Is CUPE walking the teacher's picket line because teachers are not getting a fair deal in BC? Or are they walking because they hope a teacher success helps them with their upcoming negotiations? Same boss so naturally, if they can help bully the teacher's union past the boss's common sense, than the boss will not be as eager to fight the battle when it is their turn. Precedent set.
As a past member of unions I was asked and did stand on picket lines set up by other unions. Unions claim this action was to state solidarity. However it was not so much about a union's struggle, but rather to keep the union movement itself strong. The attained strength was for the unions and its members not for the betterment of society.
Never did we walk or remain militant for workers who did not have union representation, nor did we set up pickets because we insisted that the minimum wage be raised.
I know the unions spoke to Christy Clark about this exact topic, but let me ask, were they as militant for the underrepresented minimum wage earner as they are for the better paid, well represented teachers.
Case in point: Canadian Tire staff picketed their store when it was still on Central. They walked that line for months, but failed. They failed because too many union members or their partners chose to cross the picket line....cheaper product. It was and remains my opinion that the only reason that that walkout, in a union town, did not succeed, was because of the disrespect of unions and unionized workers for Canadian Tire workers.
Therefore, it is my guess; CUPE is not walking for fair but rather for how. How do we ensure that what we want is granted to us when it is our turn? Don't pretend it is about fair treatment or class sizes; when unions walk for other unions it is to protect themselves and their comfortable way of unionized living.
We must have unions, but like all entities, unions must evolve. We need a concept that protects all workers while ensuring economies do not collapse due to the selfishness of a select few. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Detroit . Canadians are not immune.
Bill Barnes
Prince George
