Opposition to Stepped Up Attacks on Workers' Rights and Social Programs
Ontario health care workers participate in May Day 2022 march in
Toronto
Looking at the experience of the workers' movement since last May Day, it is clear that attacks on the right to health care, education and social programs are being stepped up across the country. In the wake of anti-social legislation passed in Ontario to impose limitations on education workers, the government in Quebec has tabled a health care bill containing more than 1,000 articles which seriously restructure the health care system. It says this bill is aimed at putting the "top guns" of the private sector in charge of the management of the health care system and it reduces 130 bargaining units of health care unions to four through amalgamation.
Every effort of governments is directed at eliminating the voice and demands of the workers who actually know what is required to solve the health care crisis. Meanwhile, the changes which put management into private hands do nothing to create a modern system based on the highest achievements of science and technology which are considerable. Doing so would greatly favour the diagnosis and treatment of people's conditions by helping doctors, nurses and health care workers carry out their duties in a socially conscious way. Instead, by putting the private health care monopolies and their narrow interests in a position to decide directly what happens on a day to day basis, governments are forcing doctors and nurses and health care workers to constantly pinch-hits in not just emergency situations but on a day-to-day basis to give care to patients who are suffering. The aim of the restructuring is highly suspect and this is the heart of the matter.
The serious problems of the health care system coming out of the pandemic, such as the staffing crisis, arise from years of the anti-social offensive, underfunding and restructuring of the state in the name of flexibility, efficiency and accountability. Governments are in the hands of consulting firms which advise and supervise, and even manage how the private monopolies can profit from all aspects of the health care system. They are not addressing the broad problems that the people and especially health care workers and their organizations have identified and this is not their intention.
Across the country, in the midst of negotiations following the pandemic, governments are putting in place laws that deem public sector and public service workers essential so as to eliminate their right to strike. The New Brunswick government passed legislation in December 2022 to permit the deployment of replacement workers (scabs) from outside workers' bargaining units whenever the government decides, such as in the event of a strike.
Governments have reverted to operating with impunity by removing limitations on their power which have thus far been part of the rule of law established over time. They are permitting ministers to act on the basis of prerogative powers commanded by narrow private interests. The Ontario Ford government's use of the constitution's notwithstanding clause to eliminate limitations on its actions is but one example of many across the country. Restructuring of the state aims to eliminate any limits on what narrow private interests represented by governments can do in their drive for maximum profit at the expense of the people, society and Mother Earth.
An example of removing the limits is that companies are permitted to self-regulate, as in the case of the railways, agribusiness, construction, outsourcing of mining and industrial jobs and every other sector of the economy, including health care, education, the public service and even military operations. There is no concern about the consequences for workers' health and safety or accidents which are bound to occur, let alone the destruction of the social fabric.
Mass picket of striking federal public service workers in the
National Capital Region, April 19, 2023.
In transportation, rail tragedies have become a common occurrence throughout North America as governments act in the name of the rail monopolies. In Canada, the government permits CN, CP and other private railways to self-regulate causing tragedies such as at Lac Mégantic, in Quebec and Field, BC, as well as in the Prairies and industrial heartlands. In the U.S., in the midst of negotiations, the Biden administration imposed a contract on the unions which rejected the demands of rail workers by decree. This was done despite the tragedies taking place that the whole world can see due to the self-regulation and dictate of the private railways and transport companies.
In education, the emergency funding put in place in a number of provinces during the pandemic is now being cut back in the midst of negotiations with education workers for new contracts. The cutbacks in funding are occurring even though conditions are deteriorating and a serious staffing crisis plagues the education system nationwide, made worse by years without proper investments. This is also the case in the health care sector.
Companies are following suit by refusing to negotiate with their workers and using labour law to break unions that refuse to submit to their dictate. Instead of recognizing what the pandemic showed -- that workers are the producers of all wealth and must be respected -- companies are declaring that no discussion or negotiations of wages, working conditions, and health and safety will be tolerated. There will be only company and government dictate and rule by decree. Companies make these declarations in the name of flexibility and to gain investment and public handouts for a "green economy." Government and company flexibility for those in control means contracting out at will, and no security, say or affirmation of rights for the working class -- the very ones who produce what the people and society need for their existence.
Gig and temporary workers are abused mercilessly. More and more, new immigrants and international students are being used by companies as a source of cheap labour along with migrant labour. In some cases, they are used to replace workers on strike. Many answer job placement ads not knowing they are being recruited as scabs. These unsuspecting workers become a focus of abuse, often accused of being scabs when they themselves do not know what is going on. In fact, the companies and governments organize a system of human trafficking and should be held to account for profiteering while undermining the unity and cohesion of the working class.
This too is a new reality. It must be taken into account by the workers' movement which takes responsibility for the conditions that exist and how to bring them under control by activating the human factor/social consciousness. All is being done by those who own the means of production and distribution to disorient workers and prevent them from finding their bearings and uniting in action to be effective and achieve their demands.
Across the country, forces fighting for social justice are also opposing governments that super exploit workers from other countries as a source of cheap labour to serve the monopolies. Those new workers are denied the rights which belong to them not by virtue of a law which might or might not list them but by virtue of being human. Other newcomers are refugees fleeing the destruction of their homelands by U.S. imperialist wars of aggression and economic warfare of various kinds, which Canada supports. They likewise are denied their rights and humanity.
Governments talk about having an orderly system of migrant workers applying for permanent status to cover up the corruption inherent in the system. Recruiters of migrants and governments are both human traffickers, routinely violating any responsibility for refugees under well-established international conventions. The recruiters profit from the situation while governments accept only those refugees that suit their purposes, leaving others to be mistreated in camps and jails and eventually deported.
In the coming year, the fights in defence of the rights of all are bound to increase in scope and intensity.
Our Future Lies in Defence of the Rights of
All!
All Out to Uphold the Dignity of Labour!
This article was published in
Number 24 - May 1, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10243.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca