The strike we just lost is still bothering me. I've decided to embark on a productive, therapeutic process entitled 'who's to blame'. Today I'll discuss the role played by our local social democrats, the New Democratic Party (NDP).


Or a reasonable facsimile - Lefties

We were on strike for over 80 days, through a particularly cold winter. We faced a constant barrage of negative press. The employer refused to negotiate with us and demanded binding arbitration. (That's for when two parties are stuck in negotiation and need a way out, not when one party refuses to negotiate.) Next the boss tried to make our members choose a bad contract in a forced vote. When that failed, the employer called on its friends in the Liberal government. They, along with their Tory friends, legislated us back to work.

In the final weeks, the NDP appeared out of nowhere. At one snow-bound rally, their members of provincial parliament (MPPs) lined up in their long wool coats to tell us how collective bargaining rights were sacrosanct. At our final rally, our members were attacked by the police while the back-to-work debate was going on. NDP leader Howard Hampton appeared and told us he was calling the premier directly, asking him to tell our employer to get back to the bargaining table. There were huge cheers. It was like we were suddenly getting serious: we'd marched around in the cold for months, but now the powers-that-be were paying attention.


"Have you seen the new white paper on labour relations?"
"Quickly, draft a position for the consultation period!"

In the end it made no difference: our employer told the premier to go away and the legislation passed. The NDP delayed its passage for five days. For that they were pilloried in the press: Jim Coyle, in a particularly nasty column, accused them of "self-indulgent reminiscence and rococo rhetoric" for daring to defend collective bargaining. This stand earned the admiration of our Local members.

I don't like being the cynical voice in the corner. But as MPPs stood on our truck and told us to keep strong, all I could think was, "Where were you before this?" In all the time I walked the line, I never saw a single NDP member. They have riding associations, but a delegation never came to say hello. The employer's security guards may have the unsavoury job of keeping an eye on us, but on one cold day they brought us a big bowl of vegetarian minestrone. With a ladle and cups and spoons. The NDP never even brought us coffee.


"Why is there no fire-barrel lit?"
"The snow put it out!"
- Logan's Run

Nor did the NDP fill the op-ed pages with letters supporting the strike, filibuster until our employer got back to the table, or anything else they could've done from their nice warm offices while we were freezing outside. In the final two weeks, they opposed some legislation. And we're supposed to be grateful that a social democratic party finally does its job.

The new urban voter
The NDP selectively shows solidarity. As the World Socialist Website points out, the NDP voted to send striking Toronto transit workers back to work. They were instrumental in forcing Ottawa transit workers to accept a bad deal, and of course there's the legacy of its time in government, breaking open collective agreements. The NDP does what social democratic parties are supposed to do: soften the blow of capitalist austerity, because 'our' politicians are enacting it.


Oh, no reason... (La Chienne)

Except in our case. Why? The answer seems pretty clear. As a comrade suggested to me some months back, the NDP is busy rebranding itself as the new party of the urban professionals. They've abandoned their traditional working class politics and pursue policies they think 'knowledge workers' want: livable cities, public transit and renewable energy. For example, their new energy economy platform plans to

Expand employment in our communities, build new markets for Canadian suppliers, strengthen sustainability commitments, and encourage Canadian entrepreneurship by adopting a Made-in-Canada procurement policy for the federal government and its agencies.

This is weak-kneed Keynesianism which dodges the issue of who actually controls the economy, and simply provides more business subsidies. With lots of bicycle paths. I think it was Michael Prue who told us at the second-to-last rally, "Two years from now, at the next election, remember it's the NDP that stood by you!"


"Will the NDP support our land reform struggle?"
"Depends if we've got the wifi installed yet..."
- Winstanley

Why don't they stand by traditional working class voters, like transit workers and the public sector in general? Those are the people who vote NDP. For all its restructuring, the NDP wins far more traditional working class ridings in the north of the province and manufacturing towns in the south. It has yet to achieve its urban breakthrough, except for a couple of seats. But thanks to neoliberalism, the NDP are finished with the working class and wedded to the Third Way. As Albo and Evans argue,

As a political instrument, social democratic parties such as the NDP play as much a role in disorganizing the working class as they once did in organizing it (in Canada on the basis of a quite particular and paternalistic labourist ideology).

Blue-collar, low-paid workers are the neglected spouse that allow the NDP to keep pursuing its affair with all things 'knowledge', 'post-Fordist', despite being continually rebuffed. When those knowledge workers go on strike, there's a chance to stand with voters who fit the proper demographic.


There are still some undecided voters there - Big Man Japan

The NDP stood up for our local - at the last minute, in the most minimal way possible. I guess I should be grateful. But I'm not going to be ecstatic simply because they made a few gestures. My lower back is still aching from all those days on the concrete.

Labels: back-to-work legislation, NDP, post-Fordism, social democracy, strike