For me, looking back at the year that was always begins with recognizing the contributions of thousands of union activists in every B.C. community whose work is at the heart of our labour movement.
These are the people who solve problems with employers to make our workplaces better. The ones who enforce health and safety rules to ensure we go home safe at the end of the workday. The ones who negotiate new contracts to improve wages and workplace conditions.
And after the workday is done, these are the people who volunteer and contribute in so many ways at a local level to make our communities stronger.
Their efforts are symbolic of the labour movement’s commitment to make life better for all working people – which we were able to do on several notable fronts in the past 12 months.
We scored a huge victory winning changes to the Canada Pension Plan that are now before Parliament to significantly increase CPP benefits for future retirees. It’s the biggest improvement in a social program in decades.
Another important achievement was the recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the B.C. government broke the law when it tore up signed collective agreements and stripped class size and composition provisions from teachers’ contracts. It was a sweet victory after so many years of battling the BC Liberals and Premier Christy Clark.
We’re equally proud of our Fight For $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage. One of the fundamental values in the labour movement is this: if you work full time, you shouldn’t live in poverty. But in B.C., 500,000 workers are paid poverty wages – less than $15 an hour.
Thanks to Premier Clark, our minimum wage is among the lowest in Canada, while the cost of living is the highest.
B.C. is a rich province with more than enough wealth for all to live comfortably. But the complete failure of the government to tackle poverty and inequality is symbolic of what’s wrong with the BC Liberals, and the choices they make and whose side they’re on.
It’s been a bad year too for well-paying, family-supporting jobs. Just ask the 200 forestry workers in Merritt who are permanently out of work in December thanks to yet another mill closure.
Premier Clark likes to boast about her job-creation record. But in the 12 months to the end of October, 75% of new jobs in B.C. are part-time, low-paying precarious ones with no benefits.
That’s nothing to brag about.
Government can be such a positive force for working people if it’s on our side and acting in our interests. But here’s the problem. We have a premier who puts the interests of the rich and powerful first – and the needs of ordinary people last.
We can’t afford four more years of Premier Clark making life easier for her powerful friends and harder for the rest of us.
We need a government that will make life more affordable for working people, a new government that makes full-time jobs that support families a priority.
A government that understands the tremendous importance of public services to our daily lives and makes the wealthy and corporations pay fair taxes.
A government that will make our lives better, not worse.
I remain very optimistic that better can happen here in B.C. next May. Together, we can choose a B.C. where we all have the chance for a better life – where our kids can build their future. •
Irene Lanzinger is president of the BC Federation of Labour, which represents 500,000 working women and men in B.C.
