It's time to organize: Labour movement needs to capture the popular imagination

Unions are stuck in a rut that seems to be getting deeper every day. We are losing members to layoffs, plant shutdowns and to bankruptcies that are the result of a worldwide financial crisis. Our membership and influence are shrinking at exactly the moment when union power is needed to protect millions of workers from wage rollbacks, outsourcing, unemployment and the devastation of entire communities dependent on single industries.

But, aren’t tough times good for union organizing? Unfortunately the answer, so far in this economic crisis, is no. So far there has been no rush to join unions, no mass mobilizations of the unemployed and no growth of militancy of any kind. Perhaps if the crisis continues workers will once again become militant, just like in the Depression of the 1930s when it wasn’t until five years into the economic crisis that there was an explosion of organizing, which included sit-down strikes, factory occupations, mass political movements and the creation of huge new industrial unions.

The truth is the Depression only became “good times” for union organizing once millions of workers had lost faith in capitalism. The truth is unions grew along with political movements that claimed to offer alternatives to capitalism. And there is every reason to believe the same will be true today.

Why is this so? Because if workers believe in capitalism, or are satisfied by their personal situation under capitalism, they are more likely to buy into the ideas of capitalism. And joining a union is not at the top of the list of things recommended by Ayn Rand or the Wall Street Journal. In fact, ideologues of the system usually claim unions and collective bargaining to be an illegitimate interference in the “proper” working of capitalism.

In other words, organizing a union is seen as a challenge to the rules of capitalism. This is true despite the motivations of actually existing unions, some of which claim to be “just part of the system.”

The key to most successful union organizing drives is motivated members, both in the organizing target and in the larger union. History and common sense tell us that the number of people committed to union organizing rises and falls in inverse proportion to popularity of capitalism. The more people are dissatisfied with capitalism, the more people believe another economic system is possible and unions can help bring about change the more people will be motivated to put themselves on the line to build unions.

In other words, if we want to grow our unions, if we want to organize the unorganized, we need to focus on the flaws of capitalism and begin defining an economic system that is a realistic and attractive alternative.

The good news is there seems to be a vast and growing discontent with the existing economic system as shown by the recent opening of Michael Moore’s new film, Capitalism: A Love Story and the popularity of books such as Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine.

The more difficult task, however, will be describing an alternative that is both attractive and realistic. We need to develop a vision of a better system that can be a powerful motivation to do the hard work that is necessary to create a better society.

If people think capitalism is the best that is possible, of course they will continue to follow the true believers in the system. If people believe there is no better way, disenchantment with the existing capitalist system will breed nothing more than cynicism and a retreat to private spaces. In fact, that is the result purveyors of capitalism are banking on.

It is time for unions and our allies to offer hope that a better world is possible. Professing loyalty to a sick system that glorifies greed and promotes war will only make the rut we are in deeper.

It’s time for unions to regain their momentum by offering a vision of society in which one person one vote is the basis of both our political and economic system.

It’s time for economic democracy.

Gary Engler is vice-president of Local 2000 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, B.C.’s Media Union.

Comments

Submitted by Rylee on October 17, 2009 - 5:05am.

Bankruptcies lead Republicans to seek for a financial assistance. Just about everyone has gotten installment loans at one point or another. Think you haven't? You think that only means short term installment loans, or payday loans right? Well guess what Shirley - if you've ever got a loan that you pay back in installments, you've gotten one. If you've financed a car, a house, or a college education, you've borrowed installment loans. That's all that's meant, even installment loans for bad credit - it means you pay it back with more than one payment. Chances are that if you've ever been borrowing money in any form whatsoever, it's been with installment loans of some sort.

Submitted by cepunion on October 18, 2009 - 5:48pm.

The rut that CEP is presently in is going to get much bigger. How much money has been spent on organizing by CEP? I would guess very little money has been spent on organizing. More time has been spent to ensure those that are in power are kepted in power. There is really no desire to organize. It has been talked about but not much action. The emphisis has been on attracting and merging with other organizations not on grass roots organizing. If fact more members have decided to leave then have been organized within CEP.

CAW Local 219.
In 2001, we broke away from Communication Energy and Paperworkers and joined the Independant Paperworkers Union and in 2002 we joined the Canadian Auto Workers Union.

On March 17, 2009 the employees of Keyera Management Ltd. (formerly Morrison Petroleum Ltd.) working at the Nevis Gas Plant voted to revoke the bargaining rights of Gas and Oil Union, Local 506 (now Communications, Energy and Paperworkers, Local 5060). [6]

It really hard to build trust and develop relationships that you need when you have a hiden agenda and make decisions behind closes doors.

An agenda created behind closed doors. An agenda that is undemocratic. [7]

There are some locals like CEP Local 433 that are offering members incentives to provide organizing tips. Although it seems CEP Local 433 is not growing any faster than other CEP Locals at least it is one trying to get people engaged about organizing their work sites.

Think you know someone who wants to become unionized? It could pay off big time! [8]

CEP Local 433 is willing to pay $1000 to the first member to give information that leads to a certification of a plant with between 50 and 99 people, eligible to vote for certification.

A payment of $2500 is available to the first member to give information that leads to a certification of a plant with over 100 people eligible to vote for certification.

CHECK OUT

http://cepunion.blogspot.com/ [9]

Submitted by Marysue5252 on April 14, 2012 - 9:08pm.

I agree with the cepunion comment above. Canada's major Union leaders of today are pretty much the same tame guys at the head of our unions 20 years ago--guys who should have retired long before now. Some of them went to university to study the biggest piece of BS ever-- Economics.

They believed that companies had to be "profitable" to exist. They got sucked into thinking that CEO salaries weren't our business. Yeah, well, both profits and scum-sucking corporate bloated salaries matter a great deal! After these turds get through with taking their loot, along with the top investors, there's nothing left for maintenance and company infrastructure. So the companies falter and get bought up by a bigger crook wanting even more money.

Yup, the majority of our union brethren swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker and came out spouting Friedman crap at every contract hearing. Wages and benefits went downhill ever since, for our union bosses were thinking like CEOs, and acted like them.

All profit does not from thin air, as Economics 100 would have you believe, but from the wages of others--their labour; the wages of customers, the investments of others (the public, who offer education and healthcare), the health of the environment, the health and lives of other species, and the future. Like who the hell thinks Monsanto's spraying of our forests is good for us? For the bees? For the trees? Fish?

Horrible people like the greedy Rothchildren own 80% of the USA, and over half the wealth of the entire planet. They can buy politicians and union heads by the bucketload. Even the legislature of entire countries. They and their buddies own the media and everyone is brainwashed and stupid to think the way they want them to think. We keep getting dumbed down by braindeadening "reality" shows on TV. Yech. And now we have American-made textbooks here in Canada and none of our kids know a damn thing about our own country.

Worse, Harper's put American customs agents in place to feel us all up and down close and personal if we should be stupid enough to fly in their planes and vacation in their country or Mexico. Harper's put us inside the USA noose of "protection"--all around our whole country! Trudeau and Pearson are probably throwing up in their graves.

We do not have a democracy here. We have a dictatorship of bullies --bought politicians and the unwitting and unenlightened.

Meanwhile, our planet is tanking... taking every other living thing with it, eventually. This was the Garden of Eden. We just didn't know it. We all fell for the Friedmanical snake.