05) CSN DEFENDS CIVIL LIBERTIES

People’s Voice Editorial

    

            The labour movement is speaking out against Bill C-51, and with good reason. Opposition ranges from the Canadian Labour Congress to national union bodies such as CUPE, to local labour councils. One of the most powerful statements came from Quebec’s Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN, or Confederation of National Trade Unions), which has a proud history of resistance against right-wing governments and bosses.

   

            “The labour movement is fully opposed to this legislation,” Jean Lortie, Secretary General of the CSN, recently told People’s Voice. Lortie said the CSN was immediately troubled by Bill and its apparent targeting of the Muslim community, and “then we realized how the context and language of the bill” could impact labour.

  

            Citing examples of workers in the railways, ports, and airlines, or construction workers on a pipeline project, Lortie said it was entirely conceivable that a workplace action or strike might be classified as disrupting national infrastructure and therefore terrorism. He pointed to injunctions reducing the days of strikes, legislating labour back to work, and restoring “constitutional order”, and referenced the historic experience of the Common Front in Quebec where, during major strike actions and social turmoil in the 1970s, three major labour leaders were jailed to “stabilize society.”

   

            “This is not about domestic issues and anti-terrorism, it is about pleasing [the Conservatives] electoral base and shutting up critical voices – starting with the First Nations and pipeline protestors,” Lortie said. “We’re going into the ditch with this law which violates human rights including free speech, association and the right to strike – and the Supreme Court just reminded us that striking is a fundamental right.”

  

            This crucial fight will not end with Bill C-51. The labour movement has the numbers and organization to help build a powerful coalition which can take this struggle into the next federal election and beyond.

 (The above article is  from the April 1-15, 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.)