Telling It Like It Isn't

As the practical business of unions contracts, they have turned to diversifying their interests, engaging their members in a public discourse of society's ills, agitating for their sense of received justice, in the cause of which leaders feel free to exercise their privilege and prejudices. The union as social conscience. A philosophical and moral introspection, not to be left merely to the poets among us.

When CUPE Ontario brought forward a resolution in 2006 for a boycott of Israel, and when, a year later, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers approved a like motion, the public did not take kindly to those initiatives. Labour groups have become so dreadfully bored at their usual preoccupation of representing their members' interests at the bargaining table, and railing against the immorality of business.

Quite obviously not all union members feel encouraged to support union leaders who embrace social activism, and bravely tell the world, not just their members, that what they personally perceive as a wrong must not be permitted to continue. Union leaders becoming expert at international politics, proudly displaying their humanitarian credentials. A trifle on the side of bigotry, but that's life.

A former chief economist for the National Union of Public and General Employees, however, doesn't think too highly of this union-social-activist activity. According to Bob Dale, "I think it is a total abuse of dues money for it to be used to promote hate". Promotion of hate? Why, Sid Ryan would take grave exception to that argument; his is the promotion of human rights. One-sidedly, but nonetheless.

CUPE Ontario is on a roll, planning to ask its members to support a ban on collaborating with Israeli universities with respect to conferences, research and academic projects; amending his original targeting of individual Israel academics. CUPE members appear to be questioning the purpose of their union taking sides in a dispute within the international arena that few are sufficiently knowledgeable about.

"Unions are supposed to help by bringing people together, by understanding common goals" according to Aldo Di Carlo, president of CUPE Local 1393, representing University of Windsor technical workers. "This resolution isn't helping anybody, it's creating further division."

Ah, so.