CUPE Local 79, the union representing 17 000 inside workers for the City of Toronto, is currently in contract negotiations. Soon after bargaining started, the employer asked for conciliation (a tactic also used against CUPE 416, which represents the City's 6 500 outside workers). This brings the situation one step closer to a lockout or strike.
The diverse workers in CUPE 79 provide many vital services that people in Toronto depend on. The employer is demanding staggering concessions from them. These include restricting parental and pregnancy leave, introducing a two-tiered sick pay system, reducing paid hours of work, and less pay for part-time recreation workers.
Paul Lykotrafitis spoke with two CUPE 79 activists about the challenges their union is facing and how we can defend public services.
Paul: The City of Toronto is aggressively attacking your union during bargaining. Why is the city doing this?
Claudia: It is clear that they are laying the groundwork for privatization A few years back the province pushed through amalgamation of cities. I really believe it was just an operation to lay the ground work for privatization. At the time amalgamation was being forced on us, we were being told that there was going to be a cost saving, but the reality is that it hasn't turned out that way. The city is claiming they are broke.
The big thing they are going for in the full-time agreement is the employment security clause. In the fall every department was asked to provide a report about the cost savings with Alternate Service Delivery (ASD), which is code for privatization, contracting-out or the elimination of services altogether. Our collective agreement is a big road block to privatization. We also have a provision for benefits and wages as well as the employment security clause. The City wants to get at that clause, so that they have one less road block to privatize our services.
Paul: It seems as if the City is just following in the footsteps of other levels of government in trying to decrease the level of public services and trying to privatize what's left. Why should we care about privatization?
Claudia: What we do now is to provide the public with efficient and accountable service. With privatization, all the political accountability is taken away. In some jurisdictions where services have been privatized, they were so poorly provided that the government had to step in and wrestle them back. That's how bad the services are once privatized. Our public services are assets that we've built up over years and have said as citizens that these are the services we want to provide for each other. The only way for someone to accrue profit from providing these basic services is by cutting corners
Julia: The last decade we've seen privatization on a global level. What we're seeing in Ontario and Toronto is not isolated, it's part of a larger phenomenon. On an international level and in the Canadian state, the results of privatizing public services for cost-saving measures are clear. We see that services to the community are severely cut and not accessible. People suffer. Some people die. At the same time it is a blatant attack on public services workers and the gains that we have won. Our benefits, wages and employment security are directly under attack.
Paul: Privatization is an important part of the neoliberal agenda. How does your struggle fit into fighting neo-liberalism that governments are pushing and how can workers fight this?
Julia: In our case we have to fight to keep our contract language. This is one of the things that is standing in the way of privatizing our jobs and services. But we just can't rely on this strategy. At the same time we have to fight for accessible, accountable, publically-run services and programs. To do this we have to unite with our community allies to defend our public services, as well linking up with our labour allies.
Claudia: We need to link our individual contract struggles with the broader community concern. We also have to make links with those who use our services. I think that the privatizers are very clear - the workers and those who receive the services are in the same bullseye. They promise to governments that they will reduce the number of people on social services by making it so difficult to meet the criteria. What that means for people on social assistance is that they are kicked off or just give up. For workers it means that they are asked to do the same work for less pay and benefits, sometimes on a part-time basis. We have to link these two concerns.
Paul: The labour movement has suffered some terrible defeats over the last quarter century. As a result, we have a union movement that is characterized and run by pretty conservative labour leaders. What can workers do to help build militant and democratic unions?
Julia: First and foremost we need to build a democratic rank and file activist current in our locals. In many ways that means organizing and educating rank and file members, but at the same time we need to build solidarity with other trade unions and community members. We have to look at how other struggles, both in the global justice movement and in the labour movement, have been successful and try to integrate what they've done into our practice. Some positive examples that we can use are the UPS strike [1] and the Justice for Janitors movement. We also have to look at alternative organizing models, such as some unemployed workers struggle that operates outside bureaucratic control. Another example of this type of activism is the flying squads that we have in CUPE. We have to bring this type of activism into the labour movement rather than just participating in the bureaucratic models that exist and control the labour movement today.
Claudia: Its tough flogging, but we have to organize amongst ourselves and to make the union a living, breathing force in our workplaces. If we are not defending our members on the things that matter to them, we can't hope to make any inroads on the structural changes in the union. We need to challenge the idea that the union is out there somewhere and not in your workplace. It's key that we make the union matter in peoples lives. The workplace is a key place to organize and fight neo-liberalism.
We also have to keep in mind not to get distracted by running for office. Even if we are successful we can be totally isolated once we get there. Every situation is going to be different. What makes sense for a union that has 100 members might not make sense for a union with 18 000 members. However, organizing at the workplace level makes sense for all of them.
[1] For an analysis of the victorious 1997 United Parcel Service strike, please go to http://www.igc.org/solidarity/teamster/teamster.htm
At the time of printing, the employer and CUPE 79 are still in conciliation and the union has started preparing for a strike. Find out more at the union's website http://www.cupelocal79.org
Julia Barnett is on the CUPE 79 strike committee. Claudia White is a shop steward with CUPE 79. Paul Lykotrafitis is a shop steward with CUPE 3261 and a member of the New Socialist Group.