02) DIVIDED LABOUR MOVEMENT LEAVES CLC CONVENTION STILL
DIVIDED
PV Ontario Bureau
While three of the four table officers coming into the May 8-12 convention of
the Canadian Labour Congress were re-elected, and a progressive activist from
the Public Service Alliance received the most votes of any candidate, the
question remains whether the Canadian labour movement will be in a position to
respond to the challenges facing the working class in the age of Trump.
Off the convention floor there were many signs of potential for militancy for
progressive change. U.S. Black liberation activist and former Vice-Presidential
candidate Angela Davis ignited hundreds of delegates and social activists on
the eve of the Convention at the Human Rights forum by calling for a labour
movement that is less hierarchical and inclusive, and accepting the struggles
of women and black activists and the fight for $15 as the core of the success.
She emphasized that movements can defeat the powerful, and that Marxism was
still relevant to the struggle because we are still facing capitalism.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers organized a panel calling for a Solidarity
coalition, with representatives from the Halifax Labour Council, the London
Labour Council, the Secretary-Treasurer of the BC Government Employees Union
and the outgoing Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students citing
successes in organizing in their communities.
A panel at the end of the convention looked at unconventional methods of
community organizing such as the Workers’ Acton Centre, the Chicago Teachers
Strike, and the efforts of the Toronto Labour Council to organize within ethnic
enclaves.
There were some positive developments arising from Convention decisions that
can provide opportunities for militant action within the labour movement. There
will be four labour council representatives on the Canadian Council from the
different regions of the country –
An emergency resolution started by rank-and-file delegates supporting the
Palestinian Prisoners’ Dignity Strike for their civil and political strike made
the floor and was supported overwhelmingly by the delegates.
But political and structural issues within the Convention structure and the
labour movement remain obstacles in developing a united militant democratic
movement to challenge the threat of the neo-fascist business agenda of the
Trump Administration and the neo-liberal policies of the Trudeau Liberal
government and provinces across the country.
The major union divide behind the scenes at the convention was the rancor over
the dispute between Unifor and the Amalgamated Transit Union, concerning the
attempt by former ATU Local 113 President Bob Kinnear to appeal to the Canadian
Labour Congress to have the local representing Toronto Transit Commission
workers to became a direct affiliate to the CLC while it sought a new home.
Once it became known that Kinnear had approached Unifor for legal advice,
Unifor National President Jerry Dias went public in supporting the right of the
local to become part of a Canadian union.
ATU put the local under trusteeship and started charges of raiding against
Unifor. An interim report by Barry Thorsteinson, CLC investigator/mediator,
criticized both the International ATU for putting the local under trusteeship,
and Unifor for being in breach of the rules against raiding. But when Kinnear
withdrew the application because he did not have support from the local
membership, no further action by the CLC was needed.
Unifor sought to have the constitution of the International ATU declared in
violation of the Constitution of the CLC. While apparently fireworks occurred
at the Canadian Council meetings held during the convention, the issue was
decided at that level and never hit the floor. The only reference was a
statement by ATU
Lawsuits were dropped and a committee was established to review Article 4 of
the CLC Constitution which deals with disputes. One concern may be that it will
be made more difficult for a local of an international union, or a Canadian
section of an international union which genuinely wants to become part of a
Canadian union, to be able to do so.
The issue also played a major role in the votes for Secretary-Treasurer and
Executive Vice-Presidents. Marie Clark-Walker was challenged for the
Secretary-Treasurer position by Ferne Downey from ACTRA, who had announced her
candidacy at the United Steelworker convention in
NUPGE nominated Sharon Skidmore from the BC Government Employees Union for
Executive Vice-President, so that it would retain a representative on the top
four positions, given that former
As it turned out, the faction led by Unifor brought in more buses of delegates
than the Steelworkers on the day of the election. Rousseau had 2900 votes,
while Lafleur got 1700 votes to Sikdmore’s 1400. Once the vote results were
announced, the bussed-in Steelworker delegates poured off the convention floor,
and no doubt the Unifor delegates did the same.
The convention agenda left little chance for rank-and-file delegates to
participate. Policy papers on a green economy, organizing, good jobs, and
equity had good preambles, but the action items were watered down. 250
resolutions were amalgamated into 17 composite resolutions. Controversial
resolutions, such as one to support the boycott, divestment and sanction
campaign against Israel, or one calling for action up to and including a
general strike against Bill C-27 (bringing targeted pension plans to replace
defined benefit pensions) were referred to the Canada Council rather than being
debated on the floor.
The agenda was full of videos and guest speakers, and panels of experts on
different issues, leaving usually only 1-2 hours per days to debate the resolutions.
Delegates known as “mike muffins” were designated to hold place for the leaders
of affiliates to speak on the issues of the day. On Thursday, a frustrated
union member demanded that a resolution opposing Islamophobia be brought to the
floor for debate, but was told that the convention had to attend to the order
of the day, a tribute to outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Barb Byers. Once that was
completed the Convention adjourned and no further deliberative business
occurred.
Where does that leave the labour movement as its faces the upcoming challenges?
While the more progressive candidates were elected, what chances do they have
to bring rival unions together on a fightback campaign?
Donald Trump has just given 90 days-notice to the
The labour movement under Bob White fought against the passage of NAFTA in
1993, because it saw the treaty as a continental corporate constitution to
undermine Canadian sovereignty. Trump’s negotiators will attack labour rights
and Medicare, and will challenge what little environmental protections the
Trudeau Liberal government might want to implement.
What is needed is a labour movement of the type that Angela Davis called for on
the eve of the Convention. A resurgent Action Caucus can work with the activists
envisaged by CUPW’s solidarity coalition. Activists can push the leaders of the
affiliates who control the CLC Canadian Council to adopt a political agenda
which puts the workers and the people ahead of the corporations who benefit
from the free trade agreements like NAFTA or the Trans Pacific Partnership,
which the Trudeau government wants to resurrect.
Such an agenda can include: a massive social housing program to deal with the
housing crisis in Canada; a higher minimum wage across the country; investment
in value-added manufacturing rather than shipping our natural resources to
other countries to use for their economies; expanded social services to include
a national pharmacare program.
Rather than lawsuits over jurisdictions of existing unions, the labour movement
should be concentrating on organizing the numerous workers stuck in precarious
employment. It should ally with social movements such as ACORN, Fight for $15
and Fairness, Black Lives Matter and Idle No More.
The task for progressive trade unionists is enormous but necessary. The time to
organize is now.
(The
above article is from
the June 1-15, 2017, issue of People's