[R-G] 'Dare Anyone Say a Word?': The CLC Convention of 2008

[Anthony Fenton]

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 114 .... June 17, 2008
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'Dare Anyone Say a Word?':  The Canadian Labour Congress Convention of  
2008
John Peters

There is always something unsettling about people who say one thing  
and do another. There is for one thing the hypocrisy. Then, there is  
the uncertainty.

It only takes a few disappointments to sow the seeds of doubt about  
whether you can ever trust a person's judgement again or whether you  
can ever expect them to fulfill their responsibilities in the future.

These problems become even greater when those in leadership positions  
engage in such 'shambolic' efforts that involve saying much and doing  
little, while rejecting all criticism. Couple this with trying to shut  
down any hints of debate or questioning of decisions or strategies,  
and what you end up with is a sort of variation on the 'Emperor has no  
clothes' fable.

All these problems were very much in evidence at the recent Canadian  
Labour Congress Convention in Toronto (May 26-30, 2008) and all of  
these problems raise serious red flags about the state of the Canadian  
labour movement today. But in a variation of the story, there was  
something even more staged and more malevolent about the Congress --  
more an event of the 'Leader has no clothes, but I dare anyone to say  
anything about it'.

Even though there were many good resolutions dealing with renewing  
organizing, fighting privatization, establishing a national pharmacare  
program, and protecting and renewing good, unionized manufacturing  
jobs, there was very little to suggest that the Canadian Labour  
Congress (CLC) would play any effective role in pushing these policies  
forward.

Many of the final CLC resolutions suggested nothing more than future  
meetings with union staff to discuss options. Others only broached the  
importance of raising issues. Few detailed how a campaign would  
actually be launched. None made the promise that any money would be  
devoted to these causes.

Even more worrisome was that in the floor debates, there was a good  
deal of evidence that the CLC and many in leadership positions were  
more interested in trying to shut down discussion and shut down the  
kind of activism necessary to move progressive ideas forward, rather  
than trying to stir passions, raise public awareness, and mobilize  
workers across Canada.

The Canadian Labour Congress -- Yesterday and Today
Outside of organized labour, the Canadian Labour Congress is a  
generally unknown entity to most Canadians. Established in the 1956,  
its basic functions were to operate as a central public communication  
body for labour, lobby government behind the scenes, conduct research,  
and help educate workers in local and provincial labour councils  
across Canada.

The CLC was also established as the key fundraising arm and supporter  
for the NDP, something it continued to do until 2003, when federal  
financing laws cut at labour donations, while leaving large loopholes  
for corporate donations through individual and diffuse political  
action committees.

The CLC had a number of useful secondary functions. Among the most  
effective was organizing new members where it was most difficult to do  
so and where unions had less influence. Also important was the role  
the CLC played in the mid-1970s helping coordinate and organize a  
national general strike against wage and price controls, as well as  
strikes against inadequate economic policy and draconian public sector  
legislation.

Today, the CLC is a much more circumscribed organization, and it has  
more often than not accommodated to liberal market political reforms  
instead of actively trying to change them for the better.

The CLC no longer organizes workers, nor does it provide financing or  
political direction for union members across the country. Over the  
past ten years, under the leadership of Ken Georgetti, public  
campaigns have taken a backseat to attempts at lobbying parliamentary  
committees and house members to change a select few pieces of  
legislation. Attempts at organizing national strikes or national  
demonstrations have all but vanished.

To its credit, many of the CLC's researchers do produce some of the  
best material on labour markets and economics around. But little of  
this material makes its way to members, and to the general public.  It  
is almost wholly invisible.

Continue reading:
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