I believe the 79 and up fuel pump relay looks for a pulse from the distributor before allowing the fuel pump to run. It may or may not run briefly when you turn the ignition on. I dunno. This is all for safety purposes.
Here is some info:
924Board.org :: View topic - fuel pump relay confusion
If you go to the 924board.org and do a search for "fuel pump relay" you will have plenty of reading material!