03) CAW DELEGATES BACK NEW UNION PROJECT
By Stuart Ryan
The 1000 delegates to the August Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Auto Workers voted unanimously to endorse the New Union Project to form a new Union with the Communications, Energy and Paper Workers. Some 41 delegates spoke enthusiastically, embracing the call for the labour movement to rethink and reorganize itself to fight the unprecedented attacks by the major corporations and right‑wing governments across Canada and around the world.
CAW President Ken Lewenza called the proposal "incredibly visionary, incredibly ambitious, and incredibly needed."
Co‑Chair Gaetan Menard from CEP said the debate is not a discussion of merging two organizations, but of what is needed in the labour movement to be more effective and relevant. The Report is "not the final solution to the corporate and government attacks on workers, but is the best response for us to respond to these attacks," Menard said. "If you agree with us, come join us."
Menard expressed his solidarity with the students in Quebec and the Occupy Movement in 2011, who gave hope that a better world is possible. "What did they teach us ‑ if you want change, you need mobilization."
The idea began in 2011 with discussions at CLC Executive meetings by Lewenza and CEP President Dave Coles. A joint Proposal Committee was formed with eight representatives from each union, with the goal of having a proposal ready for the CAW Convention.
Last January the committee published "A Moment of Truth for Canadian Unions," which outlined the stark challenges following the capitalist economic crisis of 2008:
* erosion of union density
* failure of union organizing
* concerted government attacks on unions
* global corporations extracting concessions in benefits and pensions through lengthy strikes and lockouts, with the blessing of governments
* politicians advocating right‑to‑work legislation
* "paralysis and dysfunction of some (not all) labour centrals"
* aging of union activists, and inability to organize young workers in anti‑union climate.
The paper suggested that unless Canadian unions reenergize, they could end up in the position of the U.S. labour movement. It saw an opportunity to tap into the discontent and resistance about growing inequality, as shown by the Occupy Movement: "If unions can position themselves as a legitimate voice of this discontent, and channel Canadians' anger and worry in progressive and effective directions, we could emerge from the current crisis stronger and more confident ‑ just as unions emerged stronger from the 1930s, thanks to innovation in organizing and bargaining strategies, and a willingness to directly confront the political and economic failures of that daunting time."
In August, the Proposal Committee issued a report called "Towards a New Union". Dave Coles told the CAW delegates that the mounting job losses, poverty and economic insecurity were "not a product of a broken system of global capitalism; it is capitalism." The Canadian labour movement responded to the Harper Conservatives "like a deer caught in the headlights," Coles said, but the New Union proposal "can give labour a stronger voice to challenge the dominant agenda."
The proposed new union will spend over $50 million over the next five years on organizing. A national division will be established, and membership will be open for individual workers in a non‑union workplace; unemployed workers' who had been involved in an unsuccessful unionization drive; precarious workers involved in contract work or workplaces with high turnover; students and youth.
The structure and governance is designed to be open, democratic and accountable to the combined membership of more than 300,000 workers, of which 86,000 are women. The number of women on the National Executive Board will be equal to their proportion of the total membership. There will also be one representative of racialized and aboriginal workers.
The NEB will have three National Officers: President; Secretary‑Treasurer and Quebec Director; three Regional Directors, 5 regional chairpersons; a representative from skilled trades and retirees; and 11 representatives of industrial councils where membership reflects a critical mass in industries across the country.
A Constitutional Convention will happen every 3 years. A Canadian council with delegates from each local will meet once a year. Each year both Regional and Industrial Council conferences will shape the direction of the union in their areas of interest.
Only one delegate raised questions, though he rose in support of the proposal. Since organizing the youth was such a key objective, he asked, why wasn't there a young worker position on the new NEB? He added that having a GBLTTQ representative would be a clear signal that the new Union wants to be inclusive and represent the interests of all workers. Lewenza's answer was that the proposal could not be amended at this CAW Convention.
The question of affiliation with the NDP will also be left to the deliberations of the new union. The CEP is affiliated with the NDP. The CAW is not affiliated to any party since former President Buzz Hargrove was expelled from the NDP for advocating strategic voting in the 2006 federal election.
Jerry Dias said the new union would be strong enough to challenge the NDP if it is not representing the interests of labour. He asked why Manitoba, which has had an NDP government for over a decade, still does not have anti‑scab legislation or card‑check certification.
The proposal will next be voted on by delegates to the CEP Convention in Quebec City, October 14‑17. If, as expected, the proposal is supported there, the two unions will call for a founding convention of the New Union in 2013. Then the real work will start, said Menard.
(The above article is from the September 16-30, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)