Labour Start Sheds Light on the Real Union Movement
It is sure easy to be disillusioned with the labour movement these days. The newspaper headlines say it all. Buzz Hargrove considering running for the Liberals. The CAW holds a show of hands vote by the staff to determine who will be allowed to run for office. All the losing candidates bow out of the race. At the Canadian Labour Congress Convention the leadership team ever is returned by acclamation. The Magna deal. It is easy to be consumed by the failures of the left and the labour leadership.
But front page stories in the national media do nothing to tell us about what is happening in the real union movement across the country. They do not focus on the hundreds of rounds of negotiations that are happening every day in locals across the country. Those that mock the CAW leadership selection process ignore the real democratic debates that involve millions or workers and determine whether their bargaining ends in a settlement or strike. You will never find the Globe and Mail praising the unions for the education courses challenging workers to come to grips with issues such as sexism, racism and homophobia. The National Post will never profile the courageous health and safety activists who often risk their jobs to confront bosses over workplace hazards. There was no media coverage of the decision of several, many public sector, unions to donate over $300,000 to support several national women’s organizations that had their funding cut by the Tories. The reality of the labour movement goes unnoticed while the media focuses on the dramas inspired by the top leadership,
Reading the newspapers you would never get a sense that the labour movement is still very much alive and kicking. Not only is it fighting back, it is having some degree of success. It would probably surprise many labour commentators to know that despite some high profile no-strike agreements there are still many hard and long strikes in Canada. In fact every day workers are fighting on the picket lines. In 2005 there was more person days lost due to strikes than any year since 1990. Last year, 2007 saw fewer strikes but they tended to be much tougher. In fact strikes in 2007 lasted, on average, longer than in any year since records started being kept in 1976. This is not a movement that has given up at the bargaining table. This militancy did not reap huge wage results but it did arrest the decline in real wages that occurred in much of the 1990’s. In the decade 1997to 2007 negotiated wage increases averaged 27.8% while overall consumer index rose 23%.
To counter the cynical and sensationalism of the media I regularly go to Labour Start Canada. With one click on a computer key you can obtain a totally different perspective on the labour movement than exists in most of the mainstream media. Labour Start provides internet links to stories drawn from websites of newspapers and electronic media as well as unions, and left and progressive publications. Every day there are stories from every region and every sector of the labour movement. As well as up to date information on strikes and struggles there is lots of information on policy issues, political debates within the movement and labour’s involvement in social justice struggles.
With the economy moving into a recession and the political left in disarray times are very tough for unions and likely to get worse. We have no visionary leaders and the unity within the movement becomes more tenuous. Increasingly unions are looking to raiding to solve problems associated with declining membership. The movement often appears to be suffering from ideological and organizational paralysis. But look past the institutional problems at the national level and you will find a movement of thousands of energetic and strong activists taking on struggles and trying to change the world.
In times like these there is no room for cynicism and defeatism. Despite sensationalist news stories about the follies of our leadership we have every reason to remain confident in the abilities and willingness of working class people to fight for justice.
Check out Labour Start Canada: http://www.laborstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Canada
by Geoff Bickerton Originally published in Canadian Dimension September-October 2008