September 11, 2012 - No. 112

Labour Day 2012

British Columbia at a Crossroads

Vancouver Rally to Increase Funding to Community Social Services Thursday, September 13 -- 12:00 noon Vancouver Art Gallery To download poster, click here. Organized by: BCGEU

Labour Day 2012
• British Columbia at a Crossroads

The Fight to Provide Public Right with a Guarantee
• Fourth One-Day Strike of Government Employees
• Liquor Store Workers Fight Privatization
• Vancouver Demonstration in Defence of Public Health Care - Barbara Biley
• "Ten Dollar a Day" Child Care Program: A Necessary and Viable Social Program - Charles Boylan

Coming Events
• Vancouver Rally to Strengthen Community Social Services, September 13

Labour Day 2012

British Columbia at a Crossroads

On Labour Day, when workers and their families took part in rallies, picnics and other activities organized by local labour councils, unions and the BC Federation of Labour, the BC Provincial Committee of CPC(M-L) issued a statement which outlines the situation in British Columbia at this time. It sums up the serious battles the workers and people continue to wage in defence of their rights and to deal with the economic crisis and government anti-social offensive in a manner that does not put them as mere spectators of the attacks being made against them.

The statement points out how this year's Labour Day activities in BC come amidst a broad fight by public sector workers across the province for wages and working conditions commensurate with the important services they provide. On September 5 approximately 27,000 BC Government Employees' Union, Professional Employees Association and Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union Local 378 members who work for the BC government went on strike for 24 hours in 153 communities and 1785 government worksites across the province, the fourth and largest such job action. Government workers have not had an increase since 2009, which has effectively decreased their wages. The wages of health care workers, whose strike in 2004 was ended with a legislated settlement, are now seven per cent below what they were earning in 2002 while workloads continue to increase.

BC teachers and health care workers were prominent amongst those participating in Labour Day. The BC Committee's Labour Day statement points out, "This year BC teachers were once again forced to settle with a gun to their heads, and 'agree' to the imposition of unacceptable working conditions and learning conditions for their students, particularly in terms of class size and composition. Health care workers in group homes and the developmentally disabled adults they care for have been subjected to stepped attacks by the provincial government, while Community Living BC Managers have been rewarded with almost 10 per cent in salary increases."

The bold and dignified participation of public sector workers in Labour Day in BC highlighted the unconscionable activities of the Clark government which, like other neo-liberal governments across Canada, abdicates its duty to serve the public interest and instead politicizes private interests. They denigrate those who provide services essential for the health and well-being of everyone and who provide the infrastructure necessary for a modern society as a "burden" and "cost" to serve the narrow agenda cuts, privatization and other pay-the-rich schemes.

The fight of BC workers and First Nations against the wrecking of the social and natural environments was also on people's minds this Labour Day. As the BC Committee's Labour Day statement points out, "We have seen the devastation of the forests and both lumber and pulp and paper manufacturing, caused entirely by government policy dictated by the monopolies, whether on raw log exports, the Softwood Lumber Agreement, the handling of the pine beetle infestation, silviculture, safety in the mills, deregulation, etc. Fisheries workers and First Nations face the destruction of their livelihood, communities and way of life from multinational fish farms and the federal government's abandoning of the protection of fish habitat. Over the broad opposition by the peoples and First Nations of BC and Alberta, the Harper government is pushing the Northern Gateway Pipeline project which would bring not only the pipeline but oil tankers plying the BC coast to ship diluted bitumen from Alberta to Asia, while destroying any federal regulation to protect the land and waters, including the closing of Coast Guard stations. [Premier Christy] Clark's 'defence' of BC's interests has been to demand a bigger share of the take."

The workers' demands expressed at the Labour Day actions were also in sharp contrast to the Clark Liberals' Jobs Plan. The BC Committee writes in its Labour Day statement, "Less than a year from now there will be a provincial election. The Clark Liberals are posing as the 'family friendly' job creating benevolent force that should be re-elected so we can have prosperity and jobs. Their BC Jobs plan is a plan designed to serve the monopolies by creating the conditions in BC that will attract foreign, mainly Asian, investment through tax incentives and deregulation and doing everything necessary to put the resources of BC, including the human resources, at their disposal. One of the main elements of the BC Jobs Plan, which is formally entitled 'Canada Starts Here,' is infrastructure, including cheap electric power, and this is being achieved on the backs of the people through increased rates to pay for the cheap power being offered for new mines in Northern BC as an example. The privatization of BC Hydro, seniors care, post secondary education, health care and municipal services through Public-Private Partnerships, and wrecking of manufacturing including pulp and paper, lumber and ship-building is all being done without any discussion, as if there is no alternative."

The collective actions of the workers to present their fights and demands on Labour Day in the face of governments that increasingly serve private interests brings into sharper focus that the problem of how to build an effective political opposition must be solved by the workers. The BC Committee of CPC(M-L) calls on the workers to address several questions crucial to realizing the workers' aim of defending their rights and the rights of all: "How can the power of the independent social and political movements of the working class be used to stop Harper and Clark and the entire neo-liberal offensive of the global monopolies?" "How is it that a rich minority can get away with electing politicians like Harper and Campbell and Clark to do their bidding?" "How can these self-serving politicians act with impunity to trample on workers' rights and drive down the standard of living of working people?" Despite widespread opposition to the wrecking of the economy and handing over everything to the monopolies, "Why has the working class not been able to mobilize its numbers for independent action in our own interests?"

The Labour Day statement concludes, saying, "In the months leading to the provincial election public sector workers will be stepping up the fight in defence of their right to improved wages and working conditions. A broad discussion is already taking place on the crisis in forestry and on how to develop BC's resources and manufacturing.

"Through actions in support of public sector workers and taking up the problem of defending public right and setting a new direction for the economy, the working class can begin to mobilize itself to go into sustained actions with analysis and show the real power of its numbers and determination."

Vancouver

Approximately 700 people came through the Labour Day picnic at Trout Lake in Vancouver organized by the Vancouver and District Labour Council and BC Federation of Labour. There was a wide array of booths from various trade unions and a variety of social and political activists, including CPC(M-L). Party activists participated in the events, discussing the significance of the unfolding events with fellow labour activists. They also distributed the Labour Day statements of the BC provincial committee of the Party and that of the Party's Workers' Centre, and sold the TML Supplement, Workers' Forum.

Vancouver Island

Victoria

Several hundred workers and their families participated in labour day picnics on Vancouver Island -- in Black Creek in the North, Ladysmith in the Centre and Victoria in the south -- organized by the Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council, the Nanaimo-Duncan Labour Council and the Victoria Labour Council respectively.

In Ladysmith, five of the Cowichan School Board trustees who were fired on July 1 by Education Minister George Abbott for refusing to implement another cutback budget, addressed the workers' gathering to report on the state of that fight. Workers and parents have supported the trustees in their determination to bring in a "restoration budget," one that would have restored the cuts of previous years and increased investment in education.

The focus of discussion at all the events was defending workers' rights and social programs that are under attack by the Harper and Clark governments. There was a large presence of government workers, both federal government workers in Fisheries and EI and other areas, and provincial government workers who have been holding a series of one-day strikes during the summer months.

The Fight to Provide Public Right with a Guarantee

Fourth One-Day Strike of Government Employees

Vancouver, September 5, 2012.

BC public sector workers held their fourth and largest one-day strike to underscore their demands to the provincial government on September 5. The unions report broad public support for all of these actions. A joint September 5 op-ed in the Vancouver Sun from the presidents of unions representing BC government employees informed that, "For the first time in more than 20 years, the entire government of BC is behind picket lines today in support of a fair and reasonable collective agreement. More than 27,000 government and Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) workers are on strike, from the BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU), Professional Employees Association (PEA) and Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE) Local 378 members.

"We are striking because we need a fair deal and Victoria is not listening. The one-day job action will impact a majority of the 1,785 government work sites in 153 BC communities. For one day only, public liquor stores are closed. ICBC offices that are located in government buildings and staffed by COPE 378 members are also shuttered. Agencies such as Service BC have minimal service levels [... P]ublic service workers who are critical to the health and safety of the public remain on the job. [...]

"In 2010, [...] BC government workers [...] took two years with no wage increases. Their last increase was three and a half years ago, which amounts to a five-per-cent wage cut after you take inflation into account. COPE 378 members have been without a contract for over two years, with wages stagnant since 2009.

Kelowna

"BCGEU and PEA members can't keep falling behind the higher cost of living. BCGEU public-sector workers are asking for a wage increase of 3.5 per cent in Year 1 and a cost-of-living allowance in Year 2. The PEA is also seeking inflation-based increases, which is reasonable. Non-union workers across Canada can expect average wage increases of 3.2 per cent next year, according to global consulting firm Mercer.

"By contrast, Victoria's final offer to the PEA and BCGEU amounted to 3.5 per cent over two years, amounting to a further wage cut after inflation. ICBC offered COPE 378 less -- a four-year contract with one-per-cent increases in the last two years."

Over the summer, BCGEU organized three other rotating one-day strikes across the province.

BCGEU directly employed by the provincial government held their third one-day job action on August 20. The target of the strike was the offices of the Ministry of Forests in Cranbrook, Nelson, Dawson Creek and Burns Lake. As well, 265 workers of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations and Ministry of Transportation in Prince George walked off the job.

Strikes took place July 3 at the Liquor Distribution Branch sites in Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops and August 7 at the offices of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Environment in Surrey, Kelowna, Campbell River and 100 Mile House.

The union has made proposals that address not only the need for wage increases but also the fact that the Campbell and now the Clark governments since 2002 have eliminated more than 1,100 forestry workers' jobs from the Forests and Range Ministry. The BC government has also allowed the multinationals in the forest industry to "self-regulate" resulting in a lowering of the government's compliance and enforcement capabilities in public forests.

In addition to directly employed government workers, BCGEU workers in health care, education, social services and other sectors are facing government demands for concessions. Government negotiators refuse to discuss any improvements to wages, benefits, working conditions and job security, claiming they are bound by the 'cooperative gains' mandate decreed by the government. The rejection of BCGEU's proposals for 'cooperative gains' exposes the hypocrisy of the government and its real agenda to drive down the wages, benefits and working conditions of workers and prepare to privatize public services one sector after another. Through their strike actions and other means BCGEU workers are determined to break the impasse.

Striking workers at the Alouette Women's Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge.

Liquor Store Workers Fight Privatization

Quesnel, September 5, 2012

BC Liquor Store workers, members of the BC Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU) are waging a campaign to stop the BC Government's plans to privatize wholesale liquor distribution in the province. July 3, workers staged a one-day strike at the three liquor warehouses in Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops. They have also collected thousands of signatures on a petition opposing privatization. Actions at BC Liquor Stores also took place during the latest one day strike on September 5.

Recently released government correspondence shows that the BC Liberal government repeatedly rejected proposals for privatization and sale of the warehouses. Critics claim that the Government suddenly changed its course after meeting with lobbyists for Excel Logistics who have ties with the Liberal Party in power. The government subsequently announced in last February's provincial budget that privatization would indeed proceed and the warehouses would be sold. Excel Logistics already controls liquor distribution in Alberta.

BC Liquor store workers are also concerned that the sale of the liquor warehouses in the province will be followed with privatization of liquor retail sales and the closure of public retail outlets resulting in the loss of unionized jobs, a lowering of the standard of living, unevenly priced liquor throughout the province and loss of government revenue. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon recently threatened to privatize the entire liquor distribution system if workers do not passively accept the sale of the wholesale sector and the government's contract offer. At present, there are 197 Liquor Board stores in the province with 3,500 unionized workers.

The media are full of neoliberal arguments supporting privatization of all public enterprises. Many argue privatization is necessary to drive down the living standards of public sector workers and provide greater profits to owners of capital. One such article called "Why the BC Liquor Board gets away with complacency" says, "Close to 40 per cent of all retail liquor sales in B.C. are now generated by sales through private liquor stores. Where the government stores pay their unionized shelf stockers and cashiers as much as $21 per hour (plus pensions and benefits), private stores are more market driven and pay $11.50 an hour for, in essence, a job that involves stocking shelves and operating cash tills."

This anti-social anti-worker line unabashedly wants to push liquor store workers' wages below the poverty line. A "liveable" wage in the Lower Mainland in 2012 has been assessed at $19.12 an hour.

Privatization eliminates the direct claim of government on some $890 million in liquor sales general revenue to be replaced with much lower and uncertain corporate taxes and lower personal income taxes from workers' lower wages. When a public enterprise is privatized, much of the government and workers' claim is transferred to owners of capital. Also lost is any public control over wholesale and retail liquor prices although in the present Liberal government controlled system and neoliberal climate, workers and the public have little influence.

The BCGEU and other unionized workers want to see the government liquor monopoly expand and hire more workers because at present the cutbacks have intensified the speed of work and increased serious accidents on the job. The workers want to re-incorporate the over 700 private alcohol distribution outlets into the government monopoly to ensure that workers being paid $11 an hour receive $21 an hour together with benefits. Owners of small stores could be incorporated as public store managers and workers at union rates of pay.

The issue of the direction for the wholesale and retail distribution of alcohol is a battle that the working class must engage in fully. Many are raising the battle cry of "Whose economy? Our economy!" "Whose sector? Our sector!" in the struggle against privatization of the wholesale and retail distribution of liquor.

Vancouver Demonstration in Defence of
Public Health Care

- Barbara Biley -

On August 20, Canadian Doctors for Medicare (CDM) and the British Columbia Health Coalition held a press conference and rally at the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver. The two organized advocates for public health care demand that the BC Medical Services Commission enforce its rules visàvis the Cambie Surgery Centre and The Specialist Referral Clinic, both operated by Dr. Brian Day.

On its website, CDM says it is calling on both "the federal government to enforce the Canada Health Act, and the BC government to use the full force of its authority to put a stop to illegal billing that is allowing the wealthiest among us to jump to the front of the line for care."

Following years of complaints and actions by several BC health care unions, the BC Health Coalition, Canadian Doctors for Medicare and other critics of the neoliberal trend towards privatized health services, the Medical Services Commission (MSC) recently conducted an audit of the two Day clinics. According to a July 19 article in the Toronto Star, "Of the 468 samples of billing the audit committee looked at, 205 of those had services billed to a beneficiary or some other person contrary to the Medicare Protection Act. The article quoted Tom Vincent, MSC chair: "The audit found evidence that patients are being billed for publicly-insured medical services which is a contravention of the Medicare Protection Act."

Dr. Day's clinics refused to provide the Commission with documentation on the clinic's corporate structure, their financial statements or records of payments made to physicians but did provide patient records and records of procedures done. From this, the Commission determined that the clinics engaged in demanding private payments from patients for medically necessary services covered and paid for under the public Canada Health Act and provided by physicians registered with the Medical Services Plan (MSP). The privately-owned Day Clinics are billing patients for medical services provided and paid for publicly. The Commission says it isn't possible to confirm double-billing (i.e. taxpayers paying for services billed to MSP and already billed to patients) without the financial records, although it was suspected this was taking place. The MSC notified the clinics they have 30 days from the receipt of the audit in July to conform to the law.

Dr. Day, an advocate of privatized health care, has stated that his clinics will not comply with the law: "We've always acknowledged that we do not and have never conformed to the laws that impugn the rights of Canadians to extricate themselves from the pain and suffering of wait lists."

Dr. Day has repeatedly stated his intent to defy and challenge the Canada Health Act and promote his private for-profit clinics. Public health care advocates are demanding governments increase funding for public health care to stop its destruction and apply and strengthen the Medicare Protection Act.

"Ten Dollar a Day" Child Care Program --
A Necessary and Viable Social Program

- Charles Boylan -

In an interview on the Vancouver Co-Op Radio show "Discussion" on June 6, Sharon Gregson outlined an important campaign being conducted throughout British Columbia to establish a "$10 a day" child care program. Gregson is a former Vancouver School Board Trustee, elected in 2005 and 2008, a single mother, and an active organizer for a BC-wide low cost child care system available to all families with young children. She did not run in the 2011 municipal election.

She explained that many people know there is a crisis in BC around child care for parents of young children who want or need access to child care services: "If you want child care in this province you are forced to pay often exorbitantly high fees, and we have fees in Vancouver now as high as $1,900 per month per child. Or you're on a waiting list for years, or you might be worried about the quality. And if you're working in child care, you're probably earning wages that are so low that you can't afford to put your child in the program that you work in. So we have a crisis."

Gregson explained that the Liberal government in power for the past 11 years, despite promises, has not come forward with a plan to deal with this crisis. Instead, two grassroots organizations have collectively created a plan based on many decades of people's practical experience in this sector. "We have put forward a community plan for a public system of integrated early care and learning or what is commonly known, especially if you're on twitter, as the '$10 a day plan.'"

Asked about the anti-social push of governments in the name of austerity, she replied, "The brilliant thing about this plan is that it is a solution to the crisis and it is also good for our economy. This is a plan that will cap parent fees at $10 a day for full-time care, $7 a day for part day care. If you are a family who earns less than $40,000 a year, there is no user fee at all. That's the major component of the plan that is very appealing to families."

Elaborating on this plan she added, "There would be a space for all families who want and need to access it, not dependent on the parents' labour force participation. For the women and men working in the child care field there would be an average wage of $25 an hour plus benefits and an opportunity for improved training and education. So those are the major tenets of the plan, a solution to the crisis."

Gregson then outlined the step by step practical politics required to realize this plan: "We need, for a start, a new piece of legislation in this province: an Early Care and Learning Act, not just an extension of the School Act. We need to think about moving child care out of the Ministry for Children and Family Development, which is primarily a child protection Ministry, and we need to move child care into the Ministry of Education."

She said it is necessary to empower local school boards with funding and a mandate to expand their role to include what we call Early Care and Learning, because care is important of course for young children: "We need to think about moving from the fragmented system of child care or daycare, preschool services that we have now, into what we are calling Early Years Centres and, of course, we need to strengthen and enhance our [child care] workforce."

Gregson reiterated that the $10 a day plan is both well thought through, and more importantly, has a very broad base of support throughout the entire province. She argued that the several components of the plan would move from where there is a crisis facing families across the province that need but are not able to access affordable child care, to a functioning affordable province-wide system.

With respect to the cost, she said, "Right now our provincial government spends just $296 million a year on child care, which is, when you look at how many children we have in our province, a minuscule amount per child."

She continued, "We have only enough child care spaces in this province for about 100,000 children and yet we know that we have up to 80 per cent of mothers with young children in the labour force and we know that we've only got enough licensed child care spaces for about one in five children, 20 per cent. Therefore, we know that 80 per cent of children are in unregulated care or don't have access to care."

"We also know the prices," she pointed out. "In Vancouver, people are paying up to $1,900 a month, and it's not uncommon in other parts of the province to see people paying $800 to $1,000 a month for child care."

She said that child care workers make about $16 an hour on average provincially. However she added, "Many women I talked to are making $13, $12 an hour, even minimum wage for looking after our children who, we often say, are our most important resource and our future." Note that in the city of Vancouver, $18 an hour is designated a "liveable wage."

She argued that BC society is not investing in young children, in their care, in the people who look after them and in their environment, certainly not investing anywhere near what we should be. "When we compare to other jurisdictions around the world, if we look at our peer nations, the other industrialized countries of the world, Canada, sadly, ranks last. We are an international embarrassment for our investment in young children and for the accessibility that young children have to services," Gregson claimed. Even with the extension to full school day kindergarten for five-year-olds, we still are not meeting the needs of young children in this province, she said. She emphasized that what is called "full day kindergarten" is not a full day. "Any working parent can tell you that 9 to 3 is a chunk of the day, not a full day, and it wouldn't be until we call 9 to 3 a full working day," she pointed out.

With respect to the cost of the program, Gregson claimed: "It is actually an economically responsible investment for the provincial government to make an early care and learning system a priority in our province. We're fortunate in some ways that other provinces have already started down this road. We are able to learn from their experiences and really put some of that learning into a made-in-BC plan." Gregson explained that the experience in Quebec is relevant because they've had a system there since the 1990s of a $7 a day child care system. She said Quebec economists can now demonstrate that the plan in effect has paid for itself. How so? She claims that in Quebec, for every dollar invested in their child care system, the government sees that money returned, with the federal government also getting a windfall. How? She explained, "The reason is that when child care is affordable and accessible for parents, they are more likely to enter the workforce and more likely to return to the workforce after they have children. Those people are working and paying income taxes. When they get their paycheque, they're spending in their local economy. So both levels of government are reaping those revenues as extra taxes from income taxes and consumption taxes." Their plan in Quebec, she added, has demonstrated it pays for itself as an increase in the GDP, being a real boost to the economy. [Despite this however, in Quebec, the plan is not actually available to a growing number of families who also now have to resort to private care at a cost of $35-45 a day per child. Depending on income levels, some families can get a maximum of a 60 per cent reimbursement. However, this does not compensate for the fact that the spaces are unregulated. -- TML Ed. Note.]

Gregson argued the $10 a day plan will have the same impact in BC. On this issue, she cited the research of Dr. Paul Kershaw at the University of British Columbia that illustrates the positive impact of an affordable, accessible child care system on the economy in BC because more parents, more mothers would be able to work.

Asked how practically such a plan could be implemented, she conceded, "Given the lack of a system presently in BC, we would not be able to implement a fully functional child care system overnight. We would have to build child care spaces. We would have to train early childhood educators; so there would have to be an implementation plan."

Gregson added, "When that plan is fully implemented, whether it's in five or ten years, it would cost $1.5 billion a year. That is not a number that we're embarrassed about in the slightest. If we look at the expenditure that we do through our public systems, in public education, kindergarten to grade 12, if we look at the priority that we put on health care, those are the kinds of public investments that we expect our taxes to be spent on."

"We argue that exactly the same kind of priority should be put on young children. We know so much now about brain development, about the importance of the early years, so that's a good investment for our tax dollars. It's good for all of us in the long run. We know that it's an upfront investment, it'll be implemented over a period of years, and it will pay for itself when it's fully implemented."

Asked about how provincial politicians respond to this plan, Gregson told Discussion, "Interestingly I was having a back and forth on twitter this afternoon (June 6) with the Minister of Children and Family Development, Mary McNeil. I pointed out that there is a lack of choice for parents in BC right now because even though the Ministry has put some maps on its website to tell parents where the child care spaces are, where they are physically located, it doesn't help parents at all if there's a waiting list for those spaces or if they actually can't afford those spaces. I pointed out to the Minister that in fact there isn't choice in BC. Yet she assured me that government places a priority on access to child care and affordability of child care, and that the government invests $296 million in child care. Unfortunately that's nowhere near enough to build a system for all the children who need it in BC."

Gregson added that at the municipal level, politicians are embracing the plan because those politicians have a greater awareness of the impact of the lack of this program for residents in their cities and towns. "We have municipalities, the two largest in BC, Surrey and Vancouver, that have endorsed the plan. We have North Cowichan, the City of North Vancouver, the District of North Vancouver, the City of New Westminster, the City of Burnaby, and the City of Williams Lake. We have municipalities who understand that this is a good investment and this will be of benefit to families and to the economies in their municipalities."

"It's actually also a benefit for business," she claimed, "because business will see savings when they have employees who are able to return to their positions after they have children and complete their maternity or parental leave. Business would not be put in the position of having to re-post and re-hire and re-train employees to replace those women, particularly those who don't come back from maternity leave not being able to afford to work because child care is so expensive. There's a savings for business that municipalities, I think, are recognizing." She added that the Surrey Board of Trade, for example, has just endorsed the plan.

Asked about the practical political expectations she had about the plan, she said confidently, "This plan will be a significant issue going into the next provincial election [May 2013]." She said all provincial politicians will be asked where they stand on this plan: "We expect that with the campaigns that we are running and that we'll ramp up over the coming months, that every politician or want-to-be politician who is running for election in May 2013, will have to be aware of the plan. If they want to be elected, they will need to commit to implementing the plan, and they will be held accountable to do that."

With respect to other organizations associated with public education, Gregson said they too were in support: "The BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) is supporting this plan, and we're very pleased that they're doing so. Part of the plan calls for early childhood educators to be working alongside teachers as professional colleagues in kindergarten and grade one. Therefore, to have the support of the BCTF is an important component for us. The support for the plan generally without exaggerating is absolutely phenomenal at this stage."

In addition to the municipalities that are supporting the plan, Gregson emphasized that it's important to note that this is not just a Metro Vancouver plan: "This is not just a great idea in Vancouver. The plan is being supported by a whole range and a cross-section of different sectors of society. To let you know, the plan is supported by folks on the Sunshine Coast, the Shuswap, Kootenay Kids Society, First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition in Cowichan Valley, Comox Valley, Campbell River, BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, BC Federation of Labour, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 247, the Health Sciences Association, Boards of Education in Burnaby, Campbell River, Kootenay Columbia, Sunshine Coast and Vancouver, Canadian Federation of University Women, Canadian Federation of Students, Neighbourhood Houses, some of those in Vancouver, Poverty Reduction Coalition, some small businesses as well as I mentioned, the Surrey Board of Trade and a substantial number of academics from the Human Early Learning Partnership at UBC, University of Victoria Child and Youth folks. I think it's fair to say that we have a wide range of support and we are interested in collaborating with others to share the plan with them and have them add their voice to the push here."

Toward the end of the conversation, Gregson emphasized that child care services cost more in many cases than a post secondary education. "Therefore," she added, "many young parents are racking up their credit cards, getting loans etc. Not only are they paying off their own student loans; they're now getting loans to pay for their child care services." She said many families don't have a second or third child because they know they can't afford the child care costs. "This explains why we've got a lot of support for this $10 a day daycare plan."

"We've got a lot of energy behind this plan. We've got a lot of momentum. We've got two campaigns that are underway right now. Our partners, the Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC), are ready to make this push with us. I think that British Columbians can expect they will be hearing a lot about this plan in the lead up to the provincial election."

Gregson was asked how political support for the campaign has been organized. She replied, "In a nutshell I think we would attribute our success to woman power. Two grassroots organizations, ECEBC and the Coalition of Childcare Advocates of BC, both who've been around for over 30 years, recognizing that government was not dealing with the crisis, knowing first hand on the ground the agonizing stories of families, of caregivers, and knowing that nothing was going to change, collectively decided to be helpful and put forward a plan that others could get behind. We did consultation across the province in 2010, hearing voices and feedback, fine-tuning the plan and releasing the final version in April of 2011. The momentum has been building ever since."

Gregson concluded the interview noting: "A few of us who have been invited to speak around the province have had great support from the BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU), from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and from others in different municipalities." She said many people and organizations have been supportive providing assistance getting the plan popularized in different BC communities: "I'm speaking in Qualicum tomorrow (June 7). Then I'm speaking in Golden and Cranbrook next week. I just got back from Vernon and Kelowna. My colleague, Emily Malechko from ECEBC just got back from a tour of northern BC and so everywhere we go we are promoting the plan, and it's a ripple effect. As people hear that there's a solution to the crisis, they're on board. They're ready to promote it, ready to support it and we're looking for everyone to do that."

She urged everyone to go to their website: http://www.cccabc.bc.ca/plan/. "As an individual you can endorse the plan on line," she said. "If you're part of an organization or a business, you can send us an email of support, and we'll add that to our website. We're looking for support and help to share the plan even more widely. If anyone would like hard copies of the plan to share in their organizations, if they want some of our fact sheets or they're interested in our post card campaign, slip us an email and we'll happily send it out to you, so that you can be one of our $10 a day child care plan activists."

(To hear the original interview go to http://coopradio.org/station/archives/35 June 6, 2012 edition. Photos: CCCABC)

Coming Events

Vancouver Rally to Strengthen Community
Social Services, September 13

BC's Community Social Services workers are demanding the provincial government "Stop putting the squeeze on Community Social Services and the workers who provide them!" Everyone should come out to the September 13 rally at 11:00 am at the Vancouver Art Gallery to support these workers who provide the social services necessary for a modern society, which are especially crucial during times of economic hardship.

In their call for the rally, the social services workers write:

"Since coming to power in 2001, the BC Liberal government has launched an unrelenting assault on community social services, the workers who provide them, and the people who rely on them most.

"By taking millions out of the sector they have stretched resources to the breaking point. By cutting programs and closing group homes they have allowed wait lists to grow at an alarming rate, further victimizing society's most vulnerable.

"How has all this affected community social services workers?

"• Since 2004, community social services workers have given up more than $300 million, money that has not been restored;

• CSS workers are the lowest paid in the entire public sector, with many forced to take a second or third job just to make ends meet;

• In most classifications, the starting wages have actually been reduced. For a residential care worker in 2002, the starting wage was $16.83; now it's $15.54;

• Under the government's so-called 'cooperative gains' bargaining mandate, community social services workers are expected to fund any wage increase by finding 'cost savings' elsewhere in their contracts."

"Enough is enough. It's time to put badly-needed resources back into the services we all rely on in times of need, especially our most vulnerable community members.

"Show your support for community social services, the workers who provide them and the people who rely on them most, by attending the rally."

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