Letter to the Editor of the Victoria Times Colonist, 9 January 1999
I disagree completely with the anti-union sentiment expressed in Liberal MLA Ida Chong’s “Ferry strikes cause unnecessary chaos” (Letters, Jan. 6). As a voter and a historian in your riding, I feel it is necessary to inform you of several basic facts:
Trade unionism is the backbone of our society. Despite the “free market” propaganda of your party and its politicians, society is run by working people: the people who teach our young, heal our sick, grow our food, build our houses and roads, make our cars, show our movies, and run our ferries.
All these people are organized into unions. They share the same basic right to earn a decent living for a decent day’s work. When this right is threatened, workers collectively withdraw their labour until their voice is heard. They strike. To deny workers the right to strike is to threaten the very basis of our democratic society.
Unions won us the weekend. And Medicare. And social security. And the education system we have today. In the face of current “free market” attacks on these institutions, unions are fighting to save them. Unions also fight against racism, for peace, and to improve the lives of the poor.
British Columbia and its people would be a lot worse off were it not for unions. Your thinly veiled suggestion that BC Ferries embark on a massive union-breaking operation disgusts me.
