Since in this blog I have often referred to particular union reps referring to collective agreements as fair in some way, I thought it would be useful to provide further examples of this rhetoric to substantiate the view that unions function as ideologues for the continued existence of employers–even if the unions are independent of the power of particular employers and hence represent independently the workers in relation to the particular employer of the workers.
The Rhetoric of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU): Fair Contracts or Fair Collective Agreements
I now proceed to provide evidence for the ideological role of the Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) (about 180,000 members across Ontario):
Barrie, ON – After over a year of bargaining, LifeLabs workers from Orillia, Barrie, Collingwood, and Wasaga Beach are on strike for a contract that empowers them to provide high quality patient care.
LifeLabs, and its CEO Charlie Brown, are putting profits over patient care. He would rather disrupt access to laboratory services and create barriers for patients by forcing them to travel further, then reach a fair deal.
Both parties worked until late in the evening on Wednesday, May 1st but were unable to reach a tentative agreement that addressed outstanding issues like sick leave. After a global pandemic we know paid sick leave is an important right for all workers. LifeLabs management wants to divide full-time and part-time workers and force part-time workers to accept less than they deserve.
This majority female workforce has been sounding the alarm about chronic understaffing that prevents them from conducting regular and mandatory health and safety inspections. Additionally, members asked management for security services because of incidents of assaults against staff from patients. Lifelabs management hasn’t responded to these crucial concerns from members but has managed to address them for the scabs they hired. Its clear management can create healthy, safe and fair working conditions but is picking and choosing when to do so. In a medical laboratory, health and safety should be the foremost priority.
“After dragging their feet for over a year, the employer has failed to offer members a fair deal. Instead, they’ve been forced out on the street,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “We’re ready to hold the line until our needs are met. The employer may have deep pockets, but that’s no match for the collective power of organized workers! United, we will not be defeated.”
“The employer is making a clear choice to prioritize profits over workers and patient care,” said OPSEU/SEFPO Local 389 President, Renee Aiken Kearsley. “Charles Brown can prevent further disruption of laboratory services by returning to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair deal.”
The members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 389 include Laboratory Technicians and Medical Laboratory Assistants who perform critical medical testing to ensure timely diagnosis. They stand firm in their demands for a fair contract so they can provide the highest quality of patient care.
Picket lines will be running throughout Simcoe County LifeLabs locations daily.
TORONTO – Bargaining teams representing 35,000 direct employees of the Ontario government will meet with government representatives for the first time on Thursday, Nov. 20 to begin talks for a new collective agreement.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said this contract is about proving that public sector workers provide the best, most economical services for all Ontarians.
“Years of cost cutting and layoffs in the public sector have reduced services and workers to the bare minimum,” Thomas said. “Our province already spends less per person on public services than any other province does. Not enough people have good jobs in Ontario. And not enough people have the quality public services they need. In this round of bargaining, we’re fighting for both.”
Thomas went on to say they can prove that, in every case, the privatization and out-sourcing of public sector jobs actually costs the government more money.
“When it comes to value for money, there is no government policy of the past 20 years that has a worse record than privatizing public services,” Thomas said. “For example, IT consultants cost more than twice as much as OPSEU-represented IT employees. We estimate the government could save at least $200 million a year by contracting IN their IT services.
“We will be negotiating for a fair collective agreement for the dedicated and professional public sector workers that Ontarian rely on, the same workers who have faced years of little or no improvements to their contract,” Thomas said. “We will also be fighting for safer and properly-staffed workplaces in Correctional Services which are becoming more dangerous every day.”
OPSEU represents all frontline Ministry employees who work directly for the Ontario government. The current collective agreement expires Dec. 31, 2014.
Workers at Community Living Greater Sudbury, represented by Local 676 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, will stage an information rally Dec. 17 after rejecting two contract offers from their employer.
“Community Living Greater Sudbury is prepared to play Scrooge this Christmas by attempting to force an unfair deal on their workers,” said Eric Evans, a staff member.
More than 230 staff work at Community Living, a majority of them female and part-time. There is no pension plan, 80 per cent are without benefits and there has been no acceptable wage increase since 2008.
Management at CLGS has demonstrated little willingness to bargain a fair and just contract and expect staff to wait another two years before considering a wage hike. That would amount to a 15-cent an hour wage increase over six years, which the employees are not willing to accept.
“The shining star atop management’s Christmas tree this year is more cutbacks in hours for a work force that is already stretched to the limits,” said Evans.
“CL GS staff are not looking to take job action that would create a service disruption to the vulnerable clients we serve; instead we want a sense of fairness. It is time for this employer to show some respect to their staff and give us what we need to provide the best possible quality services to our clients and their families,” said Local 676 president, Tammy Lanktree.
DETAILS : CLGS workers to stage info rally Dec. 17 to back contract demands
Barrie, ON – After 13 days on the picket line and over a year in bargaining, LifeLabs workers in Local 389 voted to ratify their new collective agreement.
These workers took on a fight against clawbacks to their paid sick leave in exchange for a wage increase. LifeLabs is a multimillion-dollar corporation that makes its money because of these workers – they deserve a fair compensation package that includes a livable wage increase and paid sick leave.
“This employer tried to wait out LifeLabs workers and pit part-time and full-time staff against each other – but we showed them that united, the workers will never be defeated, said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “They held the line until their needs were met. The employer may have deep pockets but that’s no match for the collective power of organized workers!”
This majority female workforce includes Laboratory Technicians and Medical Laboratory Assistants who provide the highest quality of patient care and perform critical medical testing to ensure timely diagnosis. They walked the picket line at LifeLabs locations across Simcoe County and stood firm in their demands for a fair contract despite the employer bringing in scab labour. They forced the employer to prioritize patient care and workers over profits.
LifeLabs Local 389 is part of OPSEU/SEFPO Sector 19: Blood Services and Diagnostics.
In a massive show of strength, Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike – with 97% voting in favour of taking strike action if needed.
They’ve sent a clear message to the employer that they’re ready to do what it takes to win a fair deal so they can continue to provide life-saving services to their community.
Ontario has a mental health and addictions crisis. Ensuring workers who are on the frontlines have everything they need to provide quality public services, is crucial to addressing this public health crisis.
These highly skilled professionals – members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 454 – are dedicated to improving the health of their community. They provide critical services including life-saving programs in response to the toxic drug epidemic, harm reduction, low barrier supports for youth and adults with substance use histories and support for their families and the family members of those with behavioural-related illnesses.
They deserve a fair contract with wages that keep up with inflation, benefits that include a defined pension plan, and safe and healthy working conditions. Unfortunately, the employer is refusing to negotiate a fair deal.
Livable wages, benefits and safe working conditions are critical to ensure the continued delivery of the specialized services these members provide. These will remain top priorities as they resume conciliation on March 26th. Their working conditions are clients’ care conditions.
Locked out picketers rallied alongside OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick in Timmins this Friday, February 16 to #EndTheLockout.
On Tuesday, February 13, the Canadian Mental Health Association Cochrane-Timiskaming (CMHA-CT) locked out 147 workers from OPSEU/SEFPO Local 631, who provide life-saving mental health and addictions support across northern communities of Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Matheson, Kirkland Lake, Cochrane, and New Liskeard.
The employer has chosen to lock out front-line nurses, clinicians, residential and peer support workers, case managers, and occupational therapists as temperatures drop as low as twenty below freezing with wind chill. Many of these workers have invested decades into their work and are being rewarded with threats of job losses and long-term disability clawbacks in exchange for a pension. Combined with the employer’s insulting wage offer that’s below the rate of inflation, these threatened claw backs make the proposed pension contributions simply unaffordable for members.
Workers deserve to have their contributions recognized with a fair deal, not a lock out. These workers are on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, which has overwhelmed our Northern communities. In fact, Northern Ontario currently face the highest rates of opioid-related deaths in the province. Everyone in the North knows someone affected.
These mental health and addictions workers dedicate their lives to supporting their clients and communities, who will end up paying the price for the decisions of a bully employer. Fighting against these workers is completely misguided and cruel.
A member of Local 631 on the line in Timmins, ON.
Local 631’s picket and fight for a fair contract is gaining local and provincial attention. You can read more about the issue and the workers’ demands below.
These workers care deeply about their communities; they want to continue providing the support that vulnerable clients need. But their employer would rather demand claw-backs and issue threats than recognize their value.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 631 president Maggie Wakeford says talks broke down over concessions being demanded by the employer. She says management is only offering a three-percent raise, while demanding a four-percent concession to pay for the long-term disability plan, and 6.9% towards pensions.
“Wakeford scoffs at the notion of CMHA managers being able to serve 1,600 clients during the lockout, says the union is willing to return to negotiations, and urges management to make it happen.”
Client safety is being put at risk for what amounts to a minimal cost to the employer…[the CMHA] paid out a 39% salary increase to its Executive Director, Paul Jalbert, between 2020 and 2023. With a ratio of roughly one manager to seven staff, it’s clear CMHA-CT can afford to treat its workers fairly, rather than growing its managerial ranks and financial reserves.
“I’ve been here 30 years in October. I’ve never been locked out of my workplace. This is devastating for the members and our clients…Now we have absolutely no access to our clients. So they’re going to take a big hit on this; their mental health is going to suffer and it’s a shame because all we want is a fair contract.”
Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would be locked out by my employer…I love the job that we do. The people we serve need us so much, now more than ever since the pandemic, and this is just bad for them.
“Wakeford said the amalgamation of [the CMHA-CT, South Cochrane Addictions Services, and Minto Counselling Centre] was not ‘ministry-driven,’ but was motivated by the three executive directors’ need to generate more money that is not benefiting all employees, but is being used to give themselves raises.”
“We’ve developed these working relationships with these individuals. Now that it’s gone, how does that impact a client’s family should a crisis arise.”
“Wakeford noted that Jalbert’s own salary has increased significantly since 2019. According to Ontario’s Sunshine List, he made $118,595 that year. In 2022, Jalbert’s salary was $159,158, which represents a 34 per cent increase over three years…While the employees are locked out, Wakeford said she worries for the 1,600 clients who rely on the CMHA Cochrane-Timiskaming.”
“Everybody talks about the increase in mental health issues and we all know, an increase in addiction issues. We need to have an increase in funding from the province, so that we don’t end up fighting this on street corners and people lose, losing possibly their lives.”
“We just want to be able to afford the same pension they can afford. Paul Jalbert, our executive director, received a $46,000 raise in three years. He’s offering us 2.5 (per cent wage increase) in two years.”
– OPSEU/SEFPO Local 631 President Maggie Wakeford
“They’re paying two other executive directors hefty money so that money is going top heavy instead of where it should be going—to the members.”
“We’ve had a lot of clients come to our line, so we definitely hear how that’s affecting them. They are struggling, and they are finding it not as easy to get the support that the management and the employer is offering during our absence. It’s just not enough…They’re not getting the support they need. One individual came back to our line and said that he had trouble with literacy, so he couldn’t read the pamphlet he was given. Another individual was given an option that doesn’t work for him, so unfortunately, the support isn’t being offered to them. We want to get back to supporting them, getting the support that they require. Some individuals may have relapsed with their addictions, some have become homeless, so we want to get back to that.”
“My fear is, as this lockout continues, I’m not going to be getting the support…I’m going to end up going backwards in my plan, not forward.”
– client at CMHA Cochrane-Timiskaming
“Liznick-Voyer worries about high-risk individuals who might turn to other coping mechanisms, like drugs and alcohol, without regular access to mental health services. ‘People’s lives are at stake and you can’t just shake it off…when you’re in the middle of a crisis, you think you’re alone — you’re in a dark place and you don’t value yourself.’”
– client at CMHA Cochrane-Timiskaming
CMHA-CT is putting lives at risk by locking out workers. They need our support – send a message to Executive Director Paul Jalbert, Board Chair Paul Crombeen, and other leaders telling them to #EndTheLockout and get back to bargaining a fair deal for workers and the clients they support now: https://opseu.org/EndTheLockout/
Your Part-Time College Support Staff Bargaining Team hit the bargaining table with the College Employer Council (CEC) every day last week, presenting a comprehensive non-monetary proposal based on the priorities advanced and voted on by our membership. We are committed to continuing to work toward the fair and equitable settlement our membership deserves, with monetary proposals to follow at our next meeting.
Central to our non-monetary proposal are more transparent hiring and classification processes, standardized job descriptions, career development and access to full-time opportunities, a shorter probationary period, improved worker protections, and stronger sexual harassment language. We believe these items are essential to addressing systemic inequities, maintaining morale, and ensuring our members’ needs are met.
Part-time support staff play an integral role in making colleges a better place to work and study – improving their working conditions means investing in a better college. The minimum provincial standards are not good enough.
Click here to view our non-monetary proposal presented last week to the employer.
Our next dates at the bargaining table with the employer will take place between March 25-28, 2024. These coming weeks will be crucial to building a united front behind our priorities. Our work is valuable and our members deserve reprieve from living on the razor’s edge of precarity.
Bargaining in Blue – Show Your Support!
Last week, members across the province wore blue to send a strong message of support that we stand behind Part-Time Power. Let’s continue to make every Wednesday a sea of blue until we have a fair contract on the table. Be sure to take a photo with your colleagues and forward them to caatsptbargainingteam@gmail.com.
In solidarity,
Your College Support Part-Time Bargaining Team:
Noor Askandar, George Brown College, Chair
Sara McArthur, Mohawk College, Vice-Chair
Doreen Follett, Algonquin College, Member
Torsten Hamelin, George Brown College, Member
Aliza Kassam, George Brown College, Member
Paula Naylor, Sault College, Member
Natalie Williams, Sheridan College, Member
We want to hear from you about benefits!
Reminder: If you have yet to complete the benefits survey, please do so at this link.
We are very pleased to post this update with the details of the settlement we reached last night with your employer on the CBS Support contract.
This is a favourable deal for our members.
Our members have been working hard and waiting for a new contract through a period of high inflation and a cost of living crisis. This deal offers much needed retroactive adjustments on wages and shift premiums.
Key highlights (see below for full highlights)
April 1, 2021 – 4.75% across the board wage increase (retro)
April 1, 2022 – 3.50% across the board wage increase (retro)
Your unwavering support along with solidarity actions from members across the province played a major role in pushing the employer to offer a fair contract. This settlement ensures wage increases in line with all other health care providers — a testament to our collective strength and unity!
Thanks to everyone who organized and participated in the Solidarity BBQs for your time and your support!
Upcoming Zoom Info Meeting: We understand that you may have questions and would like more details about the new tentative agreement. To address this, we have scheduled a Zoom Info Meeting on Sunday, September 10, from 1 pm — 3 pm. This will be an opportunity for you to go through the agreement with us and ask any questions.
Details on how to log in and participate in the Zoom meeting, along with instructions about casting ballots in the Ratification Vote, will be provided the week of September 4th — following Labour Day. A copy of the full Memorandum of Settlement will also be shared at that time for review.
Finally, we want to express once again our thanks for your continued support and solidarity throughout this process.
In solidarity,
Geoff Cain (Local 160): Bargaining Team Chair
Jennifer Johnson (Local 5103): Bargaining Team Vice-Chair
Alberto Alvaro (Local 200)
Alexis Victoria (Local 210)
Brent MacPherson (Local 477)
Highlights from the CBS Support Collective Agreement (Locals 160, 200, 210, 477, 5103):
SCHEDULE “A” WAGES:
April 1. 2021 – 4.75% across the board wage increase (retro)
April 1. 2022 – 3.50% across the board wage increase (retro)
TERM:
April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2023
With the contract expiring on March 31, 2023 this gets us right back into bargaining with the Employer, and an opportunity to obtain further gains.
Donor Service Rep Job Evaluation:
The DSR position will be evaluated by a committee to determine if they are being paid at the appropriate rate. This committee will have an equal number of committee members from the Union and the Employer.
NEW – Provincial Labour Management Table Enshrined into Collective Agreement
The Provincial Labour Management Committee is enshrined into the Collective Agreement enabling all Local Presidents to attend three (3) two (2) day meetings annually to discuss provincial issues, review current classifications that have had significant changes to their job descriptions and job functions and also review job descriptions.
REST PERIODS
Rest periods shall be provided at appropriate times for all employees throughout the clinic (previously this language only referenced mobile employees).
WEEKEND PREMIUMS
Increase in Weekend Premiums from $2.00/hr to $2.73/hr with retro going back to April 1, 2021.
EVENING PREMIUMS (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.)
Increase from $1.20/hr to $1.29/hr for all hours worked April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 with retro.
Effective April 1, 2022 – Increase from $1.29/hr to $1.64/hr for all hours worked with retro.
PAID HOLIDAYS
Add National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Increase Part-Time in-lieu of designated holidays from 5% to 5.38%.
TWO Paid Days Off For Part-Time Added to Collective Agreement:
Regular part-time, temporary, and casual employees shall be entitled to two (2) paid days leave of absence per calendar year to attend to unforeseen circumstances that require an employee’s immediate attention.
BEREAVEMENT / COMPASSIONATE LEAVE
Flexibility on bereavement leave to be taken within six (6) months (previously was thirty (30) days).
Medical Certificate for Drivers’ Licenses
Up to $150 will be reimbursed to Drivers every twenty-four (24) months for the purpose of obtaining a medical certificate for the renewal of a required driver’s license (previously was $100).
Letters of Understanding:
Re: Joint Labour Relations Training – Updated with a commitment for Joint Workplace Training focusing on Respect and Harassment Training.
Re: Post and Fill – has been deleted, since it was expired. The Employer would not renew the letter, however the Union bargaining team has been provided case law, which will be shared during our Ratification Info meeting. The case itself puts an onus on the Employer to fill a permanent full-time position when an employee leaves the organization unless it is not operationally feasible. The Employer must prove why it is not operationally feasible to not fill the position.
NEW Letter of Agreement: Grievance Process Discussion
A meeting will take place within ninety (90) days of ratification of the Collective Agreement to review the current grievance process and the length of time resolution of a grievance takes. The meeting will be attended by three (3) Employer Reps and three (3) Union Reps.
Thank you everyone who took part in our email campaign, so far! In just a few days, over 380 messages were sent to the university’s President and Vice President. This strong showing of solidarity and support certainly made a big difference in pushing the employer to make a fair offer.
Standing up to help Nipissing University support staff get a fair contract
Support staff at Nipissing University include staff members in admissions, finance, academic advising, technology services, international initiatives, indigenous initiatives, residence life, student counselling services, student accessibility services, athletics, library, student recruitment and more.
They are members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 608.
Nipissing University support staff are dedicated to ensuring a high quality educational environment for the university’s students, staff, faculty, and the broader North Bay community.
They want a fair contract that reflects their contributions and dedication to this community.
Community members are saying: We stand with Nipissing University Support Staff!
Support staff at Nipissing University are the lifeblood of the institution. They have a direct impact on the experience of each and every student at Nipissing.
And they deserve better.
For years, their wages have failed to keep up with the soaring cost of living.
Join the protest in solidarity with ONA on March 2!
On March 2, OPSEU/SEFPO members are invited to stand in solidarity with the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) and the labour movement.
DATE: Thursday, March 2
TIME: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Outside the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
60,000 nurses and healthcare professionals, represented by ONA, are negotiating a new contract with the Ontario Hospital Association. They’re demanding better staffing and wages to provide better care for Ontarians.
ONA’s fight is our fight. OPSEU/SEFPO represents thousands of healthcare workers province-wide. Healthcare workers need better staffing and wages to provide better care to all of us.
President JP Hornick will be speaking and bringing solidarity greetings from OPSEU/SEFPO’s 180,000 members.
Let’s send a strong message to the Ontario Hospital Association and Premier Ford that we stand in solidarity with our colleagues at ONA and we’re ready to fight to protect public healthcare – starting with a fair contract for nurses and healthcare workers on the frontlines!
RSVP for March 2 and invite friends, coworkers, family members, and more!
Spread the word: join a phone bank!
Help us get the word out about the protest, by joining our phone bank on Tuesday, Feb 28, 6 – 8:30 p.m.
You can do it from the comfort of your home, using a lap top or cell phone (making the calls from the computer is easier.) We’ll provide training and all the tools you need. We’ll do the training over Zoom at the start of the phone bank.
If you can make calls, please RSVP Megan Park mpark@opseu.org by no later than 10 a.m. on Feb. 28.
Unions evidently use the rhetoric of fair contracts, fair agreements and the like to justify their limited approach to the issues facing workers. This attempt to justify their own implicit acceptance of the power of the class of employers needs to be constantly criticized by being brought out into the open and discussed.
However, the social-democrat or social-reformist left often see no point in such open and direct criticism–despite claims to the contrary.
I will conclude this post with a conversation between Sam Gindin (a self-claimed “leader” of radical workers here in Toronto despite his probable own explicit denial of such a title) and me:
Re: A Good or Decent Job and a Fair Deal Sam Gindin Sat 2017-02-18 8:05 AM Something is missing here. No-one on this list is denying that language doesn’t reflect material realities (the language we use reflects the balance of forces) or that it is irrelevant in the struggle for material effects (the language of middle class vs working class matters). And no one is questioning whether unions are generally sectional as opposed to class organizations or whether having a job or ‘decent’ pay is enough. The question is the autonomy you give to language.
The problem isn’t that workers refer to ‘fair pay’ but the reality of their limited options. Language is NOT the key doc changing this though it clearly plays a role. That role is however only important when it is linked to actual struggles – to material cents not just discourse. The reason we have such difficulties in doing education has to do with the limits of words alone even if words are indeed essential to struggles. Words help workers grasp the implications of struggles, defeats, and the partial victories we have under capitalism (no other victories as you say, are possible under capitalism).
So when workers end a strike with the gains they hoped for going in, we can tell them they are still exploited. But if that is all we do, what then? We can – as I know you’d do – not put it so bluntly (because the context and not just the words matter). that emphasize that they showed that solidarity matters but we’re still short of the fuller life we deserve and should aspire to and that this is only possible through a larger struggle, but then we need to be able to point to HOW to do this. Otherwise we are only moralizing. That is to say, it is the ideas behind the words and the recognition of the need for larger structures to fight through that primarily matter. Words help with this and so are important but exaggerating their role can be as dangerous as ignoring it.
What I’m trying to say is that people do, I think, agree with the point you started with – we need to remind ourselves of the limits of, for example, achieving ‘fair wages’. But the stark way you criticize using that word, as opposed to asking how do we accept the reality out there and move people to larger class understandings – of which language is an important part – seems to have thrown the discussion off kilter.
On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 7:00 AM, Frederick Harris <arbeit67@hotmail.com> wrote:
I was waiting to see whether there was any dispute concerning either the primary function of language or its material nature. Since there has been no response to that issue, I will assume that the view that the primary function of language is to coordinate social activity has been accepted.
What are some of the political implications of such a view of language? Firstly, the view that “But material conditions matter more” has no obvious basis. If language coordinates our activity, surely workers need language “to reproduce themselves.”
The question is whether coordination is to be on a narrower or wider basis.
Let us now take a look at the view that a contract (a collective agreement) is fair or just and that what workers are striving for is a decent or good job.
If we do not oppose the view that any collective agreement is fair to workers and that the jobs that they have or striving to have are decent jobs, then are we saying that a particular struggle against a particular employer can, in some meaningful sense, result in a contract that workers are to abide by out of some sense of fairness? Does not such a view fragment workers by implicitly arguing that they can, by coordinating their action at the local or micro level, achieve a fair contract and a good job?
If, on the other hand, we argue against the view that the workers who are fighting against a particular employer cannot achieve any fair contract or a decent job, but rather that they can only achieve this in opposition to a class of employers and in coordination with other workers in many other domains (in other industries that produce the means of consumption of workers, in industries that produce the machines and the raw material that go into the factory, in schools where teachers teach our children and so forth), then there opens up the horizon for a broader approach for coordinating activity rather than the narrow view of considering it possible to achieve not a fair contract and a decent job in relation to a particular employer.
In other words, it is a difference between a one-sided, micro point of view and a class point of view.
As far as gaining things within capitalism, of course it is necessary to fight against your immediate employer, in solidarity with your immediate fellow workers, in order to achieve anything. I already argued this in relation to the issue of health in another post.
Is our standard for coordinating our activity to be limited to our immediate relation to an employer? Or is to expand to include our relation to the conditions for the ‘workers to reproduce themselves’?
“They turn more radical when it becomes clear that the system can’t meet their needs and other forms of action become necessary -“
How does it become clear to workers when their relations to each other as workers occurs through the market system? Where the products of their own labour are used against them to oppress and exploit them? Are we supposed to wait until “the system can’t meet their needs”? In what sense?
I for one have needed to live a decent life–not to have a decent job working for an employer or for others to be working for employers. I for one have needed to live a dignified life–not a life where I am used for the benefit of employers. Do not other workers have the same need? Is that need being met now? If not, should we not bring up the issue at every occasion? Can any collective agreement with an employer realize that need?
Where is a vision that provides guidance towards a common goal? A “fair contract”? A “decent” job? Is this a class vision that permits the coordination of workers’ activities across industries and work sites? Or a limited vision that reproduces the segmentation and fragmentation of the working class?
Fred
The bottom line is that many who consider themselves radical socialists here in Toronto (and undoubtedly elsewhere) indulge working-class organizations, such as unions. They are, ultimately, afraid to alienate social-democratic or reformist organizations. Consequently, they themselves, objectively, function as social democrats or social reformers and fail to engage workers in the necessary delegitimisation process of the class power of employers.
I come from a working-class background. My lost paid job was a teacher, substituting for a number of years before obtaining a permanent position. I obtained my doctorate in 2009. I am an unapologetic critic of capitalism and the way in which various institutions and ideologies reinforce it.
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