In this article, I wish to comment on and support union efforts to build solidarity with our sisters and brothers in other countries. Why is such work important to us? We all have a responsibility to look out for one another, a basic socialist and trade union principle. Without such action, how can members of unions and the working class ever hope to make progress to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities?
Important Examples of International Solidarity:
A few years ago, OPSEU sent 2 OPSEU members to Guatemala as part of a solidarity mission of Canadian trade unionists. Why? To show that their struggle is our struggle. Members of the Mayan community for years have suffered from violence, as the people there tried to protect their communities against the operations of international corporations and the negligence of their governments, that frequently worked hand in glove with these large foreign entities. As far back as the 1950s, companies such as the United Fruit Company, a large American multinational, exploited the Guatemalan people. More recently, Canadian mining corporations, such as Hudbay Minerals, have been operating in Guatemala, producing negative consequences that affect Mayan communities (see the report, Amnesty International: Mining in Guatemala: Rights at Risk). By supporting workers and communities there, we hope to help them overcome exploitation. At the same time, our physical presence shows what solidarity means.
Back in the 1970s, the Canadian Auto Workers (now Unifor) and the Steelworkers were instrumental in starting successful boycott activities and demonstrations in support of Caesar Chavez. Chavez, with help from Canadian trade unionists, organized thousands of California workers into the United Farmworkers Union, winning improved working conditions for workers and their families. This success spread to many other locations in the United States. Farm workers were affected by pesticides used in that industry, a problem that persists today. The short 1992 film, No Grapes, captures the stories of many farm workers in rural California towns affected by respiratory and other diseases due to pesticides.
During the Katrina disaster, the CAW/UNIFOR organization encouraged and supported union members to go to New Orleans to help in the reconstruction efforts. This union also provided financial resources to pay for the rental of temporary housing for the affected people.
Local 27 of the Carpenters Union and the Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship Council have provided financial resources to purchase educational and school supplies to support schools in the Province of Holguin, Cuba. These funds were matched by our OPSEU Local 562 regularly when I and other educators visited Cuba. The NewsBreak article, Cuba Continues Its Fight to Control Its Own Destiny, provided our members with insights into the daily challenges that Cuban workers face. Our Local 562 also provided financial assistance to Cuba when it was affected by hurricanes.
Decades ago, The Humanity Fund of the Communications Workers, through Gary Cwitco (now retired staff representative) provided materials and humanitarian assistance to free trade unions in Mexico to assist in their organizing efforts in the free trade zones along the border between Mexico and the United States. This help allowed workers to effectively fight the actions of government and employer-controlled “unions”, that in reality, represented employer interests. Workers in these zones continue to be exploited by low wages and dangerous working conditions, where the pressures of just-in-time production methods cause numerous workplace accidents and deaths of workers.
The Canadian Auto Workers (now called UNIFOR), with the help of Ken Luckhart (now retired), and in cooperation with Oriente Universidad in the Province of Santiago de Cuba, provided substantial financial resources to support the development of a computer network to connect three pediatric hospitals in the city of Santiago de Cuba. Unions in South Africa and Spain also contributed financial aid to this initiative, and collectively, these unions helped to build this unique communications network supporting the three hospitals.
OPSEU members in Canada also played an important role in support of the fight against apartheid in South Africa. OPSEU members joined with members of many other unions, including the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Ontario Federation of Labour, as well as the Canadian Congress of Labour, as part of an international labour movement that successfully mobilized against and helped to defeat apartheid. The widespread anti-apartheid actions of the labour movement contributed to the liberation of Nelson Mandela from his unjust imprisonment, and he eventually became South Africa’s first democratically elected President.
Free collective bargaining in Canada, based on member interests, allows workers to gain increased power in our work lives and on community concerns as well. Free collective bargaining allows us to effectively fight against employer and government interests that affect all Canadians. At the same time, our institutions of independent, free trade unions allow us to step up to help workers elsewhere. This article has attempted to show only a few examples of how we help workers in other countries. This record of solidarity is something that we all should be proud of, and it should encourage us to continue, as well as expand such efforts.
Joe Grogan/Retired member of OPSEU, 1969 to present, retired member of Local 562/BOLTON