Right from the start, the three day strike/lockout by 4,700 British Columia (BC) Ferry workers last December was a struggle based on fundamental issues. Above all, it concerned the right to strike, because in Gordon Campbell's British Columbia, for all practical purposes, any public sector strike is an illegal strike.
The events of 2003 meant the conflict came as little surprise. Last summer, the Campbell government passed the Coastal Ferries Act, handing over ownership of the public ferry system to a private corporation headed by a $335,000-a-year-plus-bonuses American CEO, David Hahn, who quickly began to live up to his reputation of ruthless neo-liberalism. By the fall, the Ferry Authority's bargaining agenda became increasingly clear. It consisted of cutting hundreds of jobs, privatizing much of what remained, slashing wages by six to 48 per cent, attacking the ferry workers' pension plan, and introducing a two-tier wage setup under which new hires would be paid 30 per cent less than current ones. Every employee would be forced to work the equivalent of ten weeks every year for free, and all of this would then be followed by massive fare increases on the smaller coastal runs.
A complete unwillingness to negotiate accompanied these demands. The BC Ferry & Marine Workers' Union (BCFMWU) realized early that strike action would likely be required to prevent concessions, and the result was an unprecedented 97 per cent strike vote.
All Hands To The Pumps
Through all of this, the union continued to negotiate in good faith, but talks finally broke down on December 5. Over the next few days, the union leadership agreed to maintain essential services. But management wanted a strike, so on Sunday, December 7, they locked out the cafeteria and gift shop staff.
The union walked.
Graham Bruce, B.C.'s labour minister, imposed an 80-day "cooling off" period.
The ferry workers refused to obey.
Contrary to what many labour bureaucrats said behind the scenes, there was nothing suicidal about this defiance. It was a reasoned, deliberate and, above all, responsible reaction to an attempt at all-out union-busting. It stemmed directly from the ferry workers' realization that obeying the law in this case would mean seeing their right to strike destroyed and their union dismembered.
They also fully realized how many aces they held.
First of all, the BCFMWU membership is more unified now than it has been in years. A big internal shake-up last year resulted in the ouster of the old union leadership and the election of a new more militant slate. However, at least some of the credit for this new militancy and unity has to go to the new boss, David Hahn. It's sort of hard to swallow a 48 per cent pay cut when the person doing it earns more than ten times what you do and got a 100 per cent increase himself.
Second, unlike many other workplaces, ferry workers jobs cannot be moved to another country or eliminated. The labour minister ravingly threatened to build a bridge to Vancouver Island to eliminate any further ferry strikes. However, this super mega-project - if technically feasible - would certainly cost many billions.
Third, ferry workers jobs can't be scabbed out. There are not enough ship crews certified by Transport Canada in all of Canada to replace them. Everyone on board down to the youngest dishwasher has to be fully trained in emergency procedures and firefighting.
So the government's threats of mass firings were seen for what they actually were - an idle threat. As long as the workers maintained their courage and unity, as long as they were prepared to endure jailings and massive fines (none of which have materialized), the government and employer were powerless to defeat them. That's why it took only four days for Campbell and Hahn to back down and agree to send the whole thing to binding arbitration.
Lessons From The Ferry Workers
Parts of this story are unique to the ferry workers and do not necessarily apply to other situations. But a number of extremely important lessons are universally valid. The ferry workers have moved the marker away from token and ineffective symbolic protest to effective direct action. Their strike points the way to actually defeating the brutal Liberal government of Gordon Campbell.
1. Mass Support Is Out There
Throughout the strike/lockout, the corporate media went predictably berserk. One issue of The Province alone gave us memorable gems like "Strike Rage Grows", "Thousands of B.C. Residents Plunged Into Chaos", "B.C. Firms Wise To Launch Class-Action Suit For Damages", and "This Union Would Go On Strike Even If Castro Was Premier". The venom was predictable, but it didn't take. As the strike/lockout developed, it became rapidly obvious that the ferry workers had unprecedented mass support. Hundreds of non-members showed up to their picket lines in support, in a show of spontaneous solidarity. Radio talk shows were inundated with calls from listeners supporting the union and trashing the corporation. A significant CTV poll showed 67 per cent support for the strikers and only 25 per cent for the company.
Thousands of people are ready and waiting to support any struggle that directly confronts the government and corporations. This was clear in 2002, with 40,000 in the streets against the Liberals, and it was true with the mass support that helped the Woodward's squatters to win.
Any struggle against Campbell has to count on that energy, and figure out how to reach out and connect with it.
2. This Government Can Be Defeated
The Liberals' dramatic about-face in the ferries struggle is arguably a bigger reverse than the defeat of their attempt to privatize the Coquihalla Highway. All along the way, there have been instances where effective popular opposition has forced them to back off, temporize and delay specific cuts. But the ferry workers struggle threatened to defeat them, which is precisely why they agreed to send the dispute to binding arbitration.
3. Arbitration Is Probably A Dead End
Ferry workers won an important partial victory when they forced the company to agree to an arbitrator who could conceivably put a major dent in its massive rollback agenda. However, it would be dangerous to think that the fight is won. The union has lost nothing as long as they are prepared for the likelihood that arbitrator Vince Ready will hand the corporation essentially what it wants; they have to continue to build networks of support and solidarity, and prepare for the real possibility of an employer determined to fight to the finish. It would be a huge mistake for the union to allow itself to be lulled into deactivation and a false sense of security. (See the excellent analysis of the ferry struggle and the labour arbitration at the web site of Members for Democracy, an opposition grouping in the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, at www.ufcw.net.)
4. Don't Trust The Dead Wood At The Top
The top leadership of the B.C. Federation of Labour had a huge opportunity to play a leading role in organizing solidarity for the ferry workers. By and large, it failed this test.
While there were token gestures of verbal support, the Fed officers did not stand with the ferry workers and announce that the Campbell government will never get away with making public sector strikes illegal. On Thursday, December 11, the Fed sent word down to its member unions that individual support for the ferry workers was all very well, but maybe it would be better if the local unions left any union banners and placards at home. (Translation: We're with you all the way, brothers and sisters, as long as we don't have to stick our necks out.) At the same time, it sent two Fed officers in to pressure the BCFMWU negotiating team to agree to arbitration, leading a Globe & Mail reporter to observe that "during Thursday's marathon bargaining session, union negotiators were joined by B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair and government employees' union head George Heyman, who are believed to have helped moderate the militant ferry workers' stand."
5. Escalate Not Moderate
The B.C. Liberals are massively hated. They are widely perceived as a corrupt clique of liars headed by a drunk. December's RCMP raids on the B.C. legislature are fuelling speculation about connections with corporate criminals and drug dealers.
In November, the B.C. NDP selected Carole James as their new leader. With a fresh face as leader, the NDP closed the gap in public opinion polls to under five per cent (with 43 per cent for the Liberals to 38 for the NDP). The stench of scandal may cause B.C. Liberal support to plummet at least temporarily.
Many in the NDP and the B.C. Federation of Labour will argue that what's necessary now is to cool down, to keep the eye on the ball and to subordinate everything to the needs of electing an NDP government in May 2005.
Bill Tieleman, a columnist closely linked to the NDP and B.C. Fed apparatus, attacked the ferry workers (and by implication other groups of militant workers) in the Dec. 25-Jan. 1 issue of the Georgia Straight, "Ferry Boss, Union Didn't Listen in Kindergarten." He complains that the union's militant tactics in the face of long odds isolate them from their natural allies in the labour movement. Further, he counsels the union to "say sorry" for the damage its strikes inflicted on individuals and businesses.
Will bending over backward to be moderate and abandoning militant struggle defeat the Liberals? Nothing could be more wrong. The only way to ensure the defeat of the Campbell Liberals 16 months from now is to keep fighting them every chance we get. The way to throw the neo-liberals out is by defeating them at every opportunity, unifying unions and communities around common struggles and intensifying the conflict, not by selling it out.
It Ain'T Over Till It'S Over
The history of the ferry workers struggle has not yet been written. The arbitrated decision may turn out to be a victory, but is far more likely to go the other way. The Coalition of B.C. Business is still threatening to break the union with a class-action lawsuit. The government continues to threaten to introduce legislation to formally ban ferry strikes. Clearly, the deciding round has not been fought yet. Recognizing that, we need to begin preparing for round two.
Will Offley is a member of the Vancouver Branch of the New Socialist Group