I could smell the bog fire smoke today. Hope it rains. Here's some musings on the labour conflicts happening in Vancouver right now:

In the CBC and Telus strikes we have seen corporations position themselves in an extremely advantageously long before removal of labour has occurred. At the very first inklings of labour unrest at Telus, "managers" were hired to fill positions that are typically shop-floor positions, such as installation and repair. These are the guys who wear toolbelts and come to your house to fix your phone wiring. Not a job typically done by a member of management. This in an already top-to-middle heavy corporation swelled the erranks of management. These workers were integrated into the labour force within the last year, accepted their jobs which were likely an improvement over what they were working at previously and, being used to the new economy, accepted what they got, knowing that even though they were being deliberately shut out of the union, they'd gotten themselves a better job. Most of these people probably had no idea that they would be called upon to scab during a strike and not given a choice, as they were technically management. Such an unfair position to place people in.

Scab- such an old economy, old-labour term isn't it? Like something out of an old Marlon Brando or gangster movie. Surely in this new workplace, this enterprenurial environment that is the new economy, where no one can expect the jib security and workplace solidarity of the past, "scabbing" doesn't really exist? These are just people deliberately shut out of the union organization by a company bent on saving dollars and contracting out, not people who are betraying their former coworkers, aren't they?

These poor unsuspecting pawns of the Telus conflict will likely be given the boot by their employer once this issue is resolved. Telus has been filling their war chest with capable workers for a while now, it looks like and when they get what they want, it's always the fat that gets trimmed. That's the new economy. Kind of makes you wish they could see it coming.

What's next, doctors are going to be replaced by hospital administrators trained to do surgery? Teachers forced to scrub the hallways of schools? The problem with threatening a strike these days is the bosses see it coming and damn well make sure the wheels are oiled and there's someone that knows how to make them turn.

So has the precedent been set that strikes are useless now? Hardly. But it does no benefit to the union movement to remove your labour only to see the company do far better than limp along. The media is always going to be less friendly to the union than the corporation, as cynical as it might sound. The corporate media thrives on conflict, angry faces on the picket lines make for good press. The police is there to make sure the picketers play nice. What the corporation is doing is sneaky, underhanded and as far as I am concerned, unethical, but technically legal. Not a pretty picture for the Canadian labour unions of tomorrow.

To steal an idea from a friend of mine, strikes are futile if you cannot shut the workplace down. Perhaps this is what needs to happen. Unions need to adapt to the new economy by hauling out some ideas from the old economy. Raise the level of radicalism, bring out the burning barrels and play the old economy game of shutting the place down. Totally. Doing things half-way only means people are going to lose their homes after their savings erode and strike pay no longer pays the rent or mortgage. Strike harder and shorter. At the very least, no one will be able to call unions ineffectual, bloated bureaucracies. What we are seeing today is the legalized form of early 1900s union busting, which was often violent, but now has become institutionalized. The cards are stacked in favour of the corporations more and more. It's time for a new radicalization in the union movement during this summer of labour unrest.