CLC develops process to deal with complaints of disaffected union members
In a sign of the times for trade unions in Canada, organized labour leaders have agreed on a new protocol to deal with the contentious issue of raiding.
CAW president, Ken Lewenza, said the executive council of the Canadian Labour Congress has developed a “respectful” process to handle complaints of “predatory” raiding — instances where outside unions launch a major campaign to win over unhappy workers.
“That’s not appropriate in today’s times,” he said. “Union density is in decline and that’s a threat to the stability of organized labour. We should be using our resources to organize the unorganized rather than kicking the hell out of each other.”
Under the new process, a union receiving overtures from disenchanted workers elsewhere would have to notify the affected union and the CLC. The affected union would be given an opportunity to remedy the situation, said Lewenza.
If the problems remained, the CLC would investigate. If it found justification for change, the congress would hold a vote among workers, he added. An example would be if workers were unhappy because multiple grievances had not been resolved or expedited, not because they’re dissatisfied with the most recent contract.
“If there was significant dissent, it would come down to a vote. But we would try to find a way to resolve the problem before that desperation,” said Lewenza. “Most of the time dissent stems from a lack of service. Sometimes it’s isolation. Others feel some unions are not progressive enough.
“Sometimes you get into tough issues in negotiations. Sometimes the expectations are high and that can lead to dissent, but that’s not justification.”
Lewenza said union leaderships have not necessarily neglected members in the past, but they do need to pay more attention to members’ needs in the future.
“We shouldn’t just think that because people belong to a union we’ll have them for life,” he said.
The CLC represents more than three million members, yet Lewenza said less than one per cent of its membership has been “transitioned” to other unions. The concern is that raiding allegations take time and resources to fix — and they leave deep wounds.
“If a union feels they’ve been raided and raided unfairly, those wounds stay on forever,” he said.
Yet, Lewenza stands by comments last fall that “a little competition is healthy.”
“It’s important. It keeps us all on our toes,” he said.
Key to the protocol was the participation of the National Union of Public and General Employees. Lewenza said too much has been made of NUPGE’s withdrawal from the CLC last fall over the issue of raiding. The union never formally left the congress, he said, though it stopped participating. In November, NUPGE president James Clancy called it an expulsion.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation,” he said. “That never did happen. They did not disaffiliate.”
Lewenza said NUPGE played a “key role” in crafting the protocol, which will need final approval at the CLC’s national convention in May.
Raiding was one of the reasons the CAW rejoined the Ontario Federation of Labour last year after a decade long absence. At the time, Lewenza said he wanted to see the issue dealt with once and for all.
“These are not normal times,” he said. “We need to work together. Employers are over-zealous. You just have to look at the situation in Wisconsin where the public sector is under attack. This is not a good environment.”
He said there is a new focus on building union membership overall, rather than simply fighting for what they have.
“There’s always been a concern that raiding is harmful but it didn’t get the attention it deserved,” he said. “Now we’ve made a commitment.”
