By GEORGE HEWISON

he rising tide of protest against the

Socred budget is generating mass

action unprecedented in this pro-
vince’s recent political history. The Socred
attack was premised on the calculation that
the labor movement was weak and divided
following the election and that a
“‘blitzkrieg”’ of right wing legislation would
not be answered with sufficient force or
timeliness. What a miscalculation! Picket
lines, occupations, information meetings,
giant rallies and grass roots coalitions have
swept the province in only two weeks.

The protest march and rally of 35,000 in
Vancouver July 23 was organized in one
week. On Wednesday, July 27, Victoria was
virtually protest bound. On Aug. 3 some 200
labor and community groups responded to
the call of the B.C. Federation of Labor to
form a broad and powerful coalition against
the budget. A follow up action in the Lower
Mainland, larger and more militant than
July 23, is planned for Aug. 10.

The unleashing of this kind of people’s
movement can’t but have far reaching con-
sequences for labor relations and politics in
B.C. This is the real reason that the
editorialists in the daily newspapers and the
Employers Council are calling on the
Socreds to retreat-and defuse the opposition.
The government may indeed begin to
manoeuvre to split the opposition, although
it has not shown any sign so far it is prepared
to make any concessions. On the contrary,
the government is’ escalating its program,
and the expected attack on private sector
workers now appears imminent. . :

The key ingredient in the growing opposi-

_ tion is the leadership role of the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labor. The federation has taken a
welcome about-turn from subservience to
the electoral policy of the NDP to a policy
of mass struggle, involving broad sections of
the community with labor at the base and in
the lead. Unfortunately there are still some
on the left who have not grasped the new
situation. The strategy which lost the last
election stands exposed for the failure that it
was; but there is a new strategy which re-
quires the support of the whole labor move-
ment, especially the left.

The B.C. Fed program begins at the right
point of departure: labor unity. Operation
Solidarity, to be formally constituted at a
delegated conference July 28, will bring
together all unions in B.C. into asingle force
for the first time. The jurisdictional and
other disputes that separated the Building
Trades from the CLC, or the HEU from
CUPE, have been set aside for the moment.
After some discussion the Confederation of
Canadian Unions has also now agreed to a
temporary pact with the B.C. Fed that will
allow the CCU to enter Operation Solidari-
ty.

While the B.C. Fed and Operation
Solidarity reach out to human rights groups,
religious faiths, consumers, women’s
organizations, tenants, students, and com-
munity groups of all kinds, regional Opera-
tion Solidarity committees based on labor
councils will endeavor to bring together
broadly-based regional coalitions. The pro-
gram of Operation Solidarity is aimed at
mobilizing a substantial majority of British
Columbians, provincially and regionally, in-
to a political force that will leave the Socreds
isolated, as labor has been so often in the
past.

The Lower Mainland Budget Coalition
was the first regional coalition to form. The
call to coalition, in fact, went out from the
unemployment committee of the Vancouver
and District Labor Council two days before
“Black Thursday’ when the budget was
dropped. More than 100 organizations have
joined the coalition and’ after an uneasy
beginning have settled into a cooperative

_ style of work that emphasizes unity in action
and respect for the concerns of each consti-
tuency in the coalition. At its last meeting the
Budget Coalition voted unanimously to en-
dorse Operation Solidarity and to coor-
dinate major actions with it.

All of the social and political forces being

NiddIHD NV3S — OLOHd JNNGINL

LABOR

Protest changing political history

——

HEWISON:
as the movement
_ against the
- budget grows,
timing,
tactics and
unity are
critical.

drawn together are learning new lessons
almost daily. Some community organiza-
tions enter the coalition distrustful of the
trade union movement and its procedures.
On the other hand a lot of trade unionists in-
cluding myself have little experience working
with other groups such as the women’s
movement or the student movement. The
main consensus that is emerging, however,
will ultimately be of critical importance.

The goal of the move-
ment is clear: withdrawal
of the budget and the
undemocratic, anti-
people legislation that
goes with it.

Trade unionists have learned that the work-
ing class needs allies in order to isolate the
main enemy and tip the balance of forces in

its favor. Other groups have learned first ©

hand that the organized working class is the
only social force capable of providing the
organizational basis for an effective mass
movement.

It is an indication of the political maturity
of the groups entering the coalition that red-
baiting was overwhelmingly rejected im-
mediately after raising its divisive head, as it
inevitably does. es

A far more contentious issue has been the
role of the NDP in the mass movement.
There are some, mainly NDP members
themselves, who believe the active participa-
tion of the NDP will narrow down the coali-
tion. Understandably, some New
Democrats including elected officials, take
exception to that and want to associate

’ publicly with the mass movement. Another

group, the old line right wing of the NDP,
still believe that the NDP is itself the coali-
tion and it fears and distrusts any new
developing political force which it does not
dominate.

Certainly the NDP nor any other political

party should be allowed to dominate the
coalition or to give it a partisan character.
But a mass movement in B.C. capable of
mobilizing hundreds of thousdands of peo-
ple must include the political party that
received 45 percent of the vote in the last elec-
tion and which is the entire legislative op-
position. Not only the NDP, but other op-
position parties like the Communist Party
and the Green Party, should be included in
the coalition according to their commitment
to the program of the coalition.

As the mass movement against the budget
grows and the pressure on the government

‘escalates, each new initiative must be plann-

ed according to the success of the last one,
the tactics of the opposition and the balance
of forces existing at that time. The course of
the struggle can’t be blueprinted
mechanically in advance. To attempt to do
so, without reference to the objective and
subjective situation faced by the coalition
partners, is romantic leftism.

It is in this context that the demand for an
immediate general strike, or at a fixed date
some weeks from now, must be assessed. A
general strike is a real possibility and the
president of the BC Fed has pledged to give
the required leadership should that tactic
develop. However there are several con-
siderations that are basic to the timing of a
possible general strike. First the working
class cannot afford to be isolated from the
mass movement as a whole, and a general
strike call must be a popular call backed by
broad sections of the community. This

ground is now being prepared by Operation

Solidarity in building broad based coalitions |
against the budget. Second, a precipitalé
general strike call would pre-empt the,
possibility that rising mass pressure could |
force the government to retreat without 4
general strike. Finally, a general strike hast |
be seen in terms of an escalating strategy;
and a movement which undertakes such 4! |
action should be prepared to go further, if
necessary, it its demands are not won. t
some view a general strike as an ultimate a® |
tion, I viewit asa tactic. The ultimate actioly |
in my view, is the taking of political power bY |
working people. oa
Timing and a realistic political assessment! |
also apply to the demand that. the govel |
ment should resign now and call an election:
This too is an objective which may be poss
ble. But when the people call for the govel™ |
ment to resign, it should be a forceful amt
popular demand which they can make stich
If it is not, it is a tactic that would -deny thé
process of struggle required to fight 4!
piece of legislation and to build the coh
sciousness of-people. wat
Developing the correct strategy and tact
is a science, and proposed actions or descr’
tions of the government cannot be judged ot
the basis of the rhetoricor emotion that ma) |
accompany them. For example, some
spokespersons for the labor movement have
already declared that the Socred governmel|
is fascist. To say that human rights are
violated in B.C. is a correct statement, bu!
fascism means that the ruling circles of @
capitalist society have eliminated all politi
democracy and resorted to brutal rule bY)
force. This is not the situation in B.C. todays
and to loosely describe the government
fascist does not assist the movement agall>”
it. This too denies the freedom we do have o| |
protest and build a mass popular movement
that can force the government to back dow!
Of course it is important to see thé
authoritarian and racist trends in the Socred :
government, but fighting this government i§
not the same as fighting fascism. -
Before the eventualities of a general striké
or anew election are on the immediate age™
da there will likely be considerable)
manoeuvering by the Socreds and tht
economic and political masters, both with
the carrot and the stick. The danger is
some may be appeased and that labor ma)
lose active support from some quarters
limited- concessions are achieved. f
positive factor is widespread awareness 0
this danger. When Art Kube told the B dget
Coalition that the crucial condition of #
coalition is that all of the members re
united until each members’ goals are reaclr
ed, his comments were met with loud 4”
plause. :
The goal of the movement is clea”
withdrawal of the budget and
undemocratic, anti-people legislation. 4”.
achievement of this goal may involve for
the government to a new election, but itm).
be won short of that. To ascribe to the coal
tion any other objectives would only 40!
harm. However the very process of uni?
labor with its natural allies in mass politica!
action will have an impact on the futv!’)
development of politics in this province. The 4
movement which is emerging now can show |
in life the road forward to a genuine people®
government. -
George Hewison is chairman of the Bh
couver and District Labor Counell
unemployed committee and the Lowe
Mainland Budget Coalition and is preside :
of Tribune Publishing. i

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