden for two years, where she says she was \"affected by neatness\". It was when she moved to B.C. in 1971 that her weaving changed completely. Having left her traditional tapestry loom in Sweden, Eva began to work on a simple free-standing loom. This enabled her to work with heavy texture, to be able to see the entire tapestry developing on the frame (as opposed to the traditional loom where the tapestry is rolled up as one weaves). It also provided the means for Eva to work from base to top, rather than weaving a vertical piece sideways. Discovering the North American Indian Head Spinner, Eva was able to spin a thicker yarn \"than she had used in Europe. She recalls being very impressed by Cowichan sweaters, both for the quality of the wool and the beautiful greys. Eva dyes much of her own wool in two small pots, about a lb. at a time. She is influenced by the seasons, the weather and the sky. Challenged by the greyness of Vancouver winters, Eva dyes her greys during that season, for \"winter light does not flatter and in order to be beautiful, the greys must be extraordinarily so.\" Eva also buys already dyed wool and re- dyes portions of it to give her a variety of tints and shades of that colour. She enjoys the process of dying and will often create interesting colours from unusual combinations of dye. Eva dyes from dark to light, creating more tints and shades than will be used in the tapestry. This way, she can measure the colour as the work progresses. For example, a choice of three or four very similar shades will show which shade is too warm or too cool, which is too dense or too light. Eva uses these varying shades to gauge the character of a colour, as it is determined by those that will surround it. During the weaving process, the balls of wool are clustered in baskets around the base of the tapestry, reds with reds, blues together and so on - creating pud- . dies of colour around her work. Eva's extraordinary colour sense cannot be overstated. Her colour sense is an intuitive one, unique to this gifted artist. Eva can recall times from her childhood when she drew upon this ability to visualize colours. For instance, as early as age seven while darning her father's socks the with black thread, she was visualizing colours she wanted to be using. Eva first sketches a proposed tapestry in black and white pencil. After several black and white sketches, she moves into coloured pencil. This ensures the form can stand on its own regardless of the colours chosen. These drawings are then modified and, in the case of a commissioned work, drawn to scale. \"Conversions\" Eva has been successful in exhibiting and selling her work in British Columbia. Her work has been displayed, among other exhibitions, at Women in Focus' \"Womansize\" in Vancouver, at Presentation House in North Vancouver, and at the Multwood Art Museum of the University of Victoria. Some of her tapestries are included in the Department of External Affairs' Permanent Collection and are currently touring Europe with the Canadian Contemporary Tapestry Collection. Eva has also collaborated with her painter husband Z. Stanley Kupczynski to produce his designs in tapestry. One of these collaborative works will be on display as part of a fabric arts exhibit at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in April. And in July, Eva's tapestries will be on display at the Cartwright Gallery at False Creek in Vancouver. Eva Kupczynski lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters, Monica and Beata \"Summer 3, 1980\" Erratum: Last month's feature on artist Judith Atkinson should have read \"By thus maintaining a 'crude ' form it seemed to resist the 'slick' nature of 20th century art.\" (col. 2, para. 6) 16 Kinesis April 1982 REVIEWS P4W an honest portrayal of life inside women's prison by Pat Feindel The screen is black as P4W begins. Voices of women in the Women's Unit of Kingston Penitentiary echo back and forth through institutional hallways. Abruptly, the camera follows two female guards up the stairs on their round through the prison, cutting away at intervals to each of the five women we will meet during the film - Beverly, Janise, Debbie, Maggie and Susie. Inmates, \"cons\", prisoners - they all carry the label and whatever judgments we make about them for having been sentenced to \"do time\". P4W (Prison for Women) Produced, directed and edited by Janis Cole and Holly Dale. Colour, 81 mins*. Pan-Canadian Film Distributors, Toronto What the filmmakers of P4W have done is create a very honest picture of five women who are trying to deal with day-to-day existence inside the four walls of a prison. Maggie talks about the murders she was convicted for, the subsequent estrangement from her two sons, and her attempts to repair it. Debbie speaks of the so-called investigation that followed the suicide of her best friend in isolation - an investigation at which no prisoner was allowed to be present or give evidence. Women bear scars of many frustrations Others talk about daily frustrations, and how the administration's distance from their problems leads to violent outbreaks and \"slashing\" (self-inflicted wounds). One woman bears the scars of many frustrations on her arm. Janise and Debbie openly and sometimes painfully discuss their close relationship and how it will be affected by Debbie's release. Janise says, \"Before, I thought I really loved people. Well, I found out I hadn't, not really...Debbie...I really love her. She's all I've got. She's all I've ever had. Unfortunately, I had to find it in here. In just over an hour, these women become real, even ordinary, people. We don't necessarily like everything about them. We don't necessarily know everything about them, but we see them as real people. We have witnessed them laughing and crying, we've seen their frustration, anger, courage, loyalty, love, integrity and sense of humour. Through interviews, cinema verite and monologues, we find out why they are there, how they relate to each other, how they view the world and themselves, and what it is like to LIVE in prison. For once, women speak for themselves Here we have among the first stories to be told by women prisoners. And for once, they are allowed to speak for themselves. There are no statements by the administration, no footage of guards interacting with prisoners. The women tell their stories simply, and without qualification. And this is the film's power. \"You know, we don't have what other people have. We can't go for a walk at night, or go downtown- for a beer or go to a show or something. We just sit in here and talk. That's all there is to do is talk...I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves. I really don't know what I'm going to do.\" The film cuts back often to Bev, for she lightens the mood with her animated stories and her bluntness. But her final speech - a parody of a politician's - where she advocates the release of all prisoners and the transformation of the pentitentiary into a free school, is only half-joking. The filmmakers do not attempt to arouse false sympathy or pretend these women have not committed crimes. But simply by revealing the lives of these women, the film indicts a prison system that off3rs inmates no alternatives - nothing but loss, deprivation and boredom. Many of the women talk directly about the constant lack of privacy, the loss of any sense of their individuality of uniqueness. As Janise comments, \"They even try to control your thoughts, and that's all.you've got in here.\" For rehabilitation, the institution provides only a hairdressing course and \"training\" in housecleaning. Two inmates respond simply: \"Well, I'm not interested in hair at all\" and \"I can't really see myself cleaning floors for ten years out on the street, you know?\" P4W is straightforward and low-key, though innovative. There is no narration. There are no fancy camera techniques. The camera stays close in to its subjects. There are few shots that give us a view of the prison or any sense of open space, and that sense of enforced closeness becomes very real for the audience by the end of the film. The matter-of-factness and honesty that come from the prisoners even in their emotional moments, lend credibility to what they are saying. Cole and Dale chose five out of ninety women's stories, researching the facts on every one to make sure no woman's account was untruthful, exaggerated or overstated. They spent 2\ weeks shooting, eight months researching, and almost four years just trying to get permission to get into the prison. When they showed the film at Kingston Pen to the women who were involved, there were cheers - the sense of strength and excitement that comes from finally speaking out and knowing people are listening. Janis Cole and Holly Dale are trying to organize a tour of P4W, accompanied by an ex-inmate, to prisons across the country. Showings in Ontario have already been presented by one of the women in the film, who has since been released. P4W is now showing in commercial theatres. Watch for its return. Pat Feindel interviewed filmmakers Janis Cole and Holly Dale while they were in Vancouver with P4W in March. That interview will appear in the next issue of Kinesis. JtEDERMS WOMEN'S PLACE IN POLITICS AND POLITICS' PLACE IN THE ARTS. FIREWEED PUBLISHES WORK THAT'S TOO OUTRAGED OUTRAGEOUS, THEORETICAL, POLITICAL, PERSONAL TO FIT INTO MAINSTREAM MEDIA A FEMINIST QUARTERLY FIREWEED Start '\u00C3\u00B1\u00C2\u00B0 Renew D my subscription with Issue Institutional D$15 Personal D$10 Out ot country D$12 FIREWEED P.O. Box 279. Stn B, Toronto, Ont M5T 2W2 April 1982 Kinesis 17 REVIEWS Immigrant's Handbook reveals our racist past by Rachel Epstein Over the last several years, there has developed a growing awareness of racism within the predominantly white women's movement. There has also been an increased commitment to combatting it. White women have begun to identify the racism within themselves - to look at the racist attitudes and behaviours we have developed, and how we have been influenced by the society we live in, by our families, friends, schools, media, etc. The Immigrant's Handbook A Critical Guide by the Law Union of Ontario Black Rose Books, Montreal, Quebec, 1981 We are struggling to change these attitudes and behaviours. As well, there is an increasing commitment to understanding and supporting the struggles of women of colour. If we are to successfully combat racism, we have to understand the multi-faceted ways in which it operates. Not only must we examine racism within ourselves, we have to look at how it is institutionalized within the economic and social structures of Canada and whose interest this serves. Immigrants denied basic rights Looking at our immigration laws and history is a good place to begin. And The Immigrant 's Handbook is a good book to begin with. The Immigrant's Handbook is a 260-page book written by a group of progressive lawyers and legal workers in Ontario. It is a guide to Canada's immigration laws. Of most interest to me, and probably to other people who are not affected in a day-to-day way by immigration laws, were the first two and the last chapters. The first chapter gives a history of Canadian immigration laws, while the second refutes some commonly-held myths about immigrants and their effect on Canadian society. The last chapter deals with the situation of immigrant women in the Canadian labour force. There is also a section on American draft evaders and \"deserters\". It is shocking and terrifying to read the Handbook's concise, analytical summary of immigration to this country. Popular mythology has it that we are exhibiting humanitarian compassion and \"doing them a favour\" by allowing immigrants to enter Canada. In fact, the history of Canadian immigration laws is a history of racist and anti-labour laws. As the Handbook states: \"Canada's admission policies have been determined by three sometimes competing factors: the desire to populate Canada with British people, the need to heed international pressures, and the demands of the labour market. The discriminatory laws which were enacted to keep out non-British people were relaxed only when the other two factors made such action necessary.\" Immigrants have provided the labour (usually at extremely low cost) that built this country. Immigration is necessary for the labour and skills immigrants provide and for the maintenance of a stable population. Yet immigrants have been and continue to be denied the basic rights of other people in Canada. We learn that 15,000 Chinese were admitted to Canada to work on the railroad. Then, in 1885, when the railroad was complete, the government enacted the Chinese Immigration Act, requiring each Chinese immigrant to pay a $50 head tax and be identified by a special certificate. In 1903 this head tax was raised to $500 and in 1923 a new Chinese Immigration Act was enacted which completely prohibited the entry of Chinese into Canada. Between 1924 and 1930 only three Chinese entered Canada. In 1907 a \"Gentleman's Agreement\" was made between the Canadian and Japanese governments in which the Japanese government agreed to voluntarily restrict emigration to Canada. In 1908 immigration from India was restricted by means of the \"continuous journey\" stipulation, which required people immigrating to Canada to come directly from their home countries. The CPR was the only steamship company providing such a journey from India and a directive had been sent to them forbidding the sale of tickets to Canada. Laws also used against militants, unemployed During and after the first world war, immigration laws were used to strike back against the growing strength and militancy of labour. Socialists were identified as \"foreigners\" and many were deported. Grounds for deportation on \"national security\" grounds were widened to enable this to happen. During the Depression, immigration to Canada nearly came to a halt. In 1929 all Asians were banned from Canada, and the Immigration Act played a key role in the government's effort to destroy organized opposition to its actions. Hundreds of organizers were deported (many back to fascist countries) and the deportations forced the energy of organizers into defence work rather than organization. The government was also deporting the unem- played. In 1931 alone, 5000 people were deported for becoming \"public charges\". In the years before World War II, the Canadian government's policy towards refugees from Hitler in Eastern Europe can be summed up by the following memo sent to the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet by officials of the Dept. of External Affairs and the Immigration Branch of the Dept. of Mines and Resources in November 1938: \"We do not want too many Jews, but in the present circumstances we do not want to say so. We do not want to legitimize the Aryan mythology by introducing any formal distinction for immigration purposes between Jews and non-Jews. The practical distinction, however, has to be made and should be drawn with discretion and sympathy by the competent authorities, without the need to lay down a formal minute of policy.\" Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, in a move designed to build enthusiasm for the war and encourage anti-Asian sentiment, the Canadian government ordered 21,000 Japanese Canadians evacuated from the West Coast. And the list goes on. IMMIGRANT'S HANDBOOK A CRITICAL GUIDE . BY THE LAW UNION OF ONTARIO It is shocking and terrifying to read the Handbook's concise, analytical summary of immigration to this country . . . the history of Canada immigration laws is a history of racist and anti-labour laws. ference to the traditional white Anglo immigrant. People in Third World countries do not have equal access to education, training and wealth. Racism is also evident in the number and location of Canadian immigration offices around the world and in the large amount of discretion wielded by individual immigration officers in deciding who gets in. Finally, the new Act contains powerful and frightening restrictions on the rights of immigrants who have made it into Canada The Immigrant's Handbook explains the new Act. In fifteen clear, easily understood chapters the authors describe the entire piece of legislation. Most importantly, they provide invaluable information about what to expect from the Immigration Department in various situations and how to deal with it - information which has obviously been gained from a lot of experience with the Department. Current Immigration Act still gives preference to white Anglos The current Immigration Act was enacted in 1976. Although the current Act is not openly discriminatory, it still gives pre- Guilty unless proven innocent The practice of many immigration officers seems to indicate that in their eyes you are guilty unless proven innocent. As the Handbook states: \"Individuals involved in the immigration process learn very quickly that the Commission is generally not trying to help people to enter or remain in Canada, but rather seeking to restrict and discourage entry and stay...It is essential to remember the Commission's role and realize that the immigration office is an adversary, not a friend.\" Everyone approaching the Immigration Department should have a copy of The Immigrant's Handbook (and a legal advisor) tucked in their back pocket. For people who don't have to deal with the Department, the Handbook will provide some good answers the next time you are confronted with someone saying, \"But don't immigrants cause unemployment, crowding in cities, higher crime rates and racial tensions?\" 18 Kinesis April 1982 REVIEWS Powerful images, but little movement in Miller's poetry by Kate Nonesuch The women in this book of poems are women we know even if we've never met them \u00E2\u0080\u0094 women Miller has learned from, women suffering the ordinary woman's lot, taking the shots weaving the heat into meaning these are the women who brought me to some truth. The truths are stark and ugly; there is no hope here and little joy in the struggle. These are the Women, by Joni Miller, MacLeod Books, Vancouver, 1981. The women Miller pictures have a woman's strong-willed endurance, but it is the poet who sees their strength and shows it to us; the women themselves seem unconscious of it. In \"Cantina (For Joyce)\", for example, a woman who kills the man trying to rape her baby (\"Nobody Does That To My Children\" ) .is charged with murder and caught up in the sexist and racist legal system. She is lost. Her options, to defend her child or not to defend her are both dead ends, and the white man's justice in a three piece suit bows its way out of the courtroom Miller's images, like the one quoted above, are precise, powerful and sometimes terrifying. A rapist enters a woman's house with the words, \"be still, i am your nightmare\" . Later in the poem the unreality of this very real experience is amplified by \"nightmares leave no traces\" and \"nightmare flesh does not apologize\". I wanted some indication that movement out of the female condition was possible \u00E2\u0080\u0094 not only because I have a strong streak of Pollyanna in me, but because our movement ceases when we see ourselves in a trap that offers no escape. I wanted cries for revenge, or fantasies of a distant future when we will control our lives, or plans for fighting back today. But in this book the only mention of collective action comes as an ironic panacea for a relationship gone sour: i'll make you a cup of productivity they say it soothes just take a little sip of the work to come. I am usually impatient with unorthodox systems of spelling, but in these poems the consistent use of the small \"i\" as 1 i had to leave she says quietly he would have killed me ize the fact that although the details of any poem are singular to the situation, the \"i\" is not some one ego who happened to be a victim, or made the wrong choices \u00E2\u0080\u0094 that \"i\" is me. The women we see in these poems \u00E2\u0080\u0094 Margaret retiring after 25 years in the factory, the five women in \"The Abortion Tapes\" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 are clearly identifiable as ourselves and our sisters. Again and again we hear unspoken the message from the title poem: you are not alone you are not alone o Personal Best ruined by superficiality, compromise by Cy-Thea Sand The fact that lesbians will flock to see this vile movie disturbs me. Personal Best concerns the relationship between two women pentathletes training together, over PERSONAL BEST Directed by Robert Towne Starring Mariel Hemingway as Chris Cahill and Patrice Donnelly as Tory Skinner a four year period, for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The film not only lacks a clear focus, its characters are ridiculously underdeveloped with a misogynistic, homophobic framework. Mariel Hemingway stars as a whiny accident- prone teenaged athlete named Chris Cahill. She meets Tory Skinner - played by the former Olympic athlete Patrice Donnelly in her acting debut -'who encourages Chris to expand her stamina and potential. They become friends and lovers, rooming together for almost four years. One of the only scenes that speaks even \u00E2\u0096\u00A0 vaguely to the lesbian experience occurs at the beginning of the film when Tory and Chris arm wrestle late one evening after spending hours talking and laughing. In this early scene the women's strength and beauty are allowed expression. From there, the film degenerates into superficiality and compromise. I went to an afternoon showing of Personal Best where young adults comprised a good portion of the small audience. When Chris- and Tory began to make love the air was littered with comments such as \"Get ser- iousl\" from a young woman and \"Hey, you're missing somethin!\" from a boy. Tory and Chris run, work out and bring groceries home together, yet they never speak of the nature of their relationship. Indeed, I was a little surprised at their shared domesticity as not a word is spoken about this development. Tory is depicted as a gay woman, older than Chris, while Chris is simply explo ring her sexuality, a heterosexual adolescent experiencing a rite of passage. She mingles easily at the athletes' parties while a strained Tory looks on. And when their male coach intimates that Tory intended the accident which seriously injures Chris' leg, Chris wavers in her loyalty to her lover. The relationship ends as it began, unaccompanied by emotional depth or meaningful dialogue. Chris moves out and becomes involved with a puerile polo player. At one point Tory hisses at Chris that they were more than roommates, they had occasionally fucked each other. insulting to progressive people of both sexes. What this film really is about is the total lack of respect with which women are treated in Hollywood film scripts and studios, as in society at large. The celebration of women's strength one could reasonably expect from a film concerned with female athletes is consistently undermined. Phallic images, fat women jokes, crotch shots, muted female voices (the dialogue was annoyingly difficult to hear) and Chris' illness and accidents, insist on the essential weak- To insist that Personal Best is not about lesbianism is comparable to saying that Making Love is not about the dissolution of a heterosexual marriage. This is Tory's desperate attempt to name the past four years with Chris, to give some meaning and context for her pain at the relationship's dissolve. Though Tory is scripted to become a lugubrious shadow figure, this line remains potent in its unintentional, covert condemnation of lesbian silence. - Director Robert Towne and actress Mariel Hemingway insist that Personal Best is not about lesbianism, which is comparable to saying that Making Love is not about the dissolution of a heterosexual marriage. Despite Making Love 's white bourgeoise perspective, the film is a serious attempt to dramatize at least some aspects of the gay male experience in North America. Personal Best reduces the radical complexity of lesbian relationships to confused muffled gropings. It is dishonest and ness of women. In one horrendous scene the coach spews out his resentments with being just a woman's coach, expressing all the sexist assumptions and biases which continue to erode women's potential in sports. One is compelled to compare this movie to Chariots of Fire,lux which male Olympic athletes are presented in a seriously intense, dramatic way. The powerful beauty of an athlete's body, is honored in Chariots of Fire, while in Personal Best the female athlete is eroticized within a male-defined system. The crew of Personal Best were continually harassed by bomb threats while on location in Oregon. The perpetrators need not have bothered. This film so' devalues and distorts lesbianism it is neither an education or a threat. It is simply a waste of money. Q April 1982 Kinesis 19 ANTI-RACISM Zionism racist in its demand for special status for Jews by Chavah Mintz With the deepening of the economic and political crisis and the resulting rise of racism, anti-Semitism is on the rise. Neo-Nazi groups are growing daily in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. The Klan, which is planning to move their headquarters from Toronto to Vancouver, has specifically targeted Jews in Toronto. In America and Europe, synagogues are being desecrated with swastikas. In Poland, Jews are being blamed by the ruling military government for the \"atmosphere of dissent\". We realize that many progressive women, both Jews and non-Jews, support Zionism. They feel that Jews have a right to their own territory, often claiming that a Jewish homeland is the only safeguard against anti-Semitism. This is certainly the point of view presented in the mainstream media. And in my experience many feminists have been particularly supportive of this point of view. Some women feel that by opposing Zionism, they are discriminating against their Jewish sisters. Opposition to Zionism has been particularly difficult to mount. Jews who oppose . Zionism are frequently painted as self- haters; non-Jews who are anti-Zionist are accused, by Zionists, of being anti-Semites. Some progressive people are critical of the present leadership of Israel which they see as unnecessarily militaristic and repressive. In the face of this, they maintain the right of Israel to exist, calling for liberalization of the government. This \"liberal\" Zionism has been on the increase in the west with the increasing publicity about Israeli occupations of Arab lands and brutal repression of the resident populations. In this article, we want to show that Zionism is a racist ideology which, by maintaining the demand for special status for Jews, supports anti Semitism. The state of Israel is no safeguard for Jews against anti-Semitism. To be anti-Zionist is, in no way, to be anti-Semitic. Zionists have never hesitated in denying basic human rights to Arab peoples, on whose land they have built their promised land. It is our firm point of view that the present day racist, colonialist, and imperialist policies of the state of Israel are a direct and necessary result of Zionist ideology and practice. In the article, we will present various points of view we have encountered in relation to the question of Zionism. These are points of view which we see to be incorrect, and we will present arguments to counter them. One point of view sees Zionism as based in religious Judaism. People who hold this point of view feel that to fight for the creation of a Jewish state in Israel is simply to enact Jewish law. This point of view, often put forward to link anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, is, in fact, a fallacy. There is a spiritual movement amongst extremely religious Jews which speaks of the return to Zion. This return is predicated on the appearance of a saviour and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth,and has nothing to do with the establishment of a secular state. In fact, these messianic \"Zionists\" entirely reject the legitimacy This article is based on a presentation by myself and Dara Culhane at a conference organized by the Canada Palestine Association in Vancouver. We are two women who identify ourselves as Jews. We have, to varying degrees, been involved in anti-racist work, and see our commitment to struggle against Zionism as part of the anti-racist work we do. Anti-Zionist Jews are in the process of forming a group to fight against anti-Semitism. That is, we aim to fight against prejudiced attacks against Arabs and Jews. Anyone interested in being involved in such a group can contact the author c/o Kinesis. According to these people, only in the state of Israel, which is controlled by Jews, can Jews have access to equal rights and be free from persecution. (Zionism is sometimes spoken of as Jewish'liberation. ) To uphold this point of view is to see minority persecution as human nature; to see the isolation of different peoples from each other as the only possible solution to racism and ethnic persecution. Jews are viewed as a separate and different people who will never be able to adjust in a non-Jewish world. People who hold this point of view tell us that Jews will be faced with severe persecution as long as they lack their own Israeli soldiers arresting Palestinian students, 1976 of a sovereign; secular state of Israel. Political, as opposed to religious, Zionism originated at the end of the 19th century in Europe as a response to severe persecution. Some Jews felt they would only have access to human rights and basic equality in their own country. Zionism was not, however, the only response to this 19th century European Jewish experience of persecution. There was a strong Jewish socialist or social democratic movement at the time. According to the literature we have read, these movements had more influence among Jews than the Zionists did. They opposed the Zionists, maintaining that Jews had to fight for equal rights in the countries in which they lived. There were as well, large numbers of Jews who emigrated from Eastern Europe to other countries, primarily the United States. They did not feel they could get what they wanted in Eastern Europe, but they did not look to a Jewish homeland for salvation. Rather, they took the route taken by many other oppressed minorities through the ages and around the world - they tried to move to places where there was more economic prosperity and the laws were more liberal. So, looking at the historical data, we can see that political Zionism is not based in religious Judaism and was, at its inception, a minority response to persecution. A viewpoint which has considerable influence, particularly among people who see themselves fighting anti-Semitism, is one which sees Zionism as a defense against the persecution of the Jews. homeland. We are asked to believe that the holocaust experienced by European Jews during the second world war is an ongoing threat, held back only by the existence of the state of Israel. This point of view is frequently put forward to justify atrocities perpetrated on the Arab people. After all, we are supposed to believe, Jews are only fighting for their own survival; the harsh treatment of the Palestinians is an unfortunate but necessary result of the Jewish struggle for a homeland. From the beginning, the aim of Zionists has been the eradication of the Palestinian Arabs from their homes. Currently there are over four million Palestinians living outside of Palestine. These are people who were forced to flee. Zionists had purchased less than 6% of the total land of Palestine by 1948, much of that acquired directly from the Ottoman Sultan, and later from the British mandatory authorities whose moral and legal right to sell it was very dubious. All land incorporated into the state of Israel subsequent to the initial 6% was acquired by forcible seizure. Torture is used commonly in dealing with Palestinian prisoners. The entire populations of towns are regularly forced to flee to make way for Israeli colonization. For example, in' 1948 two hundred Palestinian men, women and children were massacred in the town of Daar Yassin to make way for Israeli settlement. This raid is believed by many to have been only one of many such atrocities, only brought to world attention because of the presence of a Red Cross observer. continued on page 20 20 Kinesis April 1982 ANTI-RACISM ZIONISM continued from page 19 Palestinians within the.state of Israel are subject to Emergency Regulations, a set of laws which make all civil and human rights negligible. These laws were originally imposed on the area by the British imperialists before tha state of Israel was established, and were at the time challenged by Zionist leaders as facist laws. So, we have to ask ourselves, even if the state of Israel is an effective defense against anti-Semitism,, what right do the Jews of Israel have to build their defenses on the backs of the Palestinian people? But, we want to make it clear that Zionism is not a defense against anti-Semitism. In fact, Zionists share basic assumptions with anti-Semites. Both sets of people believe that Jews can never be integrated into a non-Jewish state. When well-meaning people tell me that Israel is my homeland, I know they would find support for this viewpoint from members of the Klu Klux Klan, who also feel that Jews should be forced to leave Canada. Zionists have consistently collaborated with anti-Semites with whom they have shared this basic unity of principle. Theodore Herzle, the founder of secular Zionism, negotiated with the notorious anti-Semitic Tsarist Minister of the Interior, who in 1903 granted him a letter stating that the Zionist movement could count on the Tsarist government's moral and material assistance with respect to measures taken by the Zionist movement which \"could lead to a reduction of the Jewish population in Russia. This was at a time when Jews in Eastern Europe were facing intense persecution. Zionists worked hand-in-hand with the Nazis from the first moments of Hitler's rise to power until his demise. Their policy was to extract whatever concessions they could for the state of Israel, for which thousands of Jews paid dearly with their lives. While the Nazis were organizing a boycott of all Jewish places of business and Jewish professionals, wealthy Zionists were organizing large scale economic deals with the Nazis involving the transfer of funds to Palestine. This sabotaged the efforts of Jews in many other parts of the world who were organizing a boycott of German Rather than fighting to save the lives of Jews who were being slaughtered, Zionists collaborated with the Nazi policy of genocide against Jews, in exchange for scraps thrown to the Zionist cause. Zionists served as police within many of the ghettoes, supplying the Nazis with the required number of bodies to be shipped to the crematoria. One example, in no way an exception, was the activities of Jacob Gens, a leading Zionist who collaborated with the Nazis. Among other activities,he tricked 5,000 Jews of the Vilna ghetto, who thought they were being taken to a neighbouring town, into boarding the trains which led them to their death. Zionist organizations, many of them quite influential during the second world war, used their influence solely to further the interests of the Israeli state. To illustrate this, we point to the refutation by Dr. Solomon Schonfield, chairman of a rescue committee set up by Britain's Chief Rabbi, to the charge that the British government neglected supposed Zionist pleas to help the Jewish victims of Nazi- ism. Schonfield said: \"My experience in 1942-43 was wholly in . favour of British readiness to help,openly, constructively and totally and that this readiness met with opposition from Zionist leaders who insisted on rescue to Palestine as the only acceptable form of help.\" Rather than fighting to save the lives of Jews who were being slaughtered, Zionists collaborated with the Nazi policy of genocide against Jews, in exchange for scraps thrown to the Zionist cause. We can hardly see Zionism as a defense against anti- Semitism. Another incorrect viewpoint we have encountered is one which sees Israel as a country which holds open to all of world Jewry a safe sanctuary where justice is available to all. This idea is as untrue as the corresponding myth about the United States or Canada. Israel is a capitalist country based on an unjust class system. The material costs of Israel's war policy have been increasingly loaded onto the backs of Israeli workers, while a new generation of millionaires has risen to prominence and power. Among working people, the Palestinians are the most exploited, followed by the Oriental Jews who tend to be darker in skin colour than European Jews and who come from Arab and African countries, face intense social discrimination. They make up the vast majority of non-- Palestinian workers within Israel; their culture is scoffed at and they face discrimination in access to housing, education, government and jobs. Thus, when we examine the situation in Israel, we can see that the state does not provide justice to all Jews. But does Israel, at least, provide a safe sanctuary where persecuted Jews can flee? We say no. In fact, Jews within Israel are extremely vulnerable. Israel has, from its inception, depended on one or another imperialist power for support. In exchange for official sanction and military protection, Israel has been a watchdog for first British and then U.S. interests in the Middle East. Israel has always followed a policy which militates against the liberation of other peoples. Israel was a militant supporter of the U.S. invasion of South-East Asia, was among the first to extend diplomatic recognition to the brutal military dictatorship in Chile, and was a staunch supporter of the notorious regime of the Shah of Iran. South Africa, Argentina, and the former Somoza regime in Nicaragua are major trading partners of Israel. So not only is Israel a racist settler state, but it has always been a junior partner of one or another imperialist power, participating actively and gaining from the imperialist exploitation of Palestinians and other third world peoples. The fight against anti-semitism must be taken up by Jews allying ourselves with other people who are experiencing attacks. The balance of world power is changing. American imperialism is being pushed back. Israel becomes more and more vulnerable as the forces of resistance around the world grow and the U.S. loses power. The peoples of the third world are everywhere fighting against imperialist exploitation of their countries. With the blood of the people, the imperialist power of the U.S. is being fought back. With the expulsion of the Americans from Vietnam, with the victories of Nicaragua and potentially El Salvador in Latin .America; the U.S. field of imperialist exploitation is drying up. The U.S. is desperate for raw materials to prop up an economy in depression, and can no longer afford to wholeheartedly support the Israeli state - it wants Arab oil too much. Having felt the crunch of these shifts in American foreign policy, the Israeli government is scared. It is responding with increased military might in the form of the occupation of the Golan Heights. Israel is not a safe place for anyone to be right now. It is a state under seige. Some people have a difficult time giving up Zionism even having realized that it does not answer the needs of the struggle of Jews. They maintain that, however inadequate, it is the only organized response of Jews against their own oppression. As anti-Zionist Jews, we feel that there are ways to fight against anti-Jewish persecution. Jewish persecution does not rise alone,as a single injustice in a perfect world. The present rise of anti-Semitism must be - seen as part of the response to the present economic and political crisis of capitalism. People's standard of living is severely threatened; housing is impossible to find, unemployment is becoming a regular and unalterable fact of life for many people. People are desperate for easy answers in an increasingly difficult situation. It is in this situation that the right has gained power and influence, urging people to respond to their oppression by choosing a scapegoat. And so, along with the rise of anti-Semitism, we see a rise in racism against non-white peoples, attacks against the rights of women, attacks against lesbians and gay men. The fight against anti-Semitism must be taken up by Jews allying ourselves with other people who are also experiencing attacks. Anti-racist Jews must work together with other people who experience racial and ethnic persecution. We must support non-white people who are fighting back against racial prejudice far more severe than anything Jews have experienced in this country. Through these actions we will be able to stand in the countries where we choose to live and fight back against the attacks on us alongside others who face similar attacks. 0_ April 1982 Kinesis 21 REVIEWS Women and Trade Unions a crucial resource for workers by Penny Goldsmith This review of Resources for Feminist Research's recent issue entitled Women and Trade Unions is more an annotation of the table of contents than a critical analysis - for a reason. The 130-page issue runs the gamut of what currently exists in terms of women and trade unions at the present time and what politically involved women think of what is happening. Thus my purpose is not to analyse - the articles do that - but to throw out the fact that this book is in general circulation. Women and Trade Unions/La Femme et Les Syndicats. Ed. by Linda Brisken and Lynda Yanz. Resources for Feminist Research/Documentation sur la Recherche Feministe. Vol. X, No. 2, July 1981. Today 30% of unions members or close to 900,000 women in Canada belong to unions. Yet the researched history of women in trade unions is almost non-existent. In light of this fact, this issue of RFR's journal is not only a wealth of information but a primary resource in the field. The editors see the issue as providing a starting point for further research and analysis on women and unions in the areas covered. A brief rundown will give some idea of the diversity of the subject matter: \"Strategies for Equality: Women's Committees in Unions\"; \"The Struggle for Union Recognition: A Feminist Issue\"; \"Women's Struggle for Non-Traditional Jobs\"; \"Whither the Feminist Unions? SORWUC, AUCE and the CLC\". Sexual harassment, the Pratt Three, sexual orientation, domestic workers, day care, new technology and immigrant women are also covered. Book reviews, film resources and an extensive bibliography (including an annotated list of women's strikes) and a list of organizations and works in progress complete the journal \u00E2\u0080\u0094 altogether an impressive and substantial collection of material for those interested in unions. The theme of building allies while at the same time not compromising feminist principles is one that surfaces in many of the articles. Debbie Field, for example, talks about the importance of women's committees in unions when dealing with business unions, and the Women and Trade Unions DRF RESOURCES FDR ^^J\"*^^ FEMINIST RESEARCH/ H I Wl*\" I m DOCUMENTATION P^ m\" SUR LA RECHERCHE FEMINISTE impact of the women's movement in creating those committees. Micki McCune elaborates on the theme, talking about the 1980 CLC Women's Conference. Deirdre Gallagher points out that union recognition itself is a feminist issue. The fact that feminists and trade unionists are allies in dealing with new concepts of the \"peopless paperless\" office is documented by Lynda Yanz in her report on Labour Canada's \"Micro-electronics and the Work Environment\" conference. Sexual harassment and sexual- orientation protection clauses are being picked up and fought for in more union contracts with pressure from feminists and lesbians in unions, and the implications of this are reported by Susan Attenborough (\"Sexual Harassment: An Issue for Unions\") and Susan Genge (\"Sexual Orientation and Union Protection\"). Other articles describe what is happening with women who are unorganized and organizing in Canada today. Joan Sangster describes what is available in historical research. Laurell Ritchie talks about women who are unorganized, while Wendy Johnston delves into non- traditional jobs for women. Maureen Fitz- Gerald launches a mild attack on the two feminist unions in Vancouver (particularly SORWUC), while acknowledging their importance to the union movement. Domestic workers organizing drives in Ontario and British Columbia are documented by Mirjana Vukman-Tenebaum and Rachel Epstein respectively. The struggle of immigrant women in the work force is represented in the journal by Maria Luisa Rodriguez and Rosine Butavand-Kaley. The latter outlines the situation in Quebec in \"Etre Travailleur, Immigrant et Femme: Les conditions de travail pour les immigrants a Quebec\". A section on women in educational unions deals with affirmative action clauses, and an article by Louise Lafontaine, \"Les femmes professeurs et la syndicalisation en milieu universitaire\", describes unions in the academic milieu in Quebec. In times of economic recession and cutbacks, Women and Trade Unions/La Femme et Les Syndicats is a crucial resource to have around the house, for it shows where we are fighting and what we are working towards. This issue of Women and Trade Unions is available from Octopus Books East and West, Spartacus, and Ariel Books in Vancouver, or order directly from RFR/DRF, Dept. of Sociology, 0ISE, 252 Bloor St. W., Toronto, M5S 1V6 ($5.00 for individuals or 10 or more copies; $10.00 otherwise). 0_ It is sometimes desirable in the course of political lobbying to send letters to every politician at the federal and/or provincial level. If that is the case, here is a way to save money, time and energy. Simply send letters in bulk (the number is specified) to the contact person -listed and their staff will distribute the letter to each member. A telephone call and/or accompanying letter of request would be in order, (from NAC Memo) BRITISH COLUMBIA Ministry of the Provincial Secretary Postal Branch Parliament Buildings Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4 Attn: Mr. Leon Hall Tel: (604) 387-3952 (57 copies) FEDERAL MP's The Honourable Jeanne Sauve Speaker of the House Parliament Buildings Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Tel: (613) 992-5042 (300 copies) SENATORS Senator Jean Marchand The Senate Parliament Buildings Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Tel: (613) 992-4416 (96 copies) Support choice on abortion rights May 8th & 9th The B.C. Federation of Women and one of its member groups, Concerned Citizens for Choice on Abortion (CCCA), are sponsoring province-wide actions on abortion rights on May 8 & 9, 1982. Joining them in coalition will be women-1 s groups, unions, associations and church groups from around the province. A united struggle and mass mobilization are needed to fight the most recent threats to choice on abortion AND to demand the repeal of the legislation that keeps us vulnerable to attack. In Vancouver, participants are asked to assemble at 12 noon Saturday, May 8 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza. The march will proceed through the downtown area to Hotel Vancouver, where the rally will be held. The rally will feature speakers from the international abortion rights movement, the trade union movement, and the B.C. women's movement. For more information on the march and rally, call CCCA at 876-9920. 22 Kinesis April 1982 MOVEMENT MATTERS Festival '82 still seeks submissions from B.C. women artists Following is an interview by Nicole Laplante with Jean Kamins, an organizer of Festival '82: A Celebration of Women in the Arts. Festival '82 will take place at Robson Square Media Centre from July 5 to 17. Nicole: Is Festival '82 the first of its kind in Vancouver? Jean: Two years ago, women from London, Ontario received money to organize a National Women's Art Festival. It was there that B.C. women got the idea for Festival '82. The objective of Festival '82 is to feature the artistic accomplishments and creative talents of B.C. women artists. Women in other provinces are also holding arts festivals this year. There are committees organizing events in Edmonton, Regina, Halifax and Charlottetown. Quebec women held an arts festival during International Women's Day in March. Nicole: Has there been good response from B.C. women artists? Jean: We've had very good response, but we want more submissions. We have just moved the deadline for submissions to the Festival ahead to May 1, and we urge all B.C. women artists to submit their work. We are looking for submissions in the areas of art, music, literature, dance/film, video, and performance art. As well, we would like to hear from women who are not artists but who would like to volunteer to help with the Festival. Nicole: I assume you have received outside funding for Festival '82. Jean: Yes. The federal Secretary of State Women's Program has provided $18,000 in \"seed money\" to get the Festival off the ground. For the rest, the committee has applied for donations and grants from various organizations. Nicole: Is Festival '82 free, or will there be admission fees attached to events? Jean: Many of the events, especially evening performances, will have admission fees attached, but in most cases it will be a minimal one. Nicole: What arrangements have you made to accommodate mothers during Festival '82? Jean: There will be childcare. We ask mothers who need childcare to pre-register us. th Nicole: What about special bookings or \"big names\" for the Festival? Jean: It doesn't work that way. Every artist will have equal profile in this Festival. Artists submit their work to the appropriate Festival committee, and the committees choose the work which will go into the Festival. The visual arts committee, in an effort to be truly representative of all visual artists in B.C., will be making a slide presentation during the Festival comprised of all visual arts submissions. Visual art entered in the Festival will be judged by a jury of six well-known women artists and curators. Nicole: Will artwork be on sale, or is it strictly on display? Jean: Both artwork and literature will be on sale during Festival '82. Following is a schedule of events for Festival '82. All events will take place at Robson Square Media Centre. For more information, contact Jean Kamins at 738-8991. Monday, July 5: Gallery opening and wine & cheese party, 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 6: Film night featuring works by B.C. women artists, 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 7: Readings by six well-known B.C. women writers, 8:00 p.m. Friday/Saturday, July 8 & 9: Performance of \"Rites of Passage\" by Ann Cameron, 8:00 p.m. Saturday, July 9: An afternoon of \"open readings\", 1:30 4:30 p.m. Film night featuring works by B.C. women artists, 8:00 p.m. Saturday/Sunday, July 9 & 10: A series of daytime workshops focusing on all disciplines, 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 Sunday, July 10: Afternoon panel on the arts, moderated by Eleanor Wachtel, 1:30 p.m. Music night, 8:00 p.m. Monday, July 11: Video night, 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 12: Dance night, 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 13: Poetry and music night, 8:00 p.m. Thursday, July 14: Performance pieces, 8:00 p.m. Friday to Sunday, July 15-17: The Gallery will remain open for the final three days of Festival '82. YWCA organizes single mothers support groups The Support Services Department of the YWCA is helping to organize neighbourhood single mothers support groups. The weekly support groups are free, and childcare is provided. Downtown YWCA: 580 Burrard St, Vancouver Wednesday mornings, 9:30am-12:30pm Leader: Margaret Kinsey, 683-2531 Little Mountain: Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, 4397 Main St, Vancouver Monday evenings, 5:00-7:00pm Tuesday mornings, 9:30-11:30am Leader: Sheena Lawson, 879-7104 Champlain Heights: Champlain Heights Community School, 6955 Frontenac, Vancouver Tuesday evenings, 5:00-7:00pm Leader: Bonnie Cowen, 683-2531 False Creek: False Creek Community Centre, 1318 Cartwright St, Granville Island Wednesday evenings, 5:00-8:00pm Leader: Judy Rogers, 683-2531 North Vancouver: 3521 Norwood, N. Vancouver Thursday evenings, 5:30-8:00pm Leader: Dianne Clements, 980-9938 Groups can be developed in other areas. For more information on any of the above groups call Judy Rogers, 683-2531, local 252. False Creek women's group seeks members, childcare A women's group in False Creek which meets Tuesday evenings is looking for new members. In their flyer, they state: \"Our objective is to provide a time and place to explore our feelings and discuss our experiences in a supportive atmosphere. We provide each other with emotional support, validation and honest feedback, including political analysis. \"We do skill and information sharing. We do not do ongoing political action as a group. It is our intention to maintain as much as possible a situation in which we do not have a closely vested interest in each other's changes. \"We each take responsibility for what goes on within the group. The group collectively takes responsibility for providing and funding childcare.\" This group, which is made up mostly of low-' income single parents, is also seeking people to take care of their children on the nights they meet, either in False Creek or near Main & 25th Avenue. They need to have childcare provided on a regular basis, at little or no cost, and would prefer childless people who feel some responsibility to the children of the community. They state, \"Our ability to seek support is restricted by our choice to have children.\" If you are interested in either joining this group, or providing childcare, contact Evelyn at 683-6438(home) or 684-9264(work), or Joa at 738-1430. April 1982 Kinesis 23 LETTERS BCOFR demonstrations taught participants a valuable lesson Kinesis: Dorrie Brannock's article in January's Kinesis about the use of violence in BCOFR's'October 17 rally contained a fairly accurate account of BCOFR's history and actions up to the time of the rally. Some of the other assumptions and interpretations in the article were not so accurate. I was heavily involved in the first year of BCOFR's formation and work and I continue to maintain that the march and rally were.successful. I was pleased at the relative absence of violence, i.e. relative to what it could have been. When BCOFR was attacked the first time (October 4th) I was an unprepared, inexperienced participant, as were my two preschool children and everyone else there. More than one person was sick with fear and distressed for days afterwards. We could have been beaten and injured amidst the general confusion and shock. At the second rally (I left the kids at home) I was afraid and timid but also very angry that yet another group of people could have me in that state of fear. Were the State, the Klan, men in the streets, not enough already? I was glad to participate in an anti- . racist rally first and foremost. I was extra glad the organization thought of ways to ensure that I could participate in an anti-racist rally first and foremost. I was extra glad the organization thought of ways to ensure that I could participate in that rally with less possibility of being harmed than there had been at the previous rally. If we're going to fight racism, fascism, sexism, classism, we have to be more prepared than we usually are, especially as it is clear that the Police are not prepared to protect certain types of people. So, the purpose of the rally was twofold: to hold the anti-racist demonstration which was disrupted and destroyed two weeks before, and to \"get back in the saddle\" after the fear-inducing attack. Some supporters of the October 17 rally may not have known of the incidents on October 4th and thus were genuinely surprised on the 17th. All people I know went to the rally with the same knowledge and motives I had, and did not feel shocked or \"used\". I cannot agree with Dorrie that violent reactions in an individual under pressure are more acceptable than organized, group violence. Personal, reactive violence is more dangerous (although perfectly understandable) and has limited positive results. A group organizing to defend itself and fight back against institutionalized and societal violence can try to be fairly objective, minimize random destruction, and protect the defenceless. Another problem arising from this whole discussion is the confusion and conflict brought about by the overlapping of such characteristics as class, race and sex. Does, say, a white woman refuse to fight against people of another race, even if they are women and/or fascists? Or does it have to become a political decision and struggle? At the BCOFR rally, according to the CPC-ML's representative in February's Kinesis some East Indian women supporters of CPC-ML joined in the attack. The fightback was not against them as women or as East Indian. It was against their tactics and politics. It's true that the marshals at the BCOFR rally were mostly white men. Many of the Feminist view only hope for a nuclear-free future Kinesis: Have just read the March issue from front to back, full of admiration as usual. Should have commended the February issue in particular for the insert, \"Towards a Non-nuclear World -- a feminist view\". If there is to be any hope and any future, there is no other view for it. This is a critical time; 1982 could go down in history as the best yet, the year when the people of the world forced the nations and the powerful to turn around, to face the .' task of Disarmament and thus to open up possibilities of unimagined and constructive human energy freed to work out solutions to the myriads of problems which patriarchal attitudes have fostered or have been impotent to prevent. I believe that at last it is clear to overwhelming numbers that there is a handle, the main switch handle, which if reached and thrown will effectively shift the gears. That handle is now in 'Annihilation' position; its other position is 'World Disarmament' and the means of . grasping it is the United Nations 2nd Special Session on Disarmament (UNSSD II) June 7th to July 9th, 1982. The NGO's (Non-governmental Organizations) Committee on Disarmament in New York has established four task forces- Media, Disarmament Info. Centre, Substantive Issues, Parallel Activities, which latter stresses all manner of Active-ity.' We are so completely dependent on the self-elected dispensers of what-the-natives-should-know, called funnily 'The Media', that all of us must needs publicize this 1982 Major Event, a turning-point in human evolution. Otherwise, through our small omission, our lack of input and awareness, the one straw that would have broken the camel's back or the one nail gone missing through which the battle was lost may be our bad fortune. Please everyone, show some interest in UNSSD II. Talk about its importance. Expect and demand good media coverage. Write about your hopes for its success to your friends and enemies. Phone in about its activities, e.g. a walk.across the US led by Japanese Buddhists. Sign International Peace Petition and World Nuclear Disarmament Petition. Let's all STOP the Warmakers' Game. Let's make a decent world! D.H. Blair East Indian men in BCOFR have been attacked and threatened for a long time by CPC- ML, and it would not have been useful to have them in the marshalling unit. Also, almost no women (of any race) volunteered to marshal. BCOFR is not a political party and cannot lay down duties for its supporters. That any women at all, including a few East Indian women, attended the rally was positive and reassuring to me. Jill Bend's reply in February's issue to the two articles on non-violence was, in' the main, a reply which echoes most of my feelings on revolutionary defensive vio- ence. But she belied her statement claiming to respect women and men who have acted on their beliefs by excluding Marxists and, in an erroneous link, BCOFR members and their supporters. She describes both BCOFR and the CPC-ML as being Marxist, hierarchical and male- dominated. CPC-ML may well have both of the latter characteristics. BCOFR is an organization of individuals of many racial, class and political backgrounds. My disappointment with \"the left\" in B.C. is that a relatively small number of them have chosen to join BCOFR and work in a broadbased anti-racist group. Many sectors of the women's movement (in Vancouver, at least) exhibit an anti- communist bias, to the point of not bothering to find out facts about socialism in general and facts about groups and their actions in particular. Films, photos and eye-witness accounts of the BCOFR rally show clearly that BCOFR supporters were defensive, not aggressive. As a woman, mother and a member of the non- ruling class I feel that I am not going to gain anything unless I am willing to defend myself and my principles. The marshals at the recent International Women's Day march and rally were brave, calm and strong. But don't believe for a moment that their tactics would have worked if (a) the police had not been there doing their job, for once, and (b) if the disrupters had not been under restraint orders from their leadership, probably due to the number of assault cases they are involved in in court at present. Along with most people I know and respect, I hate and fear violence but I am firmly convinced that we shall all ultimately have to choose either to join our oppressors- or to fight them. Kay Ryan \u00E2\u0080\u0094 NOT \u00E2\u0080\u0094 FOR WIMIN ONLY A WQMQN'S PAINTING BUSINESS REASONABLE RATES FREE ESTIMATES CYNTHIA 253-2212 BULLETIN BOARD GROUPS SELF-HELP DISCUSSION/ACTION GROUPS for anyone with physical problems. The groups are free, and there is free transportation and room to lie down. Kits\" House, wheelchair accessible. We deal with issues such as asking for help, earning a living, relationships, anger, sexuality, pain, and working together for change. For more information call 689-4787 anytime. BISEXUAL WOMEN'S GROUP offers a series of discussions and mutual support meetings. Next meeting is Wed., April 17 at 7:30 p.m. For details phone Georgia at 224-5614. HANDS OFF OUR KIDS is a community development project working on the issue of sexual abuse. Co-sponsored by Vancouver Community College, the project provides educational programs for parents' groups and self-defense classes for children and women. For more info, contact the project at 1034 Commercial Drive, Vancouver or by phoning 255-9841. THE LESBIAN LITERARY COLLECTIVE needs you. We meet once a month primarily as a literary discussion group, not a social one. We're interested in works by and about women. We are ages 12 to 40. Our next meeting is a potluck on April 17, 6 P.M. You can contact us c/o 400A West 5th Ave. We'll get in touch with you before the meeting. LESBIAN INFORMATION LINE - Want to talk? Need information? Call LIL at 734-1016 Thursdays or Sundays, 7:00-10:00 p.m. or drop in Sunday evenings. THE BEST OF VANCOUVER STREET POSTERS \u00E2\u0080\u0094 We are organizing a show of local political/community street posters at the Vancouver Public Library, Burrard and Robson, from April 20-May 9, 1982. We still need Vancouver feminist posters. If you can loan some of yours, call 731-2370 or 733-5249 evenings. VICTORIA STATUS OF WOMEN is now sharing office space with Victoria Women's Bldg. Society at 760B Yates Street, Victoria. CLASSIFIED ROOM AND BOARD in exchange for 2 hr. cooking and cleaning per day, approx. 5-7pm. Non-smoker, East End. Call 255-7272. GAY WOMAN, 28-38 to share beautiful house, own sunny room with view, $275 including once a week cleaning service. On East 5th Avenue near Victoria. Call 254-2433 evenings. BONNIE H. RAMSEY, Accounting services, income tax, financial statements, bookkeeping. (604) 738-5349. JUST OUT HISTORIC ORIGINALS is a program of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, set up to make available to the public early publications of the current women's movement. Back issues of No More Fun and Games: A Journal of Female Liberation and Paid My Dues: A Journal of Women and Music are now available. For more info, write W.I.F.P., 3306 Ross Place N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008. WOMEN AND MEDICINE, special issue of the Journal oj Medicine and Philosophy (Vol. 7, no. 2) will be published in spring 1982. Single issues can be ordered for $6.50 from the publisher: D. Reidel Publishing Co., P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. SWING SHIFT, an all-women's jazz quartet, is coming April 25, 8:00 p.m. to the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island. Tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door. Co-sponsored by Soro- Mundi Productions and Women Against Nuclear Technology. Childcare available. EVENTS 1st ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF FOOLS on Granville Island, Thursday through Sunday, April 1-4, a children's and adults' delight. Co-sponsored by Isadora's Co-operative Restaurant. Clowning, juggling, mime, storytelling. Tickets and information available at False Creek Community Centre or call O.H. Lettuce B. Fools Society, 875-6975 (special ticket rates for Isadora members). If you haven't yet bought your share and joined the other 700 Isadora's members, buy your share now. Construction is slated for May. Keep posted. Rumour has it that they will soon be having menu parties. ABSURD ENDEAVOURS, an art installation at Xchanges Artists Co-operative Gallery in Victoria. Gameboards and works on paper by Nina Weller and Robin Campbell. Opens April 3. BETSY WARLAND READS from her first collection of poems, A Gathering Instinct, Friday, April 2, 9 p.m. at Women in Focus, 456 West Broadway. Book party runs from 8-11 pm. INTERVENTION IN SEXUAL ABUSE: A Feminist Perspective. A One-day workshop, Fri., April 16, 9:00-4:30 p.m. Blake Hall. Theatre, Justice Institute of B.C., 4180 West 4th Ave. Fee $25. Deadline for registration April 8. Co-sponsored by the Feminist Counselling Association of B.C. and the Justice Institute of B.C. WORKSHOPS IN RADICAL THERAPY drawing on constructive criticism, peer counselling, gestalt process and bioenergetics. April 10-12, women only workshop led by Lorraine and Regina; April 24-26, workshop for women and men, led by Joni, Isobel, Tom and Henry. Fee $60 (negotiable based on income). Childcare provided. To register, call David Hastey 437-0767, or write Box 65306, Station F, Vancouver, B.C. THE YMCA-YWCA in New Westminster is offering the following workshops: April 15: \"Free\" Parenting (for parents of adolescents) April 19: Wen-Do Self-Defense April 20: Snooker for Women April 21: Violence in Adolescence April 22: Massage Techniques for Women April 28: But What Will I Tell My Kids? (on sexual violence). Also groups for single mothers. Call Diane Edmondson for details: 526-2485. A DAY OF FEMINIST FILMS by women producers from other countries, Sunday, April 18, at Women invFocus, 456 West Broadway. Call 872-2250 for more details. MARCH AND RALLY to abolish nuclear weapons and fund human needs, April 24th. Assemble at Kits Beach at noon and march to Sunset Beach for a rally at 2:30 p.m. SAY NO TO CRUISE MISSILE TESTS IN CANADA! PROPOSALS FOR CONFERENCE PAPERS are invited for the 3rd B.C. Studies Conference, to be held February 1984. Suggestions will be considered as they are received. Deadline for proposal submissions is Dec. 1, 1982. Direct inquiries to R. McDonald, Dept. of History, University of B.C. ON THE AIR W0MANVISI0N on Co-op Radio, 102.7 FM, from 7:00-8:00pm each Monday: April 5 - Domestic Workers and their Organizing April 12 - Minimal Music April 19 - Art Show: Festival 82', Personal Best, Swingshift, Aubrey Thomas April 26 - Another Look at Services for Incest Survivors. DOMESTIC WORKERS BENEFIT, Saturday April 3, 8pm at Ukrainian Hall, 805 E. Pender St. Live music by Ad Hoc. $3 domestic workers and unemployed, $5 others. Free .childcare. Tickets available at Ariel Books, Women's Bookstore, Octopus East and Spartacus Books. For more info, call CARDWO at 321-5364 or DWU at 733-8764. RUBYMUSIC on Co-op Radio, 1Q2.7 FM, from 7:00-7:30pm each Friday: April 2- Miss Grace Jones April 9 - Laurie Anderson, Pretenders, Gwen Avery, L. Tillery, Nina Hendricks April 16 - Karen Lawrence Pinz, Cheryl Barnes, Beebe K'Roche, Kim Carnes April 23 - Aretha Franklin: Part One April 30 - Aretha Franklin: Part Two. THE LESBIAN SHOW on Co-op Radio, 102.7 FM, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. each Thursday. April will be our second month with a new format. Response to the changes has been favourable. We have abandoned our weekly theme shows in favour of a weekly 15-minute feature, to allow us to become more up-to-date on current issues. We also offer our regular calendar of announcements, news, reviews, and music as well as a regular Lesbian Herstory spot and a reading of Lesbian Literature. If you have comments or news or issues you feel warrant consideration, call us at 684-8494 Thursdays from 6:30-7:00 p.m., or from 8:30-9:00 p.m. or leave a message during office hours Monday through Friday. NIGHT TRAIN on Co-op Radio, 102.7 FM, Saturdays 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Seven hour variety show with news, interviews, music, comedy and spoken word. This month, among others, you can hear: Ruth Draper, Linda Tillery, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Big Mama Thornton, Little Esther, Alive!, Joanne Brackeen, and The Roches. Spotlight on April 16th is on Eartha Kitt, including her music and an interview. CO-OP RADIO FUNDRAISING MARATHON will be held May 9-16. Tune in to 102.7 FM and support community radio. AXWORTHY MISLEADS DOMESTIC WORKERS PROGRAM TO \"PROVIDE SAFEGUARDS AGAINST EXPLOITATION\" A LIE On November 26, 1981, Llloyd Axworthy, Minister of Employment and Immigration, announced new policies affecting foreign domestic workers in Canada. In theory, these new measures allow domestic workers, who have been here for two years or more, to apply for landed status in Canada. Those who fail to qualify, may be given up to two years to attend school and up-grade their skills. If after these two years they still do not qualify for landing, they will be able to work for another year and then have to go home. Just how are these new measures working?? To date, the Domestic Workers Union (DWU) knows of only one domestic worker who has benefited from the new program. On the other hand, DWU is aware of five domestics who are worse off because of these changes. Such a ratio, makes the new policy a sham. The following are examples of how the Immigration Department is now treating domestic workers. PRUDENCE CUMMINGS Ms. Cummings, a Jamaican, came to Canada as a domestic worker in 1975, She is a widow and sole support for her two children back home, Ms, Cummings stayed with her first employer for five years and left when when the employer's children had grown. In August 1981, she was denied a renewal of her work visa on the grounds that she wished to apply for landed status. The logic used was that Ms. Cummings could not have a temporary work visa, because her intentions were to stay. She has been fighting to stay ever since. She had been denied U.I.C, despite six years of paying premiums; spent $2,000 in legal fees; had to file legal action against her previous employer for wages owed. Added to all this, is the fact that a departure notice was issued against Ms. Cummings in December 81, one month after the new changes announced by Axworthy. All legal avenues have been exhausted. Only Axworthy has the power to intervene. MARIA ELENA SOLIS Ms Solis, a Chilean, came to Canada as a domestic worker in 1977. She is a single woman who supports her mother back home, In 1981, Ms. Solis became ill and required an operation. This was directly due to an experience with a previous employer. Because she could not work, Ms. Solis lost her job. Despite paying premiums, she could not collect U.I.C. Ms. Solis is now better, but Immigration is refusing her a new work permit. After five years in Canada and spending most of her savings, Ms. Solis is being told to go home. DAPHNE WILLIAMS Ms. Williams, a Jamaican, came to Canada as a domestic worker in 1973. For nine years, she has given her labour and her tax dollars to Canada. Ms. Williams also supports five children and her parents back home. Ms. Williams has also been one of the leading spokespersons on behalf of all domestic workers. In 1981, after a long battle, Lloyd Axworthy issued a Mininsterial Work Permit to Ms, Williams. It expires on March 29, 1982. Despite several attempts, Immigration has not allowed Ms, Williams to renew her permit or allow her to become landed in Canada. domestic workers union (see over) Domestic workers have traditionally been one of the most exploited sectors of Canada's work force. The hours of work, rates of pay and living conditions that many domestics face, would horrify most Canadians, Added to this has been the callous treatment domestics have experienced from the Department of Employment and Immigration. Lloyd Axworthy has stated that he recognizes these facts. These are the very reasons he used when introducing the latest policies affecting domestic workers. If Mr. Axworthy is to be believed, then he must prove his intent by his actions. Ms. Cummings, Ms. Solis and Ms. Williams must be allowed to stay and work in Canada. We demand that he act in these cases. The Domestic Workers Union urges individuals, unions and organizations to write to Mr. Axworthy on behalf of these three individuals. On April 8, 1982, DWU is sponsoring a public meeting to expose the bankruptcy of Axworthy's new program. Come lend your support for the following demands: THE RIGHT TO RENEW WORK PERMITS THE RIGHT TO APPLY FOR LANDED STATUS NO PENALTY FOR BEING SICK THE RIGHT TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR PREMIUMS PAID Hon. Lloyd Axworthy WRITE TO: Minister of Employment and Immigration fee-DWU)\" Phase IV, Place du Portage V ' Ottawa-Hull, K1A 0J9 COME TO DWU'S PICKET LINE ON MONDAY MARCH 29, 1982. PLACE: REGIONAL IMMIGRATION OFFICES 1550 ALBERNI ST., VANCOUVER. TIME: 12:30 DOMESTIC WORKERS UNION c/o 199 2 West 1st Ave. Vancouver, V6J 1G6 GOOD ENOUGH TO WORK PUBLIC MEETING GOOD ENOUGH TO STAY! APRIL 8, 1982, THURSDAY 7:30 P.M. FISHERMEN'S UNION HALL 138 EAST CORDOVA, VANCOUVER Contact: Susan at 876-2849 (day) or DWU at 733-8764"@en . "Preceding title: Vancouver Status of Women. Newsletter.

Date of publication: 1974-2001.

Frequency: Monthly.

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