Renewal in Canadian Public Sector Unions: Neoliberalism and Union Praxis

BY DAVID CAMFIELD
Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations
Vol. 62, n° 2, 2007, p. 282-304.

Challenges from employers and governments and the limited success of public sector union responses suggest the need for renewal in Canadian public sector unions. This article engages with discussions of union renewal by way of theoretically conceptualizing the modes of union praxis relevant to Canadian unions. It then examines the nature of neoliberal public sector reform and assesses the experiences of Canadian public sector unions under neoliberalism. In this difficult context, unions that are able to make progress in the interconnected development of greater democracy and power will be more capable of channelling workers’ concerns into union activity.

 This, along with international and Canadian evidence, highlights the significance of the praxis of social movement unionism to union renewal in the public sector. Around the world, the public sector is undergoing extensive “reform” at the hands of governments and managers committed to neoliberal precepts. In Canada, public sector workers have experienced many difficulties since the mid-1970s. As Joseph Rose (2004) has argued, the current era of public sector collective bargaining is one in which employers are consolidating gains made in the 1990s and attempting to achieve new ones. In addition, the contemporary period is characterized by an uneven process of constructing what has been dubbed the “lean state,” whose implications for public sector workers include work intensification and the spread of precarious employment.

Although public sector unions have sometimes actively opposed neoliberal “reform,” they have often had little success. Neoliberal challenges and the limited success of union resistance to them suggest that union renewal is needed, and creates openings within public sector unions for renewal initiatives.

However, union renewal is not an unproblematic concept. There are contending visions of what it should entail. This article approaches the issue of union renewal by way of theoretically conceptualizing the modes of union praxis relevant to Canadian unions. On the basis of an analysis of public sector “reform” and an assessment of Canadian public sector union experiences under neoliberalism and their implications for the future of these unions and for their renewal, it concludes that the most promising direction for union renewal would be the development of the praxis of social movement unionism.

Read more HERE. (pdf)

From Fukushima to Saskatchewan: Canada’s Uranium Trap

Socialist Solidarity
July 4, 2012

On March 11 2011, an earthquake and tsunami destroyed the community of Fukushima in Japan. Over 19,000 died. This natural disaster also destroyed four of the six reactors at the Daiichi nuclear power plant, releasing large amounts of radioactive elements. This disaster has made the local area uninhabitable for decades – disrupting the lives of 80,000 evacuees. Only the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 is larger.

But the Daiichi plant didn’t fail just because of a natural catastrophe. It also failed due to the self interest of Japan’s power elites. Upon investigation, it is clear that regulation was lax by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). The owner, TEPCO, ignored safety reports, falsified records, and called in political favors from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to avoid remediation. Lax regulation was also due to NISA’s conflict of interest - being a branch of the Trade Ministry, charged with promoting nuclear power.

All 50 reactors nationally had to be shut down and now there is a municipal campaign to prevent their reopening. A national petition has been signed by 7.5 million people to this effect. Yet the current government, the Democratic Party, has restarted two reactors in Ohi, western Japan while promising a more autonomous regulatory approach in the future.

Canadian Dimension: The Limits of Medicine in a Sick Society

Canadian Dimension magazine
July/August 2012
Volume 46, Issue 4

Medicare was born in conflict. The notorious Saskatchewan Doctors’ Strike aimed to abort it. That was 50 years ago. This issue of Dimension offers an historical perspective on that birth with an essay by Lorne Brown and Doug Taylor (who are preparing a book on the 50th anniversary of Medicare.) Ulli Diemer exposes “Ten Myths about Medicare,” and health economist Robert Chernomas discusses one of those myths in detail: the controversial sustainability question.

But this issue is about more than Medicare. It’s about the limits of medicine in an ailing and toxic society. Broadcaster and social commentator Jill Eisen writes about poverty and other social determinants of health. David R. Boyd, one of Canada’s leading experts in environmental law and policy, looks at the impact of environmental hazards on human health. Finally, Richard Barnet, himself a medical doctor, reflects on the radical views of Ivan Illich, who saw modern medicine as invading daily life in dangerous and disabling ways.

Click HERE.

Quite Early Morning

"Plagiarism is basic to all culture"

Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie




Don't you know it's darkest before the dawn
And it's this thought keeps me moving on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning

Some say that humankind won't long endure
But what makes them so doggone sure?
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing

And so keep on while we live
Until we have no, no more to give
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger

So though it's darkest before the dawn
These thoughts keep us moving on
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows

Sask. potash producers facing U.S. anti-trust lawsuit

Global Saskatoon

Friday, June 29, 2012



A U.S. court has revived a lawsuit against some of the world’s largest potash mining companies.

The lawsuit names Saskatchewan producers: PotashCorp, Mosaic and Agrium, as well as four other international companies, accusing them of forming a “global cartel.”

U.S. purchasers of potash claim that the companies inflated prices of the crop-nutrient by internationally decreasing their output.

The plaintiffs say that prices rose 600 per cent from 2003 to 2008, even though American consumption of fertilizer remained steady.

"PotashCorp has both the policy and practice of adhering to any competition laws anywhere we do business, and that's certainly the case here as well, and these are claims that we will defend ourselves against vigorously when they do go before trial," said PotashCorp Senior Director Bill Johnson.

The lawsuit was resurrected by the seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversing the decision from last September.

Game of Monopoly's Anti-Capitalist Origins

When "Go" used to say "Labor upon Mother Earth produces wages"

By Cecil Adams

Washington City Paper

March 18, 2011

I heard the original Monopoly game, before Parker Brothers took it over, was designed to teach people how broken capitalism is. Is that true? —Matt

Yes, it’s more or less true, although you have to ask: Who needs a game to understand how screwed up capitalism is when all you have to do is read the news? Be that as it may, I convened the Straight Dope staff to play several versions of proto-Monopoly. Their review: nothing like the socialists to make the capitalists look good.

The earliest recognizable version of what we know as Monopoly was patented by Lizzie Magie in 1903. The Landlord’s Game, as she called it, featured a board with the familiar circuit of increasingly pricey neighborhoods interspersed with railroads and utilities. At three of the corners were Go to Jail, Public Park (the ancestral version of Free Parking), and the Jail itself.

’Chávez is millions’ electoral campaign gets underway

Voltaire Network

8 July 2012

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela formally began his electoral campaign for the October 7 elections this past July 1, with a caravan that left Plaza Bolívar in Mariara, state of Carabobo, and covered 18 kilometers to Avenida Constitución in Maracay, capital of Aragua state, surrounded by people throughout its tour.

"After 200 years, we have recovered national independence and we can never again allow it to be lost," Chávez affirmed on his arrival in Aragua, the AVN TV network reported.

"Here in Venezuela what is also at stake in many ways is the future of humanity between capitalism or socialism," he affirmed.

"In the next 100 days, the next 100 years of the country is going to be decided… a revolution is not measured in one year or in a decade, it is measured by centuries. We can reach the point of making a genuine revolution, with independence and national power."

In relation to these last two aspects, both contained in his 2013-2019 government program, the Venezuelan leader stated that everything is at stake on October 7. "I ask God to continue giving the Venezuelan people more awareness, faith and cohesion so that we can attain the victory which will open the horizons to the next 100 years in Venezuela."

He called on supporters of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to fully utilize the coming 100 days and nights to reach the ceiling of 10 million votes, 10 million hearts and 10 million consciences.

In reference to the constant attacks to which he is subjected by the bourgeoisie, he maintained that they have not understood and will never understand that. "Chávez is no longer just me, Chávez is the people, Chávez is millions, Chávez is children, women (…), Chávez is not me, Chávez is the people undefeated."

Labour review threatens workers' rights

By Dave Coles

The Leader-Post 

Dave Coles, CEP

July 7, 2012

Fifty years ago, Saskatchewan changed Canadian history. Pushed by labour, farmer and community groups, on July 1, 1962, the provincial government introduced the first universal health coverage program in North America.

The move was opposed by much of the business community and doctors withdrew their services for 23 days in a failed bid to force the government to back down. Four years later, the federal government took the "Saskatchewan health model" to the rest of the country, recognizing the importance of providing this social protection to all Canadians.

Five decades later, many Canadians judge medicare to be the single most important program that makes this country better than the U.S. and tens of millions of Americans wish they had their own "Saskatchewan model".

The Fraser Institute's Global Petroleum Survey

By John W. Warnock 

ActUpinSask  
04 July 2012

Near the end of June 2012 the Fraser Institute released their latest survey of the oil and gas industry. They reported that 623 managers and executives from 529 oil and gas companies had ranked Manitoba and Saskatchewan near the top of 147 political jurisdictions as good places to invest. In contrast, New Brunswick and Quebec were given fairly low ratings.

A great deal of the reporting was of no surprise and the results were not that controversial. For example, the political turmoil, international wars, and civil wars naturally led corporation representatives to warn about investing in much of Africa and the Middle East. There was also the issue of government corruption, well known in many of the countries surveyed. But these were not the important issues.

Woody Guthrie at 100: Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Will Kaufman Honor the "Dust Bowl Troubadour"

Democracy Now!

July 4, 2012

Commemorations are being held across the country this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the country’s greatest songwriters, Woody Guthrie. Born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie wrote hundreds of folk songs, including "This Land Is Your Land," "Pastures of Plenty," "Pretty Boy Floyd," "Do Re Mi" and "The Ranger’s Command." While Guthrie is best remembered as a musician, he also had a deeply political side. At the height of McCarthyism, Guthrie spoke out for labor and civil rights and against fascism. In this one-hour special, you will hear interviews and music from folk singer Pete Seeger, the British musician Billy Bragg, and the historian Will Kaufman, author of the new book, "Woody Guthrie, American Radical."

"Woody’s original songs, the songs that he wrote back in the 1930s ... with these images of people losing their houses to the banks, of gamblers on the stock markets making millions, when ordinary working people can’t afford to make ends meet, and of people dying for want of proper free healthcare, you know, this song could have been written anytime in the last five years, really, in the United States of America," says Bragg, who has long been inspired by Guthrie.

Canada Boosts Police Power in Mexico

Ottawa's role in the permanent war against the people of Mexico  

By Dawn Paley 

The Dominion

July 4, 2012 

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: Demonstrators damage part of the US border fence

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO—The music is loud and the bar is well stocked. I sit timidly with a can of beer, eyes on the entrance. This was a happening nightclub before Juarez was transformed into a war zone. My companion, Julian Cardona, who used to shoot photos for the society pages of a local newspaper, describes what it used to be like here: Hummers triple-parked on the sidewalk, hundred-dollar tips, well-dressed Texans waiting behind velvet ropes to get in. Not anymore. The night I visited, the place was near empty, waitresses busy with their iPhones, a wandering cigarette vendor calling out to make a sale. 

It was Cardona's idea to go to the nightclub; he said it would help me understand the city better. His career has taken an unexpected turn because of the violence: these days, instead of shooting for the society pages, he shoots crime scenes in one of the world’s most violent cities.

Brad Wall: Moving Saskatchewan backward

Campaign launched to prevent Saskatchewan government from erasing labour laws

NUPGE News

July 3, 2012

Every Saskatchewan worker stands to lose in government overhaul of labour legislation. Have your voice heard. Write to the Minister today! 

A new campaign has been launched to educate and mobilize workers and the public about the changes to labour laws the Saskatchewan government is trying to introduce.

The Saskatchewan Way, launched as part of a member-to-member education campaign by the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU/NUPGE) shines a light on the negative impact the labour law changes will have on families and communities across the province.

The union is taking on this campaign because the government's consultation plan is so broad and dense it has made it difficult for people to understand the full effect of the changes. To ensure the changes are as transparent as possible, the SGEU/NUPGE has officially requested the Premier release the exact draft legislation so workers and the public can review it.

The Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Don Morgan has already said the language is prepared but they have yet to reveal it.

What has been determined already is that the legislation will heavily favour employers and will hurt all working people, not just unionized workers. Many of the rights and protections which have been hard won over decades may be erased overnight.

"Fundamental, longstanding rights that all workers enjoy are at risk," says SGEU President Bob Bymoen. "Annual vacation, the 40-hour work week, rest breaks, public statutory holidays, job protection for new parents and workers with disabilities -- all of these are up for grabs. Every employee in this province is affected by the planned overhaul of our labour legislation."

This legislation also goes after democratically elected work organizations by making it more difficult for trade unions to do the job of standing up for working people. The Saskachewan Party knows that losing any organized labour strength in the workplace will allow employers to run roughshod over all worker rights.

It is essential that concerned workers and members of the public make their voices heard over this legislation.

Write to the Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety before July 31, 2012 to stop any changes that undermine or erode existing rights and protections for working people.

More information:

The Saskatchewan Way website: http://www.thesaskatchewanway.ca/

No meaningful consultation planned as Saskatchewan government moves to re-write labour laws

On the 40th anniversary of the expulsion of the Ontario Waffle

BY MICHAEL LAXER

RABBLE.CA

JUNE 25, 2012

This past weekend, June 24, marked the 40th anniversary of the expulsion of the Waffle from the NDP.

The Waffle, (actually the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada), for those who do not know it, was a grouping of socialists, nationalists, feminists and activists that was formed in 1969 within the NDP. It was, broadly speaking, led by James Laxer* and Mel Watkins.

The Waffle was ahead of its time in many respects. In one instance, spearheaded by Krista Maeots*, the Waffle was the first group to propose the notion of gender equity within the governing structures of the NDP. Even though it was only proposed in a limited form, it was opposed and voted down by the party hierarchy, including the eventual Lewis leadership.

The Fight for Medicare in Saskatchewan

National Film Board of Canada, 1982