February 29, 2000
Kamloops Daily News


While I walked the picket line last week, I had time to
think about labour relations in B.C..  I had joined some
other faculty members in support of the striking CUPE
workers at UCC.  I couldn't help but notice how civil this
strike was, despite the tension that any strike creates.

It could have been much worse. There were lots reasons why
tempers should flair:  lost instruction time for students, 
lost wages for  staff and faculty, and cancellation of
social and entertainment events on campus.  But the climate
was one of mutual respect.

An announcement by UCC's president's helped set the tone. 
He said that there would be no classes since it was assumed
that faculty would honour picket lines.  As a result, very
few people crossed the picket line and tension was
minimized.  The mood was actually cordial.  Strikers gave
out passes to administrators that would allow them easy
crossing of picket lines.   One administrator brought coffee
and doughnuts to the strikers.

No one likes a strike, but they are a necessary
counterbalance to the power that employers have in keeping
wages low.   Strikes are a weapon of last resort;  a heavy,
blunt instrument that must be wielded with great care to
minimize collateral damage.  But when a strike is the only
thing left to do, at least it can be conducted in a
respectful manner.  The mood of labour relations is set by
the provincial government in power.

The government of B.C. has reduced labour tension by
enacting  legislation against the use of replacement workers
(anti-scab laws).  Employers have no reason to bargain when
they can carry on business as ususal through the use of
replacement workers. Striking workers are understandably
upset when they watch replacement workers being brought in
to prolong strikes.

Frustration and anger can result in damage to property,
injury and death.  For example, at a 1993 strike in
Yellowknife,  at the Giant goldmine,  replacement workers
were bought in to keep the mine going.  9 workers who had
crossed the picket line were killed by a striking worker.

The growth of unions in B.C. has increased in the last
decade.  By 1998, the percentage of unionized workers in
B.C. was the second highest in Canada; surpassed only by
Newfoundland and tied with Quebec (39 and 36 per cent,
respectively).

Remarkably, as the numbers of unionized workers have been
increasing in B.C. , the days lost to strikes has been
decreasing.  In the last decade, days lost due to strikes
dropped 80 per cent over the previous decade to 8 days per
week (per 100,000 workers) .  Labour discontent hit a high
in the previous decade, when the Social Credit government
proposed a particularly odious labour law.  286,000 workers
walked of the job one day,  June 1, 1987.  Fortunately, the
labour climate in B.C. has improved since then.   

The government of Ontario has taken a different stance
towards its workers.  Its tactic has been to attack unions.
The government introduced legislation that removed worker
rights.   Bill 7 denies the rights of agricultural, domestic
and professional workers to bargain collectively and to
strike.  In addition, the bill terminates organizing rights
of these  workers, nullifies  their current collective
agreements, and removes protection from anti-union
discrimination. 

Some particularly bitter strikes in the Ontario education
sector have attracted world attention. The International
Labour Organization in Geneva ruled that the government of
Ontario denied workers access to collective bargaining,
terminated existing organizing rights and nullified
collective agreements.  These attacks unnecessarily divide
society and create a confrontational workplace.  Although
unionization is lower in Ontario, lost days due to strikes
is greater than in B.C..   

The Ontario get-tough attitude invites an escalating feud
with organized workers that threatens peace and order. 
Recent action by the police union in Toronto shows how ugly
things can get.  They brought in militant union activists
from the United States who advised them on how to eliminate
political  enemies of the union.  Activists suggest the use
of police powers of investigation to dig up dirt against
politicians in an attempt to eliminate them.

Hostility against workers breeds revenge and bitter
retaliation.  It's not the civil society that I envision for
Canada -- and it doesn't have to be that way.

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