03) POLITICAL FOCUS OF B.C. LABOUR - THE MAIN ISSUE
BC Labour Committee CPC
In his farewell speech last November to delegates at the BC Federation of Labour, which he led for 15 years, retiring President Jim Sinclair highlighted the many positive actions of the Federation under his leadership: defending health care, education and social services in the face of massive government cuts; criticizing the outrageous tax cuts for big business and the wealthiest in the province; working with community allies in campaigns on these issues.
Although not directly stated as such, the main theme of his speech reflected the differing approaches to the question of the political role of the BC Fed. Should the main organization of labour activism in the province have an independent political voice for the working class, or simply concern itself with trade union issues and leave political affairs to the New Democratic Party? This was the opening shot in the leadership debate that dominated the five‑day convention.
The only contentious resolution of note was one submitted by CUPE‑BC calling on the BC Fed to reject strategic voting, and to re‑affirm its total support for the NDP. Not surprisingly, because of the political undercurrents in play due to the leadership contest, this resolution drew a considerable amount of attention and debate. Despite strong opposition from many delegates, the resolution narrowly passed.
The two sides of this issue were clearly evident in the leadership contest. Irene Lanzinger from the BC Teachers Federation, and the federation’s outgoing Secretary Treasurer, represented a continuation of the activist policies established under Sinclair. She had the support of some of the largest affiliates widely considered to be more militant or left‑leaning, such as Unifor, Hospital Employees Union, CUPW, the BC Teachers Federation and local labour councils.
Amber Hockin from CUPE, currently the CLC’s Pacific Regional Director, was the other candidate. Her approach advocated a return to the political policies in effect under the previous leadership of Ken Georgetti, who was defeated last May as CLC president after a contest reflecting similar debates. Hockin’s campaign was endorsed by the BCGEU, COPE 378, CUPE BC, the IBEW Provincial Council, and IAMAW 250.
Both campaigns spared no effort to bus in as many supporters as possible, inflating the number of credentialed delegates to a whopping 2227 on voting day, the largest convention ever. In a close vote, illustrating the political divisions in the BC labour movement, Lanzinger won by just 57 votes when the counting was done.
Lanzinger deliberately chose to not campaign together with a candidate for Secretary Treasurer, rejecting the concept of “slates” as undemocratic and not needed in the labour movement. The Hockin campaign partnered with Aaron Ekman, Northern Regional Coordinator with the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union, as her running mate for Secretary Treasurer. This set up a clear contest for President, but until just before the close of nominations for Secretary Treasurer, it appeared that Ekman would be un‑opposed.
Many believed that based on Ekman’s history in the Vancouver area as the chair of the VDLC Youth Committee, he would be an acceptable choice for Lanzinger’s supporters. There were even some buttons circulating that said, “Lanzinger and Ekman - The Dream Team”. However, Ekman distanced himself from this supposition, with critical comments directed towards Sinclair and his record, suggesting that the outgoing president’s policies were partly responsible for the decline in labour density in the province. Both campaigns expressed their concern around this issue, identifying it as a major problem, but only Lanzinger clearly linked the decline to mass layoffs, plant closures, and the attack on unions by big business, and also to government cuts, contracting out and legislative changes which have made it harder for unions to organize.
A lot of the goodwill towards Ekman was diminished during the campaign when he identified himself with traditional economist, right social‑democratic attitudes to working class politics. Many of his key interventions reinforced the political positions of the affiliates who supported the Hockin‑Ekman team, surprising some observers.
The response was the last minute nomination of Howard Huntley from the Grain Workers Union for the position of Secretary Treasurer. He received an impressive 722 votes to Ekman’s 1027. Clearly this was a tactical move intended to send a message that many delegates were wary of the attempt to shift away from the strategies advanced by Sinclair and Lanzinger.
The working class of British Columbia will be best served by the continuation and expansion of the political direction established under Sinclair. This provides a jumping off point for real and productive resistance to the attack on the working class and its most organized section, the trade unions. It remains to be seen if Lanzinger and Ekman will develop the close partnership necessary to carry this work forward.
The debate over which political trend will become dominant in the labour movement is clearly not settled. This is and has been for some time the debate amongst labour activists across Canada, a debate which actually screens the much deeper and more important divide between collaboration/tri‑partism versus class struggle strategies to defend working class interests. Unqualified support for the NDP, or independent labour political action, can be two sides of a coin only if the latter means mobilization and extra‑parliamentary struggle in the here and now. If the departure from exclusive support for the NDP is only a shift towards strategic voting collaboration with the Liberals B one section of big business ‑ the class struggle is weakened, not strengthened.
Within this context, the BC Fed convention delegates gave a clear mandate that the majority approve of class‑based, independent labour activism. The job of the new leadership is to act on this mandate immediately, not simply prepare for the 2017 provincial election.
(The above article is from the February 1-14, 2015 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist 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.)