Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1982-09-18

              Th.- p- V'"'-
-' " 6 - STATS HISTORICAL
1 HITT & kOWRY ST. ' Uk a S ylWW' COLUMBIA, IM. C f 75th Year - ! So. 5 Good Morning! It's Saturday. September 1 8. 1 982 2 Sections - 12 Pages - 25 Cents
Reagan position on Israel stuns some
From our wire services
WASHINGTON The United States re-newed
its demand Friday for an " immedi-ate"
withdrawal of Israeli forces from West
Beirut But the hard line emanating from
White House and State Department officials
was seemingly undercut by President Rea-gan
who said there was justification for the
Israeli move into West Beirut.
Said Reagan while on a campaign -- trip in
New Jersey when he was asked about the Is-raeli
intervention: ' Tm sure what led them'
to move in was an attack by some leftist mi-litia
forces still there." He added that be be-lieved
the Lebanese Army would take up the
Israeli positions and that " we've made great
progress on the road toward peace."
Reagan, speaking in Whitebouse, N. J.,
said the criticism of Israel voiced in strong
terms on Thursday by White House and State
Department spokesmen, and repeated Fri-day,
" doesnl mean we've moved one step
away from our obligation for the preserva-tion
of Israel as a sovereign state."
" We want to see all foreign forces remov-ed
and see Lebanon go forward," the presi-dent
said, " And that's what Israel wants,
too."
The president's justification for the Israeli
move stunned officials in Washington. One
State Department official said that " even
the Israelis are not claiming they were fired
on." Another official said the stern line, ac-cusing
Israel of violating the terms of last
month's cease- fir- e agreement, and of delib-erately
reneging on assurances that it would
not seize control of West Beirut, was " per-sonally
approved by the president" on
Thursday.
" Don't quote me," one official said, " but
the president has got his facts wrong.' '
An Israeli spokesman had no comment on
reports that Israeli soldiers had entered the
Soviet Embassy compound in West Beirut.
Israeli soliders rounded up Palestinian
suspects Thursday, put Beirut under a cur-few
and pressed a house- by- hou- se search for
guerrilla weapons, defying U. S. demands
that they should immediately withdraw.
The conquest of Beirut, the first takeover
of an Arab capital by an Israeli army since
the birth of the Jewish state in 1948, was
completed in less than 60 hours and coin-cided
with the Jewish New Year celebration
of RoshHashana.
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Sa- la- m,
who played a key role in the U. S.- le- d ne-gotiations
that led to the evacuation of Pales-tine
Liberation Organization guerrillas from
Beirut, denounced the Israeli action and said
" American credibility is not at stake, it is
lost:"
Some Israeli officers denied their men
broke into the Soviet Embassy. But while
they were speaking to reporters Friday, two
Israeli soldiers still stationed on the roof of
an embassy building leaned over and called
down to other troops lounging beside the
compound.
An Israeli tank was outside the embassy
gate and a Lebanese security officer said the
tank had been " pumping away" at the doors.
In Jerusalem Friday, the president's spe-cial
envoy Morris Draper was told by For-eign
Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Defense
Minister Ariel Sharon that Israeli military
officers would meet as soon as possible with
Lebanese Army officers to discuss transfer
from Israeli to Lebanese control.
Administration officials were also annoyed
by statements attributed to Israeli officials
claiming that Draper was not critical of the
Israeli position.
John Hughes, the State Department
spokesman, said that " Mr. Draper made
very plain and in a firm manner again this
morning the United States position; we are
asking for an immediate withdrawal of Is-raeli
forces."
Israeli officials also have denied that they
misled the Americans. " We do not wish to get
into a debate on who said what. when. The
fact is that as the result of the exchanges dur-ing
the course of the summer and in the im-mediate
aftermath of the assassination of
President- elec- t Bashir Gemayel, we were left
with what we regarded as the clear under-standing
that Israel had no intention of taking
military control of West Beirut."
' Kvin VlrobikAdsms
Learning the ropes
Dan Kliethrmes, 1306 W. Worley St., shows his son Clinton, 5,
' the proper way to get a smooth finish on concrete. The pair
worked to complete work on a newly poured driveway at 1008
W. Walnut St. Friday afternoon.
Is West Germany turning right?
BONN, West Germany ( UPI)
The coalition of left- leanin- g. Social
Democrats ansHSjsrsl- Frs- e Demo- -,
crats that ruled West Germany for
13 years ended like a rocky mar-riage
in months of bickering and
finally, divorce.
Hints of an impending break up
have long been evident on the West
German political scene.
Their disputes ended Friday when
the Free Democrats withdrew from
Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's Cab-inet,
causing the government to col-lapse.
A new conservative era in
West German politics, with a Chris-tian
Democrat government in pow--,
- er, now appears certain.
As if reflecting the inertia that has
crept into the power base of the co--.
alition, voters over the past two
years have gradually turned away
from the left- liber- al axis toward the
Analysis
conservative Christian Democrats
or the new radical leftist fringe par-ties.
Right- leanin- g Social Democrat
voters have in recent months be-come
worried by the party's left-ward
drift, particularly on defense
policy and the economy. Most of
those voters have thrown their sup-port
to the conservative Christian
Democrats.
Leftist Social Democrat voters
have, in turn, argued their party is
not tough enough In its anti- nucle- ar
stance. Many have joined left- win- g
fringe parties.
As a result, the Free Democrats
had been caught in the middle while
still attached to an increasingly un
popular coalition partner.
The Social Democrats' troubles
began in earnest 18 months ago in
their traditional stronghold of West
Berlin, which they held almost con-tinuously
since the end of World War
n.
In May 1881, the city's Social Democ-rat-
Free Democrat coalition was
swept out of power by opposition
Christian Democrats and a new left- win- g
radical party.
Fearing political obscurity, West
Berlin's Free Democrats with the
backing -- of their national leader,
Foreign Minister Hans- Dietri- ch
Genscber joined in coalition with
the Christian Democrats.
In Bonn, the same fear of being
wiped off the political map drove
Free Democrats to continually
squabble with their coalition part-ners
over finance and the anti- NAT- O
drift of the left- win- g of the Social
Democrats.
Bonn's Free Democrats declared
. themselves against Social Democrat
tax increases and higher govern-ment
spending, arguing instead for
spending cuts and policies aimed at
stimulating business investment.
They were also becoming increas-ingly
worried by left- win- g Social
Democrat calls for nuclear disarma-ment
in Western Europe.
Despite a rescue attempt in Feb-ruary
by Schmidt, in which he
gained a confidence vote to continue
as chancellor, both parties suffered
further heavy political defeat four
month; later in Hamburg.
As in West Berlin, the Social Democ-rat-
Free Democrat coalition rul-ing
Hamburg was crushed by opposi-tion
Christian Democrats and the
. new radical ecology party, the
" Greens."
In town
today
" 7: 30 p-- m. " Damn Yankees,"
Columbia Entertainment
Company, West Junior High
School. Tickets in advance are
4 for adults and $ ZJS0 for chil-dren,
students and senior citi-zens;
H50 and 3.00 at the
door.
8 pan. Chet Atkins concert,
Stephens College Assembly
HalL Tickets are $ 9 and $ 10.
Index
Opinion a
I
Women's panel looks forward
despite past and unsure future
By Deborahs. Roberts
State capital bureau
JEFFERSON CITY Zero fund-ing
and 10 years of inaction mark the
15th anniversary of the Missouri
Commission on the Status of Women.
Still, a celebration is planned to
show the General Assembly and the
state that the commission is being
reactivated.
" We have the support of the wom-en
in the state and the women legis-lators
and a number of special inter-est
groups," says Paula Smith,
director of the Department of Labor
and Industrial Relations, which
oversees the commission.
Insight
But it has been a lack of financial
support, rather than moral support,
which has crippled past commission
efforts.
The commission was established
by the Missouri Legislature in 1967
to ' study and promote' . the employ-ment
and legal status of women in
Missouri. Only twice in the commis-sion's
15- ye- ar history has the legis-lature
provided it any funds $ 10,- 0- 00
in 1972 and $ 2,500 in 1973. The
General Assembly consistently has
refused appropriation requests since
t
V
that time.
Interest in the commission
dropped, and the last chairman re-signed
in 1979, leaving the commis-sion
without leadership until Mrs.
Smith appointed a new chairman in
May.
The commission's stagnant histo-ry
doesnt deter Mrs. Smith. She's
appointed 15 new members and will
ask the legislature for money during
next year's session. Although the
budget request is not finalized, Mrs.
Smith says she is asking for " a heck
of a lot more than $ 10,000."
Mrs. Smith's optimism has been
( See WOMEN'S, Page 8A)
Five blacks
allege union
discriminates
Grievance before board
By Penelope Nixon
and Jon Hiratsuka
Missourian staff writers
Labor unions have long ex-pounded
a belief in brotherhood
and unity. But five black mem-bers
of the Plumbing and Pipe
Fitting Local 317 say such toge-therness
has not been extended to
I them.
Tuesday they filed a discrimi-nation
complaint with the local's
executive board, stating that the
union has been unfair to them in
deciding who works and who gets
laid off.
The board met in a closed meet-ing
Friday night to discuss the
complaints. They will meet with
the complainants Tuesday before
disclosing recommendations.
Union members Lloyd Quinn,
Cecil Warren, Lawrence Kenny
and brothers Paul and Fred Sim-mons
have often discussed filing
their grievances, but when Quinn
was laid off from the city's new
sewage treatment plant project
six weeks ago, it was the last
straw. Quinn says he has more
seniority than some of the plumb-ers
and pipe fitters still on the
job.
" It's become evident that all
members of the union aren't be-ing
treated fairly," says Quinn,
an eight- ye- ar member. " Our ob-ject
is to see this thing through so
that all members are treated
justly."
Part of the complaint stems
from black members' worries
that if they do not take out- of- to- wn
jobs, they will not work. Of-ten
they do not get job assign-ments
in Boone County, they say.
Kenny is the only black among
the 200 members of the local who
is working. His job is out- of- sta- te.
" This is something that has just
built up over the years," says
Paul Simmons, a 13- ye- ar member
of the union. " It's gone too far
and it's happened to all of us
( blacks)."
Frank Phillips, the local's busi-ness
representative, was unavail-able
for comment while away at a
union convention at the Lake of
the Ozarks.
The local is responsible for as-signing
men to jobs when a con-tractor
calls for workers. Men I
who have been longest without a i
job are supposed to be assigned I
jobs first. The contractor then I
has the option to fire or keep the
union employee once the job is
done.
Sonny Wade, mechanical super-intendent
for the general contrac-tor,
U. S. Enviro Con of St. Louis,
says that race and seniority were
not factors in Quinn ' s layoff.
Wade says the dispute is an in-ternal
union matter, and he has
provided information for the
NAACP, which is looking into the
matter.
Wade says Quinn was the last
worker hired and first fired. He
says Quinn completed the job on
yard piping and then was dis-missed.
No one was kept on or
hired for regular positions after
that, he says.
Layoffs are made tor possiDly a
dozen reasons, Wade says, adding
that when various phases of con-struction
are completed such
as yard piping workers then
may be dismissed.
Wade says that about three
weeks ago he asked the union hall
to rehire Quinn to substitute for a
worker on vacation for one week,
but the hall couldn't reach him so
the contractor hired a white per-son
instead.
Charlie Pearl, president of the
Central Missouri Union Council,
says the dispute is an internal
matter. " We don't stick our noses
into other union's business." The
council works with elected offi-cials
on labor matters, sponsors
community affairs and helps or-ganize
new locals.
Despite allegations
construction goes on
By Jon Hiratsuka
Missourian staff writer
Allegations of racial discrimi-nation
against Plumbing and
Pipe Fitting Local 317 at Colum-bia's
new sewer plant have not af-fected
construction of the $ 41 mil-lion
project.
Workers go about their busi-ness
on the 187- ac- re construction
site located near Gillespie Bridge
Road. They pay little heed to the
controversy as they congregate in
the towering round and rectangu-lar
buildings or walk over the
dried mud contoured with mach-ine-
tire tracks.
Many workers say they have
not heard about discrimination
complaints or do not take them
seriously. Several laughed and
joked when asked Friday if there
was a problem.
Except for one black, the rest of
some 50 workers seen at the con-struction
site during lunch hour
Friday were white. One of the
white workers, James " Tater"
Fenton, a 34- ye- ar member of the
union, said there were no racial
disputes and that four or five
i
blacks are union members.
" There are no problems outside
of normal everyday working con-ditions,"
he said. Asked to elab-orate,
he mentioned " normal
problems" and problems with
" the office." He also said there
was no seniority on the construc-tion
site.
" If the job is completed, they
( workers) go," he said.
Marshall Murray, foreman of
the pipe fitters, also said seniori-ty
was not a criteria in laying off
workers. It is one of his duties to
dismiss workers when the job is
completed, he said.
" People might think that if they
are laid off it is due to discrimina-tion
when it isn't," he said.
One of the complaints was filed
by Lloyd Quinn, a black union
member who alleges he was laid
off even though he had more sen-iority
than white workers still on
the job.
Murray said that only three
pipe fitters, none of them black,
are working at the construction
site now. Two blacks worked on
the project previously, one until
about three weeks ago, he said.
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