(The following article is from the November 1-15, 2009, 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, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Jim Cameron

Two steps back, one step forward? This is perhaps the best spin a reporter could give to the October 2009 CUPE National Convention in Montreal.

     As a public sector union, CUPE has not been hit (as of yet) as hard as manufacturing and resource unions by recent events. But there have certainly been harbingers of more difficult times ahead. Most obviously, the pummelling of private sector unions with closures and concessions. Just prior to convention, concessions were beginning to leak into CUPE's territory with very difficult municipal strikes in Toronto and Windsor, where the cities demanded concessions and received loud support from the corporate media. Sensing the new situation, governments in New Brunswick and British Columbia have also indicated that they would impose wage freezes on public sector workers.

     So it was with some disappointment that the left received the leadership's Strategic Directions convention policy document. Like the private sector unions currently being flayed by employers, the draft document did not lay out new directions to deal with the new realities. Or rather, what new directions it did lay out, would lead us back into deeper trouble.

     Much like the CAW with its decidedly unsuccessful attempt to find a kinder, gentler side of business, the Strategic Directions draft suggested working with the business class to develop a new economic policy. Delegates were left scratching their heads - what possible sign is there that business is willing to help workers? Indeed, with business laying off hundreds of thousands, reneging on pension promises, pushing privatization, extending `free trade' with friends of labour like the government of Colombia, and backing hard right political leaders, the indications are very much opposite.

     The ideology of tripartism (where labour follows a policy of cooperation with business and government) has been around for many years, famously being debated (and sharply criticized) at the Canadian Labour Congress' 1976 convention. The oddity is that such an approach is much more remote from the actual activities of business and capitalist governments today than it was in the 1970s.      For the private sector unions in deep, deep trouble, tripartite or bipartite initiatives are, perhaps, an understandable, but misguided response. For a union (like CUPE) that is not in crisis, that is sharply opposed to corporate privatization, and that has been more progressive, and more fighting than many other unions, this is a troubling initiative indeed.

     Part of the context for this development is the walk-out of Ontario delegates from the tail end of the 2007 convention in Toronto over the funding of illegal, political strikes. Following the convention, an agreement was eventually reached which allowed better access to funds for illegal strikes, mollifying Ontario. So at this convention, Ontario delegates pulled in their horns and subdued their criticisms. Nevertheless, deep tensions remain. Notably, during the convention a constitutional resolution from the BC Division was repeatedly put on the order paper that would, if passed, have changed the rules of quorum and made a walkout of conventions by Ontario much less effective. In the end, with peace holding, the resolution (and others like it) was not debated.

     As a result, the responsibility that fell to the Action Caucus, a long-standing group of left-of-centre trade unionists, was redoubled. They led the charge to dump the references to tripartism and alliance with business. They also noted that while the Strategic Directions document criticized privatization, there was no reference to a strategy for expanding public services, flagging in particular the extensive section in the draft document on green jobs, which failed to mention public sector green jobs.

     A key leader in the Action Caucus, Stephen Seaborn, asked "Is this part of a strategic alliance with business? If so, I'm thinking we sure don't need it! How could we rely on corporate Canada to build a green alternative. Let's not be naive here!"

     "As public sector workers we have no choice but to play the leading role in green job development if we're to have any hope for a sustainable future. Focusing on public sector green jobs has got to be central to our union's economic emergency action plan.

     "And as CUPE members, we've got to move on rebuilding community-union alliances and then together insist on good green jobs for all. For sure, the urgency of green job creation is much too important to concede to so-called `green corporations'. And if the corporations don't like that, well too bad!"

     Even more troubling was the near silence over the proposed four year public sector wage freeze in BC and two year public sector wage freeze in New Brunswick. These proposals would seriously erode public sector working conditions, and could easily expand into other provinces. Yet the strategic plan on this matter was missing, as was any sense of urgency.

     Also absent was much discussion of a sectoral approach to bargaining and CUPE's broader policy work. CUPE locals cannot deal with the rising level of attacks in isolation; a sectoral approach has the most likelihood of effectively bringing workers together and putting them in a stronger position to fend off attacks.

     There were some positive signs, however. The key points of CUPE's fight back remained even in the draft Strategic Directions document. Moreover, while there is some doubt as to the actual policy of the union, the Action Caucus was able to win the removal from the document of explicit references to alliance with business, and also to add in the idea that the public sector must play a key role in the expansion of green jobs.

     And very importantly, Helen Kennedy, a left wing feminist and president of the CUPE Toronto District Council, was recognized with the Grace Hartman award, giving a stirring speech to the 2,500 delegates on the often daunting responsibilities and struggles of women trade unionists. She called for a much bigger struggle for equality and peace. Indeed, Kennedy single-handedly made peace an issue at the convention:

     "One of the things that I learned from Grace was the need to fight for peace. We need to oppose war in all its manifestations. We need as a labour movement to re-commit our fight for peace both as a labour movement and as individual activists and I urge us all when we go back home to take up the fight against war."

     Kennedy's full speech is available at You Tube; simply search "Helen Kennedy leftvids" from the You Tube site.