On Monday, October 17 tens of thousands of trade unionists brought the capital city of British Columbia to a grinding halt. Victoria was closed for business as a regional general strike in support of the British Columbia Teachers Federation crippled the city. The strike culminated in a massive demonstration at the BC legislature. The comrades of Fightback were there on this historic day.
In a matter of days, all of the contradictions that have been building over the last four years in British Columbia have come to the fore. Gordon Campbell's mis-named Liberals have spent their time in power attacking the working class. This has been met with several waves of unrest. Now this battle is reaching new heights. The province stands on the brink of an all-out general strike.
Yet again, the BC
Liberal Government has removed the democratic right of employees to
strike. From the UBC TAs, to the ferry
workers and hospital employees, workers’ rights and public programs are coming
under constant attack. Now the Liberals
plan to use BC’s teachers as their next layer of cannon fodder. On October 7, 42 000 public school teachers
will illegally walk the line in defence of their right to collectively bargain,
to go on strike and to save education for BC’s youth. Fightback stands together with the striking teachers.
Also see the Picket Line Solidarity Special in PDF format here
In the last five
years, gas prices in Canada have soared from about 65-cents per litre to
over $1.10. This price hike hits the
working class hardest. While the right
wing are trying to blame taxes for the increase, the majority of Canadians see
that corporate super-profits are the real culprit. In a recent
poll, 49% of Canadians (and 67% of Quebecers) support nationalizing the oil
industry.
We’ve
seen disgruntled public service workers taking action all over Canada in the
last year or so – whether it be teachers in Québec, twenty-thousand
Newfoundland public sector workers, Ontario’s Hydro One workers, or the members
of the Hospital Employees’ Union. The increasing labour unrest culminated this
summer when private sector workers stepped onto the scene in a major way with
the victorious Truckers’ strike.