A left leadership for Canadian labour movement

[blake 3:17]

Usually the CLC is a total snooze fest & sort of a waste of time. It's primary function is to prevent unions raiding each other, but it's very very rarely an engine of class struggle. Anyways, who knows? We might get a CLC president with some good politics, some friggin principle and some nerve.

Hassan Husseini's CLC Challenge

Cindy McCallum Miller

This year's Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) convention might be worth attending after all. With a presidential challenge in the air, labour leaders will have to trade in their silk shirts for a pair of overalls to show they still are connected to the working-class in order to seek the support of delegates. But it will take more than a fashion change to rebuild the dormant and disillusioned labour movement. That is what activists hope challenger Hassan Husseini will bring to the House of Labour.


Hassan Husseini is running for President of the Canadian Labour Congress – YouTube video.

Since Ken Georgetti took over as the president of the CLC in 1999, unions have taken a virtual ass-kicking without much response except stern finger-wagging and empty threats from the top of labour's hierarchy. Other than video contests and warm and fuzzy pro-labour TV ads, rank and file workers who wear boot prints of the government-business tag team have seen very little from our ‘movement.’ In fact, the movement is stalled, virtually paralyzed and rapidly dissolving as a new generation of workers wonders ‘why bother?’ And an older generation loses its stamina and militancy in the march toward retirement insecurity.

One by one, many unions have faced the Harper government's vitriolic abuse alone. The top leadership remains relatively unscathed as workers see their collective agreements shredded and the employer's grip get stronger around our throats. The silence from the CLC is deafening. Their press releases are ignored by corporate media and their hollow speeches dissipate as workers wonder what will happen next. Labour councils struggle and in most communities, become irrelevant from neglect. The movement is dying to be rekindled but it will not happen under the current leadership's inertia.

Take Back the CLC

Brother Husseini comes from a labour background and has immersed himself in defending working people's rights as a national negotiator for the Public Service Alliance of Canada. He is no stranger to the inner workings of the CLC, having been appointed as a national representative in the Political Action department. Maybe, just maybe, because he is not holding a national union executive position, he might have the ability to see outside our current limitations and envision a way to rebuild our crumpled spirit.

Husseini says he wants to build a grassroots movement to stop the corporate agenda and return control of the CLC to workers. That has often been a rallying cry, but in reality the CLC has never been controlled by workers. It is a bureaucratic monolith neatly crafted by high-level union officials. Elections are usually won or lost in back-room solicitations between candidates' campaigners and national leaders, who then sell their delegations on the candidate of choice.

However, once in a while, slates are broken by the heart and passion of workers demanding their democratic voice. Jean-Claude Parrot was an example of slate shattering when grassroots activists joined the Canadian Union of Postal Workers in a call for action and propelled him into an Executive Vice President's position two decades ago. If Husseini can ignite hearts and inspire possibilities in disillusioned activists, and if battle-weary union leaders want to inject life into a comatose movement, then Brother Husseini might well be the next President. The status quo is killing us. Even a renewed labour movement is incapable of waging and winning battles against the combined force of business and government if it tries to do so alone. No progressive organization has been left unscathed by Harper's cronies and the tactic of multilayered attacks has left many groups flailing for survival. Husseini's challenge for the top CLC position may prove to be an opportunity for activists inside and outside the labour movement to join forces and start a convulsion at the community level. We can be a substantial threat if we combine determination with resources and political will.

Will Husseini use this challenge to mobilize a coalition of First Nations, women, environmentalists, food sovereigntists, students and human rights activists along with labour hopefuls to rekindle the belief that people can take back not just our CLC, but our democracy? A grassroots movement will require the full participation of social partners in order to stem the Conservative mud slide that threatens to irrevocably change the landscape currently redefining our future. Perhaps this challenge will poke a sleepy giant into action. Perhaps the spark of hope will galvanize activists in every corner to renew their vigour. Win or lose, if the challenge creates momentum, we will move toward reclamation. Spring has arrived. It's time to emerge from hibernation. •

http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/959.php

[blake 3:17]

It’s time for a change
Vote Hassan Husseini for President of the CLC

As workers and unions, we are facing a massive and unprecedented right wing attack. Labour and employment standards, collective bargaining rights, and the right of workers to organize and be politically active, are all targets of right wing governments at the federal and provincial levels.

We are in a fight for our survival as a force for progressive social change in Canadian society.

Either we rebuild our movement, or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant.

I believe in order to win we must work differently.

Our fight isn’t simply a battle for “fairness” that can be solved through clever appeals to politicians or a glitzy branding exercise. We must be willing to listen to our own members – and place their experiences at the heart of our campaigns. We must empower our members to fight the battles that lie ahead.

We need leadership that is strong, transparent, democratic and inspiring. A leadership that is not afraid to give the CLC back to the workers, because there is nothing that bosses and this government fear more than an organized, united and worker-driven labour movement.

We must also be honest about what we’re up against.

We are facing an aggressive form of capitalism that has put a target on the back of every unionized and non-unionized worker, and anyone else standing in the way of corporate profits.

Nothing is sacred, and no one’s job is safe. Our opponents will stop at nothing to strip away hard-won gains, and sacrifice them at the altar of corporate greed. Bosses and their allies at all levels of government have built a powerful political machine to make that happen.

But here’s the good news.

There’s plenty of fightback potential in our movement, and in other movements who support us. In recent years, grassroots activism has won real gains. There is much we can learn from these successful struggles such as that of the Quebec students, Idle No More, the Toronto Library workers, the Chicago teachers and others.

We need a CLC President to empower and support that kind of local activism. We need someone who helps build the local leadership it takes to challenge someone like Stephen Harper, and his corporate backers. We need, quite simply, a bottom-up, grassroots movement.

http://takebackclc.ca/

[Q]

What is Socialist Project for a group? It looks Trotskyite in approach, but it might be something else entirely.

[blake 3:17]

What is Socialist Project for a group? It looks Trotskyite in approach, but it might be something else entirely.

It's neither Trotskyist or anti-Trotskyist. It's been a grouping of Marxists and socialists that have come out of different traditions and movements. I'm not too sure what they're doing right now.

I got the article through their news service The Bullet: http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/ which publishes every couple of days and covers Canadian and international politics from a variety of Left perspectives.

They also put up videos of Left talks/events here: http://www.socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed/

[jake williams]

Can we talk about the role of paid full-time staffers in the union movement?

- I have a hard time understanding how a permanent PSAC staffer is going to "take back the CLC for the workers" or whatever else the labour left seems to expect.

- A disproportionate number of young, pro-union student activists end up becoming union staff (including a ridiculous proportion of former CLASSE/ASSÉ execs, including some friends of mine).

- The good argument as to why people end up taking those jobs is that they're not qualified to do much else, and it's hard to find jobs. The more realistic and more unfortunate argument is that a lot of leftists think they are too good to do jobs where they don't get to be professional "activists".

- The thing about being an employee of a union is that if you believe in democratic unionism, your ability to have a political role in the labour movement ends as soon as you sign your employment contract.

- Except, what happens in practice is twofold: since a disproportionate number of would-be union "activists" are in fact union employees, and because it's really hard to conceive of a revival of the labour movement that excludes most of the activists willing to do it, they end up stepping up; but more importantly, because their really quite comfortable careers ultimately rely on their ability not to offend the political leadership, with rare exceptions, their interventions are crafted in such a way as to not rock the boat.

[jake williams]

Oh also, no one wants to point any of this out because if they don't work for a union, their friends do, and no one wants to hurt feelings.

[Decolonize The Left]

^ I think this would be an interesting discussion indeed.

[blake 3:17]

Time for debate on future of the labour movement, says CLC presidential contender Hassan Husseini
Media Release | April 16, 2014

With a three-way race heating up for the leadership of the Canadian Labour Congress, presidential candidate Hassan Husseini is calling for at least two public debates among leadership contenders – one at convention and one prior to it.

“After 15 years of the same leadership and 9 years without an election, delegates to the upcoming CLC convention in May will finally have a choice,” says Husseini, a longtime labour activist who is campaigning on a platform focussed on building grassroots workers activism. “Delegates, and the labour movement as a whole, should have the opportunity to hear from all the candidates in a democratic debate, where our positions can be challenged and clarified.”

In addition to the main planks of his platform, Husseini has already released a policy paper on Equality, Diversity, and Democracy. In the coming days he will be elaborating on his campaign platform with several statements, including what he will do to take action on pensions, Indigenous issues, and his plan for his first 100 days as President of the CLC.

“Delegates will have a clear choice between the status quo and my vision for a labour movement to challenge Stephen Harper and his corporate backers, which places the experiences of our members at the heart of our campaigns,” says Husseini. “It’s time for change, which is why I am campaigning to take back the CLC and make it work for workers.”

Husseini’s campaign to Take Back the CLC has been gaining grassroots support across the country from locals, area councils, and labour councils.

-30-

For more information:

Hassan Husseini for CLC President campaign, 819-319-0771

http://takebackclc.ca/time-debate-future-labour-movement-says-clc-presidential-contender-hassan-husseini/

Edited to add:

Hassan Yussuff has declared he's running for President. http://rabble.ca/news/2014/04/clc-secretary-treasurer-hassan-yussuff-joins-race-presidency

[jake williams]

I don't know if this is super well-known (I only found out about it today) but apparently he was the leader of the Communist Party of Ontario in the 1990s, before leaving in 2003 (and I've been told, subsequently distancing himself).

Envoyé de mon SGH-I747M en utilisant Tapatalk

[blake 3:17]

I don't know if this is super well-known (I only found out about it today) but apparently he was the leader of the Communist Party of Ontario in the 1990s, before leaving in 2003 (and I've been told, subsequently distancing himself).

There's no particular reason to advertise it except to open it up for red baiting.

[jake williams]

There's no particular reason to advertise it except to open it up for red baiting.
No doubt, but purely in the interest of providing context (esp. for international readers) it's worth mentioning.

[blake 3:17]

Ken Georgetti, the useless president of the CLC for the past 15 years is running a campaign for re election: http://www.wintogether.ca/index.php?lang=en

This is his list of accomplishments: http://www.wintogether.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=475&lang=en

what a douche

[blake 3:17]

Hassan Yussuf has a site up: http://hassanyussuff.ca/

He's alright.

[blake 3:17]

After careful consideration of election platforms, RankandFile.ca is endorsing Hassan Husseini for president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The proposals put forward in his platform, if implemented, will work to develop progressive change in the Canadian labour movement. RankandFile.ca also believes that the current CLC leadership needs to be held accountable for its lacklustre record and poor decisions over the past fifteen years, especially since the economic crisis hit in 2008. The following is an explanation of why we came to this decision.

The Canadian Labour Congress is witnessing its first contested presidential election since 2005. It is also a three-way race between the CLC’s current president Ken Georgetti, the CLC Secretary-Treasurer Hassan Yussuff, and Hassan Husseini, a negotiator with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). This candidate primer has a useful breakdown of the three campaigns.

If official endorsements are any indication, Yussuff and Georgetti have the strongest campaigns. National executives from the Steelworkers, Teamsters, UFCW, NUPGE, LiUNA, CUPE, and IAMAW have all endorsed Georgetti. Yussuff has won support from national executive members of Unifor, PSAC, OECTA, FTQ, and the presidents of the Toronto/York and Peel district labour councils.

Meanwhile, Husseini’s campaign has won the support of three labour councils, (Halifax-Dartmouth, Guelph, and Fredericton district councils), two components of PSAC, several Unifor and CUPE locals, a couple area councils, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (Ontario chapter), and the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance. There is a noticeable absence of individual union leader endorsements.

The three-way contest neatly represents the two souls of the Canadian labour movement. Early on, with just Husseini and Georgetti in the race, it looked as if there was a neat divide between those who wanted the CLC to continue on its current path and those looking for a shake-up. However, when Yussuff entered the race, it complicated the battlegrounds as both Yussuff and Husseini claim the mantle of change.

The platforms of both Ken Georgetti and Hassan Yussuff are too vague to warrant serious support. There are no real concrete proposals put forward. Buzzwords are not enough. And being a “good guy” is not a good enough reason to deserve votes for president of the CLC. Hassan Husseini’s campaign, meanwhile, includes several important concrete proposals.

One of the most exciting is his promise to shift resources away from the bizarre and far too expensive “Fairness Works” popsicle-themed ad campaign, and to hire organizers for each labour council. Husseini also speaks about cross-union collaboration in training, solidarity actions, and organizing the unorganized. This is a necessity if labour councils and the movement as a whole are to stop the employer and governmental offensive and begin making gains again.

Husseini is also proposing an independent set of political demands by labour which can be taken to political parties as a means of holding them to account. With the ongoing drift of the NDP (provincially and nationally) towards shallow tweakings of the system (i.e. going after ATM fees instead of the banks as a whole), labour also has to use its collective strength to place demands on political parties, including the NDP.

Endorsing Husseini is also a vote against a leadership that needs to be held to account for its record. The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) campaign waged a few years ago is the most glaring example of the sort of self-inflicted failures that demand accountability. The campaign had pulled thousands of trade unionists into activity at town hall meetings and educationals. A series of MP office occupations took place, including around the raising of Old Age Security eligibility from age 65 to 67. Real pressure from union members and retirees put CPP reform on the national agenda. But once Ken Georgetti’s leadership team got closed-door hearings with politicians, the wider campaign was wound down. While direct lobbying of politicians cannot be ignored, the collective strength of the members, which built the labour movement in the first place, was squandered.

http://rankandfile.ca/?p=2354

[blake 3:17]

Letters from Walker and Georgetti can be found at the link to this article: http://rankandfile.ca/?p=2363


On April 23, Marie Clarke Walker, an executive vice-president at the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) sent out an open letter to the executives of the CLC and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Over the next few days the letter was widely circulated amongst union officials and staff, even appearing in hard copy at Unifor’s Ontario Regional Council of April 25-27.

In the letter Marie Clarke Walker describes a culture of abuse at the CLC. As an officer of the CLC, her expenses, travel, and official attendance at meetings were subject to Presidential approval. She claims that CLC President Ken Georgetti used this power to isolate and diminish her role in the CLC. When RankandFile.ca contacted Ken Georgetti for comment he was unavailable. Georgetti did reply to Marie Clarke Walker’s letter on April 25. In his letter reply he said he “emphatically disagree[d]” with the allegations of which he was “deeply saddened.”

She claims her requests to attend routine labour and community events were denied, that she was isolated from the CLC staff and meetings, and that she was made to work out of the Toronto office. Speaking to RankandFile.ca, Hassan Yussuff, the current secretary-treasurer and CLC presidential candidate, said that making Walker work out of the CLC office was very unusual. He was not aware of any other instance in the history of the CLC where an executive officer was not based in Ottawa.

Walker commented to RankandFile.ca that although some of these instances may seem petty, they were part of a systematic culture of abuse and sexism. There were, “undertones and overtones of sexism and racism at the CLC.”

She claimed that quite a few women and racialized staffers had left the CLC because of the culture of abuse and mistreatment. Walker stated that the culture of abuse started as soon as she was elected 12 years ago, but escalated in recent years. According to Walker this culture of abuse was something that emanated from the very top of the CLC: the current President Ken Georgetti. She claimed other exec members and other union leaders, such as Paul Moist knew about these problem and that more could have been done to correct it.

Yussuff, who received the open letter on April 23, believes that Walker’s letter is an accurate representation of her experience and what he has witnessed at the CLC. Yussuff said it was why he is making respect for officers and staff and collaborative working relationships key ideas in his campaign.

Hassan Husseini who is also running for CLC president agreed saying, “all those challenging Georgetti want to see change at the CLC and a new era of respect for staff, officers, affiliates and social movement allies.”

Both Husseini and Yussuff stated that they fully support Walker coming forward.

In the letter she references a torrent of misinformation now being circulated against her in CUPE, her own union. She claims that some on the CUPE executive were told that she was in favour of higher levy to pay for the Fairness Works campaign – the recent CLC advertising campaign to raise awareness of workers’ rights and advocate for stronger benefits for workers. Before the Fairness Works campaign was adopted, the executive board was presented with two options: a costlier option of TV ads alongside new media and print media, and a less expensive option of only TV media.

Walker claims she was not in favour of either. Rather, she supported a less expensive variation of the first option. She believes that her position was purposefully mischaracterized. She said that “If they want to characterize that as supporting a higher levy, that is BS.”

She claims that she is not being supported by CUPE National President Paul Moist in her reelection bid because she does not support Ken Georgetti’s bid to be reelected as president of the CLC. As she stated, “the only reason I am not being supported by the CUPE President is because I’m not supporting Ken Georgetti.”

Walker did not want to write an open letter and did not want to talk to any media, but she felt compelled to speak up for two reasons. First, as she claimed in her letter, she was put in the unconscionable position of being pressured into supporting her abuser’s election bid. Second, she thinks that labour movement leaders must be held to higher standards.

“How can the labour movement point fingers at employers for things like bullying when this is going on inside the labour movement?” asked Walker.

[blake 3:17]

Great coverage here: http://rankandfile.ca/?p=2439

[jake williams]

So, it turns out Husseini quit the race to throw his support behind Yusseff. Good stuff team.

[blake 3:17]

It was a good call. I'll be happy when Hassan Yussuff wins.

[Brotto Rühle]

Bunch of social democratic nonsense. Why is anyone who considers themselves anti-capitalist remotely interested in this trash?

[blake 3:17]

The right got smashed.

[blake 3:17]

It's a good day. I'm going out to eat chicken tomorrow -- urhh today, but I don't sleep anymore.... -- to celebrate with an eclectic bunch of peeps.

The Georgetti slate got knocked & that's with nearly all the union tops supporting him.

[Sea]

Bunch of social democratic nonsense. Why is anyone who considers themselves anti-capitalist remotely interested in this trash?Lack of political awareness, perhaps?

[blake 3:17]

Lack of political awareness, perhaps?

Yeah, us leftists must be crazy not to recognize internet one liners as the means to organize the working class.


MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/14 -- Delegates to the Canadian Labour Congress convention in Montreal have elected Hassan Yussuf as the CLC's new President and Barbara Byers as its new Secretary-Treasurer in contested elections today.

The CLC's largest ever convention also elected Marie Clarke Walker and Donald Lafleur as Executive Vice-Presidents.

There were 4837 delegates eligible to vote in Thursday's elections held in Montreal at the CLC's largest ever convention, which ends on Friday at noon.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.3 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 111 district labour councils.

Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca

Had a burger not chicken in case you were wondering.

[blake 3:17]

When the vote was announced there was a split second of silence before half of the room erupted with chants of “Yussuff! Yussuff! Yussuff!” It was the first time an incumbent CLC presidential candidate was defeated. Yussuff is also the first person of colour to head the CLC. This and his immigrant roots are a big symbolic shift for the labour movement.

A Modest Shakeup
Yussuff’s acceptance speech targeted the Harper and the Conservative Party, saying the CLC needs to take the fight to them. During his closing remarks at the CLC convention Yussuff words were even stronger saying that he will “see us on the picket line, at the occupations, and possibly even at a general strike.”

This is a welcome change of rhetoric from the top. However, it is incorrect to think that this rhetorical shift will somehow create great change in the labour movement. It was an important victory to get rid of Georgetti, whose conservative tendencies have reinforced the right-wing in the labour movement. But to describe the officer elections at the CLC, which amounted to a reshuffling of positions, as change does not reflect the facts (the exception being the election Lafleur, which was an important victory for those who want to see a national fightback strategy against the cuts at Canada Post). Unifor now has its man in the driver seat and we shall see what he can do.

http://rankandfile.ca/?p=2463

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Interesting. I can't say I now the figures involved but it's always a blessing when the right wing of the trade union movement is ousted. How is Yussef really blake? There was some indication that Len McCluskey in the UK was a 'left' trade unionist but for all purposes he's not been much use at all.

[blake 3:17]

He's a very decent guy, less radical than he used to be, but I'd see two main positives coming out of this. One is that he and the CLC executive are unlikely to spending huge amounts of time and money into sabotaging what we'd see as good developments in the labour and social movements. Second is that he has raised some expectations.

The CLC has been pretty much a write off for years and the previous president was very committed to keeping it that way. There's a good chance that the right wing unions will try to sabotage anything very militant or democratic coming out of it.

I've some other thoughts, but they're either super complicated to explain if you're not familiar with Canadian politics, or just guesses.

I don't expect anything huge to happen due to this, but it's a good step.

[blake 3:17]

Hassan Husseini's FB update as of a couple of hours ago:


Greetings sisters and brothers,
When we launched the campaign to TakeBackCLC on March 20th, I wrote the following: "However important, the change we seek at the CLC is not about an individual position, it is above all about renewing our labour central to collectively challenge the austerity agenda..." and "this campaign is about empowering the grassroots in our movement."
At the time, there were many nay-sayers and sceptics who didn't see the value in running for the top position of an organization that has become increasingly irrelevant. During six weeks of campaigning, I traveled across the country and met activists and rank-and-file members in union halls, on picket lines, in pubs and around kitchen tables. These conversations not only convinced me that we were doing the right thing but more importantly that change is needed now more than ever, not only at the CLC but across our movement.
Those who attended any of our campaign meetings would recall that I always maintained that the campaign is not about a change of one leader at the top but about building a movement that can democratize our movement, advance a progressive working class alternative and hold our elected leaders accountable. It is about building a grassroots movement that can challenge the austerity agenda and win.

We accomplished much in the course of our 6 weeks campaign, including forcing others to break with the Georgetti slate and run as independents. Brother Hassan Yussuff was one of those who broke with Georgetti and ran a campaign that increasingly adopted what the TakeBackCLC campaign advocated, including moving away from lobbying and towards labour militancy. The open discussions with HY and his team continued during convention, and we always reported on these discussions during our open caucus meetings with our supporters at convention.
After the open caucus meetings, I decided to withdraw from the race and support HY. This was a difficult decision but the right one to make. It was based on HY's commitments not only to me but to his as well as our supporters which included: democratizing the CLC; confronting the austerity agenda with militant actions; supporting labour councils with much needed resources; holding grassroots townhall meetings across the country and re-launching CPP campaign on the basis of grassroots engagement; re-establishing links with social movement allies; working with affiliates on a coordinated organizing strategy and re-position equity in all CLC work and campaigns.
Hassan Yussuff would not have won the presidency of the CLC without our support and he knows that.

He committed to many elements of our platform and it is up to us now to move into phase two of this campaign -- building a strong working class grassroots movement. It is such a movement that, among other tasks, can continue to challenge our leaders.
I am sorry that my withdrawal disappointed some of you. There were no back room deals made with HY and the decision was only taken after much discussion and consultation with our supporters at convention. Rest assured that my withdrawal was only from the CLC leadership race and not from the commitment to play whatever role I can to building our movement from the bottom up. Stay tuned, more on that soon.

Lastly, I am grateful for all the support the campaign received from so many sisters and brothers right across the country. The gains we made would not have been possible without you. Thank you!