Unifor pulls out of the CLC

OK.  So why would OTHER unions want to preent Unifor from choosing its own representatives to the CLC?  Was it an issue with the selection method(as it had been with IBEW)?

Great discussion and links. Thanks Unionist and all!

Yes, could someone break this thing down as to what the real story is in an objective fashion?

Thanks. 

Thanks for the info, and history lesson.

Don't know what to think.  Unifor may have a point, but is it worthy dividing the union movement over?  In any event, these divisions seem to crop up every now and then.  Like when the UAW left the AFL-CIO, only to return.  But these days, I would think unity is more important than ever.

OK, so Unifor is, in part, a successor to the CAW.

Is Unifor STILL pushing for "strategic voting"?  If so, why?  The argument for "strategic voting"(I.E., "just vote Liberal because we damn well told you to" ) was that getting the Conservatives out in Ottawa ands Queen's Park mattered more than anything else. 

Workers voted "strategically".

The Conservatives are out in Queen's Park and Ottawa. 

Doesn't that mean, by the logic of the argument CAW/UNIFOR would have made, that "strategic voting" has served its purpose and is no longer necessary, and that workers can therefore go back to voting for their own class interests again?
 

Thanks for the links MegB and other babblers comments.

This looks ugly! Sid is now saying that Yussaff has to step down according to CLC charter. For crying out loud Unifor repatriation has to be given the highest priority!!!! What steps did Unifor take to voice their concerns? Did CLC try negotiating/talking? 

Now I'm very familiar with other unions raiding. Happened to the plumbers low rise sector (housing) 20 years ago and I was on the front line. Local 183 labourers set up a plumbing division with piece work rates and tried to convince me to move over. Even the general builder, Great Gulf homes was pushing this! Great Gulf thought it would be a good idea if all the skilled labour was lumped together with the labourers on their job sites. Since my father was a UA member since  1961 and brought me in, the thought of abandoning UA local 46 for 183 was gut wrenching and disgusting! Not to mention very limiting since I'm a highly skilled plumber, pipe fitter, gas pipe fitter. If I moved over to 183 I would be bound to only working in the housing sector for just a few contractors. In UA local 46, I can work in many different sectors and have greater opportunity.

Also familiar with other unions raiding UA local 46 scope of work. An example would be installing undermounted kitchen sinks. According to local 46 contract, this is my job! But in the past other union(s) and non union contractors that I will not mention tried to say that this was a part of their job, and their members/employees actually did this until my brave comrades stepped up and called in our business reps to put a stop to this!

So I understand where Unifor is comming from, but I'm wondering if there wasn't more that could have been done to prevent them from splitting off?

Ok Unionist I read over your lengthy comment and I’m glad I did. From a link posted by MegB, Sis Ryan agrees with you that Yussuff must now step down. You also sound like that Unifor wants to allow raiding but you’re against it? Please confirm this position. I believe I understand Unifor position, but I know from experience raiding is a big fuckin no no! However I can see Unifor’s justification for it. 

Now back to my experience in relation. The UA (united association) that I belong to is headquartered out of Washington. UA local 46 has been there since 1889!!! Our charter even has guidelines for a PAC (that I once chaired) and there isn’t much problems with our US/Canada relationship or anything I’ve heard. Now the UA journal that I receive monthly sometimes has US war pig propaganda and other typical US bullshit all over it, but I’ve never heard of any interference from Washington into any Canadian chapters. 

Ok thanks Unionist. It sounds like you and I are the two posters here in this thread that are going to polarize! I don’t like the term “union bosses “ but I will use the term raiding. In my context of skilled trade that term fits so let’s call that my first jab at you.  I’m also a proud member of UA local 46! Plumbers steamfitters and pipe welders! Now I don’t really care for the USA involvement but the US locals did unite before the Canadian plumber unions and were better at organizing non union plumbers in the past. This I believe contributed to the UA success. And organizing non union workers in my opinion has to be central to unions! You agree or disagree?

Now perhaps Unifor circumstances is too separated from my experience in the skilled building trades to draw comparisons but at the same time I also believe that there should be some kind of limitations to jumping from union to union at the drop of a hat. Reorganizing an entire work place to kick out one union and bringing in another has got to be real stressful! 

In my humble opinion, the timing suggests that this has less to do with raiding and more to do with election strategy as the Ontario and federal Liberals are getting ready for two elections in the next year and a half. Jerry Dias is skating on thin ice and leading his members like sheep to the slaughter — into the hands of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, Justin Trudeau. Dias led Unifor out of the CLC and into The Liberal machine. As Justin wipes labour’s blood from his blade after TPP, the NAFTA shoe will fall next. Jerry needs to go.

OK kropotkin1951, it seems that I am not very familiar outside my locals comfort zone and this is probably the cause of my indifference towards other unions members (brothers and sisters)  greivances. My apologies to everyone.

But I believe the members of Unifor can take action if they feel strongly enough to do so. Something like forwarding a motion to rejoin CLC? Maybe not? I don't know? I believe that you are right that the members (or at least a big chunck of them) lack the desire to be more vocal/active. However an opposing argument can be made using the 2014 Ontario provincial election where union members had an serious impact on the election result. Perhaps this is one of those issues that simply just doesn't garnish much interest?

Thanks for the history lesson, that was great. From what I have read so far I am firmly on the side of Unifor and the freedom of workers to switch unions if they so choose. Belonging to the same umbrella organization should facilitate the process not prevent it. "Raiding" is certainly a pejorative term. 

Unifor wrote:

Unifor stands in support of union democracy and the rights of workers. Our union is opposed to any union that threatens, harasses, intimidates, or silences workers for simply asserting their democratic rights to choose a union or for the purpose of quelling dissent within the local.

Apparently Unifor's support for union democracy does not extend to letting Unifor members decide whether to remain affiliated with the CLC.

The executive of Unifor should have sought a mandate from it's members before withdrawing from the CLC. In the absence of such a mandate, Unifor's withdrawal from the CLC is a blatantly undemocratic move.

EDIt: Note that I am not disagreeing with Unifors desire to make it easier for union members to change unions. What I am disagreeing with is Unifor's decision to quit the CLC without holding a one member one vote referendum on the matter.

Woiuld not any major decision like this by the union executive have to at least be ratified by the rank and file members at their regular membership meeting.

Unionist wrote:

One member one vote referendum? No union that I know of has ever made any decision via an all-member referendum. If I'm mistaken, please correct me.

And as a lifelong trade unionist, let me assure you that very few members know or care about the CLC. If asked to vote, I'm not even sure what knowledge or interest they would have in making a decision. Please let me know the last time the CLC did anything of interest or value to workers. Name a campaign, or a victory, or an effort by the CLC. Please.

North Report wrote:

Woiuld not any major decision like this by the union executive have to at least be ratified by the rank and file members at their regular membership meeting.

Yes, getting the decision to split from the CLC ratified at regular union membership meetings sounds like a good course of action to follow.

The fact that Unifor split from the CLC based on a unilateral executive decision, makes a mockery of their claim that they split from the CLC to stand up for union democracy.

Unionist wrote:

Even if Unifor held a one-member-one-vote referendum and it resulted in a decision to leave the CLC - I'd still disagree. Because I believe it's the wrong thing to do.

I support the right of unifor members to pull Unifor out of the CLC. Or to keep Unifor in the CLC, if they so choose. North Report has pointed out that ratification of the executive decision by union locals is the best way to make this decision "democratic". It deals with the fact that many union members may not care about this issue.

I DO NOT support the right of the executive of Unifor or any other union to make a unilateral decision regarding the organizational affiliation of the union.

You might also categorize a strike vote as an OMOV referendum as well...

It has begun — the predictable cheerleading of the Wynne Liberal budget and re-election campaign by the Dias-led Unifor. It is so sad actually. Maybe Bob White and Dennis McDermott are spinning in their graves. It wasn’t so long ago that auto workers and paper workers were leaders in building progressive political alternatives to the “bad and worse” Liberals and Conservatives of Bay   Street, corporate tax cuts and privatization. Now Dias has led Unifor to be the lead horse in the race to divide and conquer organized labour. If Unifor does make a move to return to the CLC, it will only be after the Ontario election or even after the federal election, so Dias does not even have to pretend to respect solidarity with the labour movement’s drive to build the only Labour Party that can form government or weird power in a minority parliament— the NDP. 

Instead of the CSN labour federation in Quebec, perhaps Dias would be much happier joining the Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU), whose mission is for independent Canadian unions — no international unions there. There, Unifor would be the only big fish in a pond of smaller unions. Raiding those little guys would perhaps be too easy. But of course, would not be able to use the excuse of American domination.

When are these union jokers going to start organizing people who work in warehouses for shitty pay? Distributors and the like. Now the manufacturing industry is just about dead because of imports, we still need to work in warehouses to distribute all the imported shit.

None of these unions give a fuck about the most of us who are working on shit wages. Whether Unifor is in the CLC or not is completely irrelevant. Why don't they organize where we work? Because they are chickenshits who are cashing in on our exploitation. All you will do is conspire with the bosses to make us work harder while your bureaucrats collect executive salaries on union dues. Although if our taxes are paying your salaries, what do you care anyway? We are just a bunch of suckers to you.

Unions of bureaucrats and bureaucrats of unions telling all the rest of us what to do. The state monopoly capitalist system in a nutshell.

Again, something else poor people and low-paid wage earners can point to while voting for a "fuck you" candidate.

Unions had better start being relevant to the working classes in this country, or their memberships will continue to decline. Otherwise, the working classes will start forming real unions demanding board seats like they have in Germany, and the boss's unions like the CLC and Unifor will be out in the cold.

I googled “warehouse workers union” and found that UFCW seems to be a leader in organizing these workers. http://www.ufcw1006a.ca/index.php/join-our-union/contact-a-union-organizer

And just to make it interesting: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/m.wikihow.com/Unionize-Your-Workplace%3famp=1

..txs for the updates

Unifor Canada tweeted this today: With the announcement by Wynne today it’s clear that in the #ONelexn we need to do whatever we can to stop the conservatives. The strategic vote to stop Ford from winning and to defend the rights of workers and families is to vote #NDP.

I say, Thank you to all the rank and file Unifor activists who pushed back against the top and made this happen. Let’s hope the efforts from the Unifor leadership to elect an NDP government are sincere.