CLC Sanctions the BCNU for Raiding HEU

It’s not often that I find myself praising the actions of Ken Georgetti. But in his ruling on the BC Nurses Union’s raid of the Hospital Employees Union, he is bang on. The BCNU has been trying to recruit members of the HEU to their union for months. The Canadian Labour Congress has now laid out escalating penalties for the BCNU. The BCNU is barred from taking part in local labour councils, the BC Federation of Labour and programs and services of the Canadian Labour Congress. It is hoped by everyone in the labour movement, that the BCNU will come to their senses and drop these divisive tactics.

At a time when the BC Liberal government is preparing an assault on public healthcare, the BCNU has decided to pick a fight with another healthcare union. Raiding is banned in the labour movement for the simple reason that it pits workers against each other instead of the bosses. Some unions have called for a “right to choose” policy in the CLC. So far there hasn’t been much enthusiasm for this move.

The argument that workers should be able to choose which union they belong to seems like a logical one at first, but a second look shows the flaws in such reasoning. To start with, unions are democratic organizations. If workers are unhappy with their unions, they can change them. They can elect new leaders, pass new policies, change their constitutions or implement whatever changes they want. When that is understood, the idea of switching unions seems a little strange. But the negative side of raiding is a bigger issue. It is not only bad for the workers involved, but for the labour movement as a whole. If there was an open season for raiding, the labour movement would spend more time fighting each other than fighting the bosses. Solidarity between unions would disappear as they would see each other as potential rivals. Divide and conquer is an old tactic and the bosses are quick to exploit any division that comes up.

The leaders of the CLC have taken the right stand on this one. They’ve stood up for unity in the labour movement. They’ve stood up for solidarity over division. And there is still the obvious point that needs to be made: two thirds of workers in Canada don’t have a union at all. Those are the workers we should be focused on organizing.