Show of strength aimed at awakening unions as much as bringing settlement to strike
A mass rally in support of locked out steelworkers in Hamilton has given organized labour the shake-up it needs in Ontario, according to Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
An estimated 10,000 union members from across Ontario, and a bus load from Quebec, converged on the city in late January over the U.S. Steel pension dispute. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker locked out 900 workers last November after slowing down production to a near standstill.
At the heart of the dispute is the company’s desire to de-index pension benefits for 9,000 retirees and eliminate them altogether for new hires.
Thomas said the Stelco Day of Action was aimed at forcing the federal government “make U.S. Steel live up to its obligations” to keep jobs in Hamilton. But he said the rally was about much more than the tensions in southwestern Ontario.
“There’s a growing unrest among workers generally — union and non-union,” he said. “People have been treated badly during the recent recession and there’s anger over that.”
Rolf Gerstenberger, president of United Steelworkers Local 1005, said the rally, dubbed “The People vs. U.S. Steel,” was specific in its intent.
“It’s a symbol of these corporations coming to Canada and trying to close companies and take away benefits. It reflects U.S. Steel and the others ‘nation-wrecking.’”
The idea for the rally was sparked by the resolution of the bitter year-long strike by about 3,000 workers at the Vale nickel mine in Sudbury. Union leaders wanted to “do something nice” in support of the locked out Steelworkers in Hamilton, and at the same time flex some muscle.
“There are people who say the labour movement is losing influence,” he said. “But really, in Ontario, we’ve had a time of labour peace with the Liberals, compared to what it was with (Tory) Mike Harris.”
That honeymoon is over, said Thomas, and unions have been “reawakened” with the Hamilton rally providing a catalyst for unions to make a shift in strategy.
“The world has changed and we have to be more sophisticated,” he said. “There have been so many forces out of our control in recent years, we’re just catching up with that change.”
Some criticism has been leveled at Thomas, the OFL’s Sid Ryan and other union leaders for not being as loud or vociferous as they once were. Thomas said unions are using different tactics today than they once did.
“There’s no point in going out and yelling and screaming if you don’t have an alternative,” he said. “I believe in ‘process’ instead where unions, companies and governments work together.”
Still, he said labour needs to do a “better job of messaging” to reach the wider public, which could include engaging more in new media.
The OFL recently hired social media experts to expand its reach using Twitter, Facebook and other media. Ryan says social media made it possible to orchestrate the Hamilton rally — and unions won’t be shy to use it again. There’s already talk of another mass protest in the midst of the upcoming provincial election campaign or a federal campaign if an election is called this spring.
“We’ve seen that we can turn pensions into an election issue,” he said. “I keep hearing the same refrain, ‘We can’t let it die in Hamilton.’”
Ryan said the labour movement has spent too much time “in our own silos” and recent developments, such as the CAW returning to the OFL umbrella and the Day of Action rally, have demonstrated unions are ready to move away from fractious fighting.
“It means we’re back,” he said. “We haven’t mobilized that way in many, many years. We’ve proven that labour can get itself organized around an issue.”
