Canadian rail workers in American union strike without authorisation
Feb 10 2007 16:47
I'm planning on going down to the picket line this afternoon but in the meantime here's an article from a paper in Ontario. It's from yesterday apparently pickets went up late last night. There's been a pretty big upswing in Canadian nationalism in the labour movement of late mostly in regards to the unresponsiveness of a lot of American unions to different conditions in Canada and the lack of local control.
Feb 11 2007 05:13
#2
There is currently a rank and file opposition in the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers which proposes a democratic merger of the two unions. Since BLE has a somewhat more democratic constitution, part of the idea is to eliminate some of the more undemocratic features of UTU, as well as achieve unity of the rail operating crews. The rank and file group is called Rail Operating Crafts United (ROCU). At each company the UTU has what is called a Board of Adjustment, which is the negotiating committee and union executive committee. The head honcho on each BoA is the General Chairman. The UTU constitution does not require that the GC be elected by the workers, and is often appointed by the BoA, who may also be paid officials who are cronies of the big guy. UTU has also had problems of corruption. The two former international presidents of the UTU are now serving terms in prison for embezzlement of union funds.
t.
Feb 11 2007 14:12
#3
Feb 11 2007 23:55
#4
Thanks for the info Gato, obviously an industrial union in the railways would be a good step forwards for everyone there. In Canada the BLE is part of the Teamsters, though the stufff I've been reading about them have actually been very supportive of the actions by the UTU in Canada. This is pretty oddd because up here some sections of the Teamsters often act as a company union. We actually have a member on strike with the UTU right now and I bet he would be pretty interested in seeing the info on ROCA.
Feb 12 2007 13:01
#5
For Booey, Edwobs brief primer on Canadian Identity:
Canadian nationalism is kind of an odd duck. As opposed to Brittish or American Nationalism it tends to be a progressive tendency emphasizing social equality, some vague welfare state sentiment, and multiculturalism. Not to say that ethnic white nationalism is altogether absent in Canada but I would say its a different animal entirely.
Largely Canadian Nationalism is a product of government 'culture' building programs of the 1970's mostly instituted by the Trudeau government, probably the most left wing government in Canadian history, also unsurprisingly one of the most authoritarian. Through these programs the government went about subsidizing art and culture (literature, poetry etc) that extolled the virtue of all things Canadian. Of course what complicates this is Canada is largely made up of a bunch of regionalisms that are only in the same country because they all hate the USA more than each other, except Alberta which is half American.
Historically Canadian Nationalism has been very strong in the trade union movement partially because of their ties to the social democratic NDP. Often in fact the more 'radical' the NDPer the more nationalist they are. For more information on this read about the Waffle movement, and Gordon and James Laxer.
Anyways because of this most Canadian unions are fierce defenders of all things Canadian, and thus are fierce defenders of the 'more Canadian than thou' NDP. Needless to say there are sometimes tensions between the often more conservative American unions. Such as the Communications Energy and Paperworkers union raid on the International Brotherhood of Carpenters in order to help them build an independant Canadian Carpenters Union. Also the UAW has very little presence in Canada as almost all of it broke away under the Canadian Auto Workers Union. The Teamsters are particularly noxious as they often act at raiding more progressive unions and sign voluntary recognition contracts with the bosses in order to deliver labour peace faster than the NDP tied ones will.
Having said all this the usual criticisms of the Canadian unions apply. They have a long history of destroying more radical rank and file unions, such as the Canadian Merchant Seaman's union, the Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (these are the old WFM), the OBU (an IWW spinoff that existed in Canada into the 50's), and have the usual sordid past of red baiting and kissing ass to the boss. In fact the one union they didn't destroy was the CUPW, my union, but of late it seems they have managed to neutralise it, you'll probably see more posts by me griping about my union further down the line.
Anyways I hope this helps, and maybe even gives you a basis for further investigation if you want.
Feb 12 2007 18:52
#6
I have read an article by a train worker in the US that the engineers union merger with the teamsters was an attempt to fight the UTU for jobs with the coming further mechanizations. UTU rank and file were fighting them, and the engineers moved in with the bosses against them. Going with the teamsters would be a strange way to get more democracy. I'd suspect a strategy of annexation.
Feb 12 2007 18:55
#7
Hmm interesting, sounds plausible, its very rare that the teamsters ever do anything even half assed good.
Feb 19 2007 00:14
#8
CN and union diverge on strike's impact by BRENT JANG,Globe and Mail Update
_http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070212.wcncn0212/BNStory
/Business/_
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070212.wcncn0212/BNStory/Business/)
ROCU Release Resolution of Support
Our Canadian UTU brothers & sisters on the CN are on strike. The UTU
rank-and-file members on the CN voted overwhelmingly to strike, but unfortunately
the UTU International officers have not only refused to support their members
on the CN, but they have assisted CN management in requesting that the
Canadian Industrial Relations Board declare the strike illegal.
The ROCU supporters from the BLET and UTU who were on the monthly conference
call on February 13 expressed their disbelief at the UTU International’s
position and elected to issue this Resolution of Support for our brothers and
sisters who are on strike.
Get current news about the strike Click _HERE_
(http://www.utucnnegotiations.ca/)
Resolution of Support - _DOWNLOAD_
(http://www.10dollartemplates.net/downloadfiles/ROCUSupportsCNStrikeinCanada.pdf)
In Solidarity,
Ed Michael
Feb 19 2007 01:45
#9
That is really good to hear these folks need all the support they can get. I went down to the picket line with a comrade* earlier this week. I guess the international controls the strike fund and these cats have been out for a week without strike pay and don't think they will collect any strike pay. On top of that all of them were saying they're willing to keep the CN line shut for months if that is what it takes.
The strangest thing is how this strike occupies a grey area between wildcat activity and an official strikes. They jumped through all the LRB hoops but the company is actually using the UTU constitution and the UTU international executive to break the strike by claiming it wasn't authorised by the international. I think the LRB is supposed to rule on that by the end of the week. It looks like there are some pretty high level bureacrats that are taking a real risk by taking their workers out on strike, if the LRB rules against them they will definitely loose their job and find themselves blacklisted.
The Teamsters are definitely trying to capitalise on this and the rank filers are justifiably weary of a teamsters raid but figure a new union in the short term may be more responsive. I would be very surprised if UTU had any presence in the Canadian rail industry by the time this is over.
*Whom I know is lurking on libcom and is still fuming about my '70s centric analysis of Canadian Nationalism and really should post his reply because it would definitely be good to read.
Feb 22 2007 02:55
#10
http://www.tcrccpreasttrainmen.ca/02_21_2007_2.htm
And it gets even messier, a few comrades are heading down to the picket tomorow afternoon we'll see if its still up or not.
Feb 22 2007 05:52
#11
Whoa...... i'd be interested hear what this is all about. I'm curious why the UTU pulled their key negotiator and why the teamseters of today would incite a back-to-work?
Feb 24 2007 23:06
#12
thanks for the primer on canadianality, edwob
Feb 25 2007 07:33
#13
The article doesn't say whether "Chief union negotiators John Armstrong and Robert Sharpe" are from the Canadian section that initiated the strike or the International, but as of today they've issued a back-to-work order "pending ratification"
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/185474
It also occured to me that if the Canadian government is telling the truth about the dire and rapid national economic consequences of the strike, railroad management is lying about the service they're delivering with management scabs.
On the unity issue, i was talking to a friend who works for Union Pacific as a conductor. He told me train crew workers switch affliations according to job classification and most of them are in agreement that having two unions doesn't make sense. He mentioned the UTU corruption prosecutions as the primary stumbling block with BLE members he'd talked to.
Feb 28 2007 02:17
#14
What was that about trade union nationalism? -:)
Canada's labour movement must find its own voice
>by Jim Stanford
February 27, 2007
The two-week strike by conductors and yard-service workers at CN Rail has had many economic and political repercussions. By the end of last week, Federal Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn had issued a back-to-work order, and was readying legislation to forcibly end the strike — an authoritarian but now routine government response. The strikers could return to work sooner, if the two sides can reach a voluntary agreement.
The chances of that happening were badly undermined, however, when Canadian union negotiators were removed from office by their U.S. parent: the Cleveland-based United Transportation Union (UTU). It's hard to settle a strike when you're not sure who's on one side of the table.
Indeed, the U.S. leaders had argued (along with CN itself) that the whole strike was unauthorized and hence illegal — despite a 96-per cent strike vote by the actual members. The Canadian Industrial Relations Board eventually endorsed the legality of the strike. But the fact CN and the U.S. union leaders were both attempting an end-run around the Canadian union negotiators, wasted precious time and destroyed the bargaining.
The CN debacle has highlighted a still-simmering issue within Canada's labour movement. Close to 30 per cent of Canadian union members still pay their dues to U.S.-based organizations, and hence are subject to the whims of their American leaders. Canada is the only major country where foreign-based unions play a significant role in labour relations.
The problem is most acute in the private sector, where U.S.-based unions represent a large majority of union members. (Public-sector unions, on the other hand, are as Canadian as maple syrup.) It is in the private sector that unions are under fiercest attack, thanks to globalization, hyper-competition, and hostile labour law. This is where unions must be most innovative, and most responsive to the needs and preferences of their members (and potential members).
Yet in the private sector, most Canadian union members are led from another country — one with a different currency, a different legal and tax structure, and a different political mentality.
Some U.S. unions have done better than others in respecting the rights of their Canadian locals. But the use of trusteeship, removal from office, and imposition of direct financial controls from south of the border is still outrageously common. Another recent example was last year's removal of the elected leadership of Toronto's Local 183 of the Laborers' International Union, and the seizing of the local's assets (including their members' pension plan); the ousted leaders are now building a Canadian construction union.
The Canadianization of the union movement was a hot topic back in the nationalist 1970s, when labour activists linked their fight for economic opportunity with the desire for Canadian independence. A split in political and bargaining direction between Canadian unionists (who emphasized the broader social mandate of unions) and their American parents contributed to the tensions. Bob White led Canadian auto workers into their own union in 1985 — the highest-profile victory for Canadian labour's independence. Meanwhile, the growth of public sector unionism contributed to a gradual Canadianization of labour.
In recent years, Canadian control has taken a back seat to other challenges — like trying to keep unions relevant and effective in the first place. In most cases (but certainly not all), workers are better off with an American union, than with no union at all — though in some cases the ineffective, undemocratic, and even corrupt actions of U.S. unions do more damage than good to the cause.
Some U.S. unions have pioneered innovative organizing and bargaining techniques — such as the current cross-border campaign by UNITE HERE to boost wages for hotel workers. On the whole, however, U.S. unionism is locked in a declining spiral (private-sector union membership there fell to just seven per cent of workers in 2006). If the labour movement in Canada is to have a more viable future, it must find its own voice, its own tactics, and be utterly responsive to its own members.
The CN strike didn't start out as a battle over Canadian independence. And ironically, it is now rumoured that Canadian UTU members may leave one U.S. union for another one — the Teamsters, with an equally dubious democratic record. But the whole nasty experience has proven once again that effective unionism requires genuine Canadian ownership of both the bargaining process, and the unions themselves.
Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union.
On the CAW, see my old pal and comrade Bruce Allen's:
The CAW’s Great Leap Backward (Reprise)
http://www.labournet.net/world/0604/caw1.html and
Canadian Autoworkers: Inside the CAW Jacket --- http://www.labournet.net/world/0605/caw1.html
Feb 28 2007 09:41
#15
So is this strike ongoing?
Feb 28 2007 12:22
#16
http://www.wltribune.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=37&cat=23&id=840980&more=
Looks like they are heading back to work today. The people I talked to seemed to think they could go back in and try and take the whole BLE out on a wildcat, sounds pretty gutsy to me but if they could pull that off it really would be something. Everyone talks big on the picket line only time will tell.
Mar 14 2007 02:50
#17
CN workers return, but fight over labor deal looms http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/070226/business/business_cnrail
any rank-and-file news updates on this?
Mar 14 2007 16:52
#18
Didn't get to the article in time myself but here's what I've been told.
Well I know 60% of the Edmonton UTU local has signed Teamsters cards and everyone is saying they are going teamsters nationally. The case is currently sitting before the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, unless the cards are invalidated by suspected fraud it could be automatic certification provided they can get the same ratios across the country.
I was in Ottawa last week, pork chop HQ of Canada, and a few well connected wobs said word was that the Edmonton local was the most militant local and was leading the charge against UTU though so the numbers may be lower elsewhere. Problem is the Teamsters are already proving to be just as bad as UTU. Apparently they are signing staggered contracts, 5 years for the BLE and 3 years for the running crafts in order to make sure no one strikes at the same time, more or less ensuring the continuation of union scabbing. I guess there is something like 3,000 outstanding grievances on file as well and it seems the Teamsters are relluctant to take them on. Looks like the whole exercise was just a dues grab and little more.
As a side note I brought up ROCU with some folks on the picket line and several activists new who they were, but weren't too interested in discussing details. They seemed pretty sympathetic to the project. I wouldn't say going Teamsters was much of a step forwards after all though in light of the contract and outstanding grievances.
Mar 15 2007 03:49
#19
Interesting, thanks for the update EdWob.
Mar 30 2007 04:34
#20
FYI from Rueters: "CN Rail optimistic but prepared on union vote"
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-03-29T074505Z_01_N28357025_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-CNRAIL-STRIKE-COL.XML
Mar 31 2007 02:18
#21
Rueters:
CN union readies for new strike if deal rejected
http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-03-29T225244Z_01_N28357025_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-CNRAIL-STRIKE-COL.XML&archived=False
Apr 11 2007 17:26
#22
http://www.cn.ca/about/media/news_releases/2007/2nd_quarter/en_News20070410.shtml
Deal was rejected they are now back out on strike, legislation is tabled by the government and set to pass, what a fuckin' gong show.
Apr 12 2007 16:40
#23
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=2e8c5d57-d856-45db-981b-db34424dd3c2
So first they struck when the union didn't want them to, then the teamsters raided them so the UTU called for the continuation of the strike in order to fend off the raid (can't raid during a strike), then everyone returns to work.
THEN they go reject the contract but refuse to strike when the UTU calls them out. Shit this is messed up.
The legislation is also still pending.
Apr 13 2007 15:24
#24
this is mad. proper barmy.
Apr 15 2007 01:43
#25
Now they are locked out! I also heard from our IWW person at CN that two managers were seriously hurt in a minor derailment outside Edmonton last week and another manager lost both his legs in Montreal trying to keep the cars running. Also the Teamsters cards are going to be invalidated by the middle of summer and the 'open period' where they can legally raid can't start until september. Also several auto plants in Onatario were shut down last strike and it cost the big three millions, as well as a natural gas company, Nova several million in damages. Grain shipments were late too caosting the Wheat Board a lot of money.
Apr 15 2007 16:01
#26
Hello Edmonwob.....I believe you're a postie....This might interest you.
-
"A Stamp of Disapproval for Mail Delivery Contracting":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041202157.html
Apr 15 2007 17:20
#27
Interesting stuff, they contracted out our rural carriers in the 80's and the union organised them back in, but now they still have significantly lower wages and benefits than those of us under the urban operations agreement.
Apr 17 2007 03:03
#28
http://www.reuters.com/article/tnBasicIndustries-SP/idUSN1638747520070416?pageNumber=1
Now it looks like the company is pushing for regional bargaining, the lock out apparently only applied to some places, one of them Vancouver, a very important port. This is probably not going to turn out well.
Apr 17 2007 04:22
#29
from Gord Flett in Vancouver:
Locked-Out CN Locals Launch Solidarity Fund:
Apr 19 2007 11:09
#30
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070220/CN_rail_070220?s_name=&no_ads=
And now they are legislated back to work.
interesting! what do you mean by nationalism? As is, we're going to do what the fuck we want? Or go canada? Maybe both. I'm always amazed that the UFCW, UAW, and Teamsters got exported anywhere. sigh.