The Problem with Civil Obedience

We are in the midst of an epidemic. Governments at all levels seem to have caught the "back to work order" flu. Some have also picked up a case of "essential worker"-itis. All summer long, it seemed a week could not go by without some workers somewhere being stripped of their rights.

In B.C. striking transit workers, nurses and health science professionals all had their strikes ended by legislation, and their agreements determined by cabinet. In Nova Scotia, nurses got the same treatment. Same thing in New Brunswick against striking nursing home workers – legislation to end the strike and impose a settlement.

Then in August, the Liberal regime in B.C. introduced new labour legislation, tossing out automatic certifications, banning sector wide bargaining in construction, and deeming teachers as essential workers – effectively taking away their right to strike.

Here in Alberta, the Tories are poised to expand their "essential services" net to include possibly the biggest catch of public sector workers in the country.

And let us not forget nurses in Quebec and Saskatchewan last year and CUPW a couple of years ago. Different workers, same tactic. Legislate them back and force a contract.

The sight of a cabinet minister standing up in the legislature to proudly steal away workers rights in the name of the so-called "public interest" has become disturbingly common. The quickest and proudest of them all seem to be Tory and Liberal governments across the nation.

The disease is spreading. And radical action is needed to inject a cure.

We’ve tried challenging them in the courts, but we lost. We have tried rallies and protests, but they ignore them. Electing New Democrats helps, but that alone is not enough.

The best way to eradicate this epidemic is to ignore it. Completely. And by ignore it, I mean we act as if the legislation was never passed. Go on strike and stay on strike until a REAL agreement is negotiated.

If unionists respond to back to work legislation by saying "we don’t care", the tactic will quickly cease to be used.

Our problem is that we have been too concerned about not breaking the law. Fair enough, but it is not working. As long as they know they can end our strike by passing a bill in parliament, they are going to do it.

The problem with civil obedience is that it is letting the employer win.

We need to start sending the message that we don’t care about fines, we don’t care about jail terms for union leaders, we don’t care about a piece of paper passed by a government not operating in our interests. They need to know our fight is about rights.

Throughout history, we have learned time and time again the only way to defend a right is to fight for it.

I predict if in the next round of public sector strikes the unions refuse to go back to work until there is fair settlement, we will have seen the end of back to work legislation.

If we don’t, the disease will spread, taking out more and more rights.

It won’t be easy. Members will be nervous about the repercussions. The fines might get huge. But they can’t put 10,000 or 100,000 workers in jail.

And if we stand together, eventually governments will have to negotiate with us. For real. And we will have eradicated the beast of back to work.

The best medicine for a nasty disease.