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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Turning rhetoric into reality - Article﻿</title>﻿
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﻿<b﻿>﻿Turning rhetoric into reality
﻿<br﻿>﻿</b>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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by Myles Magner﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, January 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿</center>﻿

﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿OPSEU leaders have been talking tough lately. 
Ensuring these words become deeds is the challenge facing OPSEU activists 
interested in a serious fightback against the Harris agenda.﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Like an electric shock, six months of Tory rule have produced a flutter of life in the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). And while the union has been weakened by years of concessions and the NDP's Social Contract, there are signs that a fightback is possible. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Half a year after the Harris government's election, the OPSEU leadership has begun supporting calls for a fight against the Tory cuts. On Dec. 11, OPSEU bussed hundreds of members to London, Ont. for the Ontario Federation of Labor's one-day general strike. Two days later, OPSEU president Leah Casselman joined Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove in calling for another one-day strike early in the new year. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
This is a major shift in the OPSEU leadership's rhetoric. In June, Casselman joined other union leaders in boycotting a large protest at Harris's swearing-in. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Casselman's apparent change of heart began in early September, when she backed the call to demonstrate against the Tory throne speech. Meanwhile, a campaign by activists in Toronto, who had pressured the OPSEU leadership for support, mobilized 2,000 of the union's members for the 10,000-strong demonstration at Queen's Park, Sept. 27. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Driving the leadership's talk of a fightback is what the union has at stake in the Tory agenda. OPSEU faces the loss of up to 20,000 members in the Ontario public service (OPS) through layoffs, service cuts, privatization and government "restructuring." 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Even more important, from the perspective of leaders like Casselman, Hargrove and OFL president Gord Wilson, is the fact that the Tories have left them out of the loop. The union brass only began to talk about a mass fightback when they realized that Harris planned to sideline them by ramming through cuts to social services and labor rights without consultation. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
The Tories refused to negotiate with the unions on Bill 7, the anti-labor law, which was passed in record time. They've also stonewalled OPSEU in contract talks for 65,000 government employees. Bargaining has bogged down over the Tories' demand to gut job protection for OPSEU members in the OPS. Meanwhile, by chopping billions from health, education and social services, the Tories are cutting thousands of OPSEU members' jobs in the broader public sector. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
If history is any guide, the union leaders' tough talk is likely to last only as long as they're denied a seat at the bargaining table. But their rhetoric can create an opening for rank and file militants. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
There are signs of fighting mood among some OPSEU members. When the union printed a button borrowing the Black Power slogan "No Justice, No Peace" this fall, members snapped them up by the thousands. Meanwhile hundreds of OPSEU members across the province have joined protests against layoffs and demonstrations at Tory fundraisers. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
Actions like these, plus the possibility of more one-day general strikes, give OPSEU activists a chance to broaden the base of militancy. But rank-and-file activists also have to start linking together to push for action, even when the leadership tries to pull the plug. A crucial test is the strike vote for 65,000 OPSEU members in the OPS, expected in February. When push comes to shove, Casselman may look to settle with the Tories. But compromise will mean disaster for thousands of OPSEU members. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
By organizing a campaign for a "Yes" vote, OPSEU activists can reach a wider audience with the case for a fightback. And by linking the "Yes" campaign with mobilizing for the next OFL walk-outs, they may be able to turn the one-day strikes into part of a sustained fightback, not a substitute for it. 
﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿
﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿Myles Magner is a union steward in OPSEU Local 5104.﻿</font>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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