(The following article is from the March 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Commentary by People's Voice editor Kimball Cariou

Two different themes emerged from a recent labour gathering in Ottawa - a welcome call for a mass mobilization to campaign for people's needs, but also an appeal for a "summit" involving business, labour, and government.

     The February meeting convened by the Canadian Labour Congress brought together leaders of 54 trade unions, along with presidents of provincial and territorial federations of labour. In total, the unions represent 3.2 million members, although not sections of the Quebec labour movement which are not affiliated to the CLC.

     A statement following the meeting said that "Canada's labour leaders have given a resounding thumbs-down to the economic stimulus package presented in the federal budget. While it may address some of the difficult circumstances that working families face, they say it is fundamentally flawed and fails to address the problems faced by the hundreds of thousands of people who are losing their jobs."

     The union leaders pledged to provide the resources necessary to wage a campaign for change, "one that would mobilize Canadians to demand that the federal government do more for the victims of the recession while continuing to provide the economic stimulus that's needed to save jobs while building the infrastructure we need to remain prosperous."

     "We can do better for the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have and who will lose their jobs because of what has happened to our economy. They did not cause the economic crisis that has robbed them of their livelihoods. Neither did the thousands who have seen their life savings and their dreams for a comfortable retirement taken away because of the rampant greed that right-wing governments unleashed and let run wild in the financial markets. We can do more for them. We must do more for them," said CLC President Ken Georgetti, who chaired the meeting.

     Aiming to "amplify the voices of the innocent victims of this crisis until our governments hear them," the campaign will include mass rallies and demonstrations, as well as an education and advocacy campaign "to give people an outlet for their anger and frustration."

     "There's anger out there and tremendous frustration," said Georgetti. "It is an anger that needs to be given a voice and a face for the government to really see them, so it can understand that it is not doing enough and needs to change its program. It is also an anger that needs to be focussed on finding solutions so the mistakes and flawed politics that lead to this crisis are not repeated again."

     But at the same time, the labour leaders called for a "National Summit of labour, business and community leaders to discuss those solutions to the economic crisis facing workers and their families."

     "We need an economy that values a healthy private sector and a vibrant public sector working together for the benefit of all," said Georgetti.

     The Congress is calling for improved access and an increase in Employment Insurance benefits, and more training and adjustment programs to laid-off workers. Another key part of the CLC plan is major public investment in infrastructure, manufacturing and public services, a Made-in-Canada procurement policy, and government contracts to promote a strong public sector, unionization and inclusion of women and workers of colour in good jobs. The Labour Congress urges "sector renewal strategies designed to save jobs and promote successful restructuring in hard-hit industries such as auto and forest products," as well as strategies to support cultural industries, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Not least, it calls for maintaining equalization and other transfers to provinces and cities for public infrastructure, public services and social programs.

     However, it remains to be seen exactly what form the CLC-led campaign will take. The policies advocated by the Labour Congress would take Canada in a very different and positive direction, in sharp contrast to the Harper Tory budget. But the "National Summit" can only be seen as a revival of the old "tripartism" concept, leaving labour and its allies outgunned around the table by the big corporations and one of the most right-wing federal governments in the capitalist world, the very forces whose neoliberal policies helped pave the way for the economic crisis.

     If the CLC chooses to focus on such a "Summit", efforts to mobilize working people for different policies would inevitably suffer. On the other hand, if the Summit proposal turns out to be a sideshow, a labour-led mass campaign may well be in the cards.

     One way to help turn events in this direction is to keep the heat on at the grassroots level, building stronger local demonstrations and fightback alliances. Two of the largest people's coalitions to emerge during the 1980s - the Action Canada Network and the Canadian Peace Alliance - both grew out of such local efforts, building to the point where the CLC and other cross-Canada organizations were drawn into the struggle.

     But the fight for pro-working class policies will be at the heart of this process. We don't need "solutions that help everybody," if that means prioritizing the profits of corporate shareholders. Now more than ever, we need solutions that include public ownership of key industries and resources; anything less leaves the economy in the hands of corporations, at the expense of Canadian sovereignty and working class needs. No "business-labour Summit" will ever agree to such an approach - let's not waste time going down that dead end road.