The legacy of the Social Contract is one of betrayal. The NDP sold out its union base to appease capital – pleasing no one in the process. If the NDP is ever elected again in Ontario, unions and social movements should learn that class war won’t diminish, it will intensify.
The mayor’s race offers a chance to defeat the right, but if we really want to advance the left we need to continue organizing beyond the election in the streets and in our workplaces.
The Enough is Enough campaign presents an opening to build rank and file networks of activists across the province via a shared campaign. It is an opportunity to draw new people into struggle and build real class unity. This is why it should be a top priority for activists inside and outside the labour movement who want to challenge Ford and his big business agenda.
If we can build mass solidarity for PSAC members, they can strike and win against Trudeau, expose Poilievre, and give confidence to other workers to fight back.
If we want to point fingers at who has undermined democracy in Canada, we should look at CSIS, not China. The spy agency has systematically illegally spied on people in Canada, lied to the courts, destroyed evidence, and engaged in entrapment and rendition.
Poilievre’s polling lead amongst union members results from the frustration with the governing Liberals, the inability of the NDP to offer an alternative and the strategic positioning of Poilievre. This troubling trend speaks to the need for a fighting labour movement outside the confines of parliamentary politics.
Ontario is in crisis. The stakes are high. We can’t afford inaction, which will only demoralize workers, but open the door to right to push an even more reactionary agenda. We can either roll over and let the bosses win or stand up and say Enough is Enough!
The left’s response to the OPSEU scandal must counter the big business narrative that unions and union leaders are inevitably corrupt. We have to aim to build the confidence and capacity of rank and file members to not only assert themselves in their unions, but to take on the bosses. The best way to prevent union corruption is to build class struggle unionism from below.
The year ahead will see a stark choice about who pays for the current crisis and opportunities for our side to shape the response. The lessons of 2022 is that change can be imposed from above or can be inspired from below.
On Friday, 55,000 Ontario education workers with CUPE walked off the job in an “illegal” strike. They were joined by OPSEU education workers, who also…
Our rights in the workplace, our rights to organize and have access to basic protections and benefits as workers, are the product of working people taking action – oftentimes in the face of repressive laws and physical violence from the state and employers.
With a strike deadline possibly weeks away, it’s crucial to use every moment between now and then to build broad public support for Ontario’s education workers. If education workers win, we all win, and every other fight with the Ford government will be stronger for it.
