<= | l _ J ; Strike! Brandon Ferguson, News Editor ast Wednesday, the BC a7 Government and _ Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) served Douglas College with a 72-hour strike notice. By the time that you’re read- ing this, job action will have been underway for 72 houts, as it was to com- mence on Monday, January 10. Strike notice was also served at Kwantlen College, BCIT, and Northern Lights University College. Roughly 400 workers at Douglas College are members of BCGEU. The union has decided on job action as the current three-year deal comes to an end—a deal that saw three consecutive years with zero increase in wages, as part of the BC Liberals’ mandate. “We’re at an impasse,” BCGEU presi- dent, George Heyman, said. “The Campbell government’s refusal to budge from its zero-percent wage mandate has created a log jam at the bargaining table and left us with no other choice but to exercise our legal right to strike.” Douglas College staffers that will be a part of any job action include library assistants and staff, cashier and registrar staff, cafeteria workers, and everyone who essentially makes the campuses flow. Not included are all faculty, counselors, librari- ans, deans, directors, or high-up positions. However, if a full-blown picket were to go up, it would be unlikely to see these people cross the line. God knows I won't. Brad Barber, the director of the Communications and Marketing Office, was hopeful that a resolution would be reached. “We really hope that we can reach a resolution soon, and without any disrup- tion to classes,’ he said. He added that students can keep tabs on any develop- ments in the situation by checking the college’s website, or by calling the infor- mation line (604.527.5452), or the switchboard (604.527.5400). Though the parties are not currently at the bargaining table, Barber was optimistic that they would meet again soon. Within the actual Communications and Marketing Office, union members and non-union members work side by side, and are both co-workers and friends. Basically, I wouldn’t go expecting effigies of presidents or deans to be burned out- side Douglas. Though a nice Gordo bon- fire wouldn’t be so bad, what with the cold weather and all. The strike may not resemble the acti- mony of Hoffa’s days, but there are still some serious grievances. With Campbell’s “zero-zero-zero” three-year deal ending, and with only two raises in the last seven years, the BCGEU wants money. Both raises averaged 4.4 percent, but union boss Heyman points out that “when you take inflation into account, it means their real incomes have fallen by about seven percent during that period.” Hey man, your math is probably better than mine. But the last time I was up for a mandatory raise, my boss just fired me to save himself both money and the trou- ble later on. This whole mandatory raise thing seems like a real nice perk in this “real world” I keep hearing so much about. The union is looking for a seven-per- cent raise and a new four-year agreement, along with access to the same benefits currently enjoyed by instructors. And jellybeans. Lots and lots of jellybeans. Is the Valech Report Pulling the Plug on Pinochet? Travis Paterson, OP Contributor y friend and I arrived in the | \ ) Chilean capital of Santiago on October 10, 1998. That very week, at 82 years of age, General Augusto José Ramon Pinochet-Ugarte entered a private medical clinic in Britain and was placed under house arrest on 94 counts of torture of Spanish citizens that took place during his famed regime from 1973-1990. Luckily, Aunt Margarita warned us of the riots. Had we not known, we would have surely taken the subway straight into a line of riot police, which would have had made for a different story altogether. It was our first day in Chile and a handful of Pinochet supporters, undoubt- edly descendents of the wealthy 5 percent that own 90 percent of the country’s for- tune, was throwing bricks through the windows of the British embassy in response to his arrest. This was in con- trast to the thousands of protesters marching through the streets demanding Pinochet be tried for his crimes and held accountable for the thousands of missing citizens that still hadn’t been recognized eight years after democracy was re-estab- lished. Each day my pal and I visited Santiago that week, we left the downtown square off our itinerary, choosing to watch the riots each night on the 11 o’clock news from Aunt Margarita’s place, safely tucked away in the suburbs. Each day we took in amazing Spanish Colonial architecture and visited museums of modern and nuevo art, all the while falling in love with the culture. And each night we looked on as hundreds of people stuck it out in bat- tle with riot police, only to be gunned down by tanks with high-powered water canons and thrown in the paddy for overnight detainment. There was anguish in their voice, expressing 25 years of injustice without any explanation for the loss of their loved ones. As long as he was in Chile, Pinochet had diplomatic and par- liamentary immunity. But not in Britain. Amazingly, Pinochet was granted a return to his home in Chile and, with diplomatic immunity, he returned to work as an advi- sor to the senate. Since Chile’s democratic transition in 1990, many feel little has been done to account for the families of those who dis- appeared during the Pinochet years. This was until the November 29 release of the Valech Report. Issued for public access, the Valech Report was prepared by the National Commission on Imprisonment and Torture, as commissioned by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos. The report, based on testimonies of more than 28,000 people, heavily details individual accounts of detainment, beatings, torture, sexual abuse, and execution. It is available online, though it is yet to be translated from Spanish. As recommended by the commission of the Valech Report, each reported vic- tim of torture will receive a pension of $120 (USD) per month, costing the gov- ernment $70 million per year. The commission also recommends that the Chilean government compensate the vic- tims and their families with free education and health care; Lagos agreed and has passed the bill to Congress. In the meantime, Pinochet was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and taken to trial in 2000, only to have the case dismissed in 2002 as he was again granted immunity by the Supreme Courts of Chile, this time due to his fragile state of health. Will Augusto Pinochet evade the ham- mer of justice? It is still uncertain if he will be tried, though an appeal is in place to strip him of his final immunity, stating that he is in good enough health to stand trial. To this day, a framed picture of Pinochet hangs on the wall of Aunt Margarita’s Santiago home, though she has never admitted to supporting him. January = 12/2005