Since the first shutdown in London last December, opposition to
the anti-social offensive has been clearly established as the aim of
the OFL Fightback Campaign. The leadership of the OFL has not shown
any indication that it will take the aim further. In fact, since
Peterborough, some of the OFL leaders have shown that they really
want to use the struggle against the anti-social offensive to build
a bank of votes to re-elect the NDP in Ontario.
When the Coordinating Committee for the October 25 Toronto
Shutdown announced its organizing plans, a debate broke out amongst
local trade unionists on its "principles and goals." The critics
presented a resolution at the Metro Toronto & York Region Labor
Council reaffirming the OFL's commitment to mass actions "up to and
including a general strike." The goal, they said, must be to
escalate the protests with the aim of forcing the Harris government
to resign and call for an election.
So far, despite the "debates," it seems that all the officials
who are organizing the shutdown are putting forward one opinion,
with some minor variation on the themes:
1) The workers should have the perspective of defeating the Harris
government in the next election. Those who are calling for a
general strike are saying that the next election when Harris will
be defeated should be forced sooner than the end of the legal term
of office. Others are saying later is fine, but the key thing is to
prepare the workers to vote for the NDP.
2) The workers do not need to have their own program, but can
organize themselves around a series of negative declarations
against the "unjust policies and practices" of the Harris
government, and some general abstractions about "values" such as
"equality" and "justice" which should govern the society.
Is it enough for the October 25 Shutdown to have the aim of
opposing the anti-social offensive?
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
