Delegates to the 53rd Convention of the B.C. Federation of Labour will gather on Nov. 23 in Vancouver, on the theme of "Confronting the Crisis: An Economy that Really Works for B.C." The Communist Party of British Columbia sends its warm and militant greetings to the delegates, and our best wishes for your successful deliberations.

     Workers in this province are sharp attack, as are our sisters and brothers across Canada and around the world. Using the economic crisis of the capitalist system as their justification, the bosses and right-wing governments everywhere are pressing to eliminate the hard-won gains of decades of working class struggles. Collective agreements are being shredded, wages rolled back, pension plans ripped off, social programs gutted at the stroke of a pen. Unemployment in the OECD countries will hit 60 million next year, and tens of millions more face the bleak prospect of survival on reduced hours and wages. Meanwhile, the profits of the biggest corporations are rebounding, and the outrageous gap between the rich and poor is growing even wider. In short, despite wide recognition that the neoliberal policies of capitalist employers and governments were a key factor in making the current crisis much worse, the only "remedy" offered by the ruling class is more of the same.

     Here in British Columbia, the right-wing assault has similar features. Unemployment is now officially at 8.3%, and in reality much higher. Over 52,000 jobs have been wiped out in the last year. Wages are falling even further behind the high cost of living, and British Columbia now has the lowest minimum wage in Canada. Thousands of homeless people face a hard winter on the streets of our cities and towns, while the rich prepare an orgy of celebrations (and restrictions on civil liberties) after spending at least $6 billion to host the Olympics.

     For the organized working class, 2010 will not be remembered for the so-called "Olympic legacy," but as the year of the next all-out Campbell Liberal attack on the public sector. The "back-to-work" legislation against the Ambulance Paramedics signals the government's intention to impose a wage freeze and to roll back working conditions, pensions and other benefits for some 200,000 public sector workers who are about to enter negotiations. The Liberals are fast-tracking their plans to privatise and contract out public services, and to slash spending on education, health care, and social programs.

     The response of labour must be to build a powerful, united fightback. Only unity of the entire trade union movement can block the impending attack on the public sector workers, and only united action by labour with its allies - the movements of indigenous peoples, social justice groups, women, students, seniors, environmentalists, anti-war groups - can stop the neoliberal attack in its tracks. We urge delegates to the BC Federation of Labour to craft a fightback program to build such unity, and to mobilize all working people around a wide range of tactics and strategies, up to and including job actions against the Liberal agenda.

     We also urge delegates to consider what is truly needed to create "an economy that works for B.C." There are no common interests between the bosses and working people. An economy that works for us must be based on public ownership of the resource sector and the banks. It must put people's needs ahead of corporate greed: rolling back the huge tax breaks given by the Campbell Liberals to the wealthy and the corporations, an emergency program to build social housing, a minimum wage of $16/hour, a massive expansion of low-cost public transit instead of more freeways, a dramatic increase in spending on public education and health care, and so on.

     With such strategies, the 53rd Convention of the BC Fed can be a turning point in the fightback. The Communist Party of BC will do everthing in our power to help build this struggle!