California
Conference on
Privatization
of Public Education and Public Services and
The
Struggle of Canadian CUPE Against Privatization
(Presentation
on September 25, 2010 by Mary Catherine McCarthy, Canadian Union Of Public
Employees CUPE, National Coordinator CUPE Anti-Privatization Fightback)
Thanks
for inviting me to speak today at your conference about privatization
IT
is exciting for me to be here in San Francisco with keen union activists
wanting to take on privatization.
My
presentation is about the Canadian Union of Public EmployeesÕ strategic priority
of taking on privatization. How it came about; what it involves; and how itÕs
going.
CUPE
represents about 600,000 workers in the broader public sector in all 10
provinces. We have members working in education from child early learning and
care, K to 12 and post-secondary as well as in health care, social services,
municipalities and electricity and water utilities. All of our sectors are
affected by privatization. For
many years the key concern was contracting out of services but now especially
since the economic downturn we are having to battle sell-offs of entire
services, competitive bidding, corporatization and the Public Private
Partnerships (P3) that Canadian labour economist Jim Stanford calls Ôa phoney
fiscal shell game that enriches investors at our expense.Ó
The attack has intensified beyond our
wildest dreams. Privatization is presented as a solution to cash strapped local
governments and starved provincially funded health, education and social
services. The fact that we have a right wing federal government pushing
privatization through PPP Canada Inc. doesnÕt help either.
Campaigning
against privatization has been a feature of our activity for years and in 2007
at our national convention member delegates voted overwhelmingly to scale up
the work in defending public services by creating a new fund to intensify our
campaign to fight back all forms of privatization including P3s, contracting
out, competitive bidding, bad trade deals and the privatization of the funding,
administration and delivery of public services. This commitment of resources for strategic local, regional
and national initiatives has been reaffirmed for 2009-2011.
The
strategy for taking on privatization includes collective bargaining and
political action campaigns that are supported by union education, research and
communications. Many of the campaign initiatives have come from our national
committees. I work with the National contracting out and privatization
committee. IÕll show their video
at the end of this presentation.
The
campaigns usually include communications materials (like posters, leaflets, ads
etc), member book off to organize events like town hall meetings, lobbying
campaigns or membership education and mobilization. A key part of our strategy is to build capacity within the
membership to campaign in their workplace and at the local community level.
As a
national union last year we hired Environics to conduct extensive polling and
focus group work across the country with the goal of building support for public
services as a bulwark against privatization. This project is aimed at
understanding CanadiansÕ views on public services and privatization.
Interestingly we found that there is broad support for public services and that
positive arguments work best.
For
example: The top two arguments:
1.
Public services that treat everyone equally are an important part of what it
means to be Canadian or part of a democratic society.
2.
When services are publicly-funded and operated, they are there for everyone.
There is better quality, more accountability and higher environmental and
safety standards.
Another
recent polling by Nanos has validated public support for public solutions to
healthcare problems.
The
results of the research are being used to refine CUPE messaging on the issues,
and are being shared with members and allies in other unions and the community.
Collective
Bargaining
CUPEÕs
plan to fight
concessions and defend free collective bargaining lays the groundwork to
protect public services from restructuring and cutbacks by strengthening
members resolve and preparedness to fight concessions, coordinating bargaining and building solidarity
among CUPE locals through solidarity pacts and strike support.
I
should mention that each local union in CUPE holds the collective bargaining
rights whether or not they participate in a coordinated or central bargaining
process. Front line members are on these bargaining committees and are
supported by regional staff. Most locals approve their proposals at a general
membership meeting. So this is a democratic structure that requires a well
informed and hopefully politicized membership. I have found over the years that
members get what the threat of privatization is about and are prepared to take
it on.
In
2009 we published a new resource, Our best line of
defence – Taking on privatization at the bargaining table, to help members use
their collective agreements to fight privatization. Coordinated bargaining is
another key priority that allows members to defend their rights and the
services they deliver from a position of strength.
Member
Education
In
order to build capacity within our membership CUPE has developed workshops for
sector conferences and meetings, for our newly launched Ôstewards learning
seriesÕ for the year of the Steward. We also have a week long course ÔTaking on
PrivatizationÕ. See our leaflet ÔStop privatization before it startsÕ. http://cupe.ca/updir/Early-warning-signs-of-privatization.pdf. I have brought some
examples of our materials.
Campaigns
The
fight against privatization requires political action (electoral and
extra-parliamentary) and lobbying at all levels. CUPE has provided leadership
on public policy to strengthen and protect public services working also with
private and public sector unions as well as progressive community organizations
including for example the Green Economy Network, the Canadian Health Coalition (and provincial health coalitions); the Trade Justice Network; the Alternative Federal
Budget;
and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.
Many of our
campaigns across the country are focused in promoting a positive message
regarding our work and showcasing our members at work. WeÕve learned that our
members have much more credibility with the public than union leaders.
In
the education sector CUPE has supported campaigns at the local and provincial
level to resist P3s for school infrastructure renewal in Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and Alberta. In Ontario the provincial committee is spearheading a
province wide tour and survey of locals to determine the extent of contracting
out and privatization and to build confidence and skills to lobby local school
boards in the lead up to the municipal and school board elections this fall.
In
NB campaign to fight P3 schools members have been making presentations to
school councils about the problems with P3s and have had with some success in
that at one council has now decided to build the new school by traditional
procurement.
The
key arguments against P3s that weÕre using include:
á
They
are more expensive
á
The
community losses control over the service and is therefore less democratic
(e.g. some contracts for P3 schools restricts community access to buildings after hours – so much
for ÔCommunityÕ schools)
á
There
is no real risk transfer
á
Poor
quality as investors will often cut corners (e.g. food services and cleaning)
to maximize profits
á
P3s
have not been shown in any way to reduce public debt
In
the post-secondary sector locals are coordinating bargaining demands regarding
contracting out both support staff and academic jobs. The unionÕs PSE sector
works in coalition with the Canadian Federation of Students and other unions to
challenge increasing tuition fees as a way for making up for government
underfunding. Recently we have been exposing the corporate connections with
on-line education and for profit universities. Last year many campus locals challenged the lack of access
to public water and campaigned to restore drinking fountains and ban bottled
water.
Some
highlights of CUPEÕs work in taking on privatization have been:
á
Research
and advocacy for public early learning and child care. CUPE has been a source
of agenda-setting research and activism on this key issue, beginning with its
2007 research exposing the planned expansion of Australian multinational ABC
Learning into Canada. We launched a campaign to expand public delivery of early
learning and child care services.
The campaign is based on research outlining the positive
benefits of public delivery done by the Child Care Resource and Research Unit
at U of T. We worked closely with its coalition partners to organize a cross-country tour promoting this vision.
Workshops and town hall meetings organized by CUPE child care activists reached out to families, child care
workers and union activists to raise awareness about the threat of privatized
child care and press governments to invest in public child care.
á
Ongoing
pro-public research and economic analysis. CUPE works to document public success stories and expose
privatization threats. Recent examples are an in-depth case study analyzing the benefits
of Whistler municipal council keeping its sewage plant public, and a major research report highlighting the dangers of hospital
privatization
in Quebec. CUPEÕs economic analysis highlights the economic and social benefits of
public services, and advances alternatives that work.
á
A
major national summit on water issues, organized jointly with national advocacy group
The Council of Canadians. The Blue Summit, held in November 2009, brought 300
workers, community members and policy advocates together to celebrate the
highly successful first decade of the Water Watch coalition. The summit
highlighted public success stories to learn from, and mapped the challenges and
opportunities for the next decade defending public water. The final summit declaration is an agenda-setting
document for CUPE, outlining the unionÕs key priorities on water.
I
have brought our new leaflet ÔWater connects us AllÓ
We
are continuing to work on water issues primarily when municipalities look at
bringing in multinational corporations like Veolia to not only do the necessary
upgrade but to take over the operations and control of this precious resource.
Although most Canadians enjoy excellent highly regulated tap water many first
nations communities are facing a water crisis. We are working with our Aboriginal council to promote public
alternatives like partnering with a public municipal utility instead of the privatization agenda that the
federal government is pushing.
á
Promoting
an equality agenda. Defending
public services and fighting privatization promotes equality. Women, racialized
groups, people with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples all benefit from
accessible quality public services. These services are great equalizers,
helping lift people out of poverty. They also create good, family-supporting
jobs.
á
Research
and advocacy for Public Long-term care. In the fall of 2009 CUPE released a research report outlining a vision that
ensures seniors have equal access to long term care facilities that provide
high quality, legislated standards of care and more care hours. CUPE promoted
its vision in a cross-country tour. In town hall-style
meetings, academics and advocates met with long term care workers, health
coalitions, seniorsÕ advocacy groups and retired union activists. The union also produced a video of its members in the sector.
We
have had some successes with the municipal councils for example, in Toronto
with keeping Toronto-Hydro public and in Victoria with choosing a public option
for wastewater treatment an in Port Moody where the municipal council voted to
bring back in house solid waste collection and recycling that had been
contracted out for ten years. In several provinces P3s have been discredited.
Broadening
support for public services
In Toronto a
workers assembly has formed that strives to build a new kind of politics without
the usual constraints of union membership, single issue campaigns and community
groups. Under the slogan:
Solidarity!
Resistance! Change!
The assembly is committed to developing an
understanding of what weÕre up against, who our potential allies are, and to
organize and act in new ways that will take us from a politics of resistance to
emancipatory alternatives. The question is whether we can take advantage of the
new openings and threats to build a new kind of politics.
An example is the free and accessible transit
for the GTA campaign that is organizing a Ôno fare is fairÕ street party Oct.
2. This free transit campaign brings together environmental, anti-poverty and
accessibility activists.
Conclusion
We
all understand that the attack on the public sector is intensifying.
We
have the research and auditors general reports that have demonstrated that we
can win the argument against privatization but unfortunately, facts, on their
own, often have not been able to dissuade ideologically driven councils, boards
and governments from contracting-out, using P3s for new facilities and
infrastructure, selling off of public assets and opening up water, health care
and social services to multi-national for profit corporations.
A
few suggestions to meet the privatization challenges:
á Continue to
resist all forms privatization and for profit delivery. Provide support for
campaigns and collective bargaining including the research, education and
communication support needed and develop case studies of successful campaigns.
á
Make privatization an election issue at all levels of government.
á
Provide a vision with clear public solutions for the
infrastructure, health, equality, and environmental deficits facing our
communities across the country.
We
continually have to rise to meet each privatization threat with our allies and
mount member and public educational and political action campaigns.
For
more information see www.cupe.ca/privatization
IÕm
happy to participate in this dayÕs discussions and to learn from your
experience here in California
Video
of NCPCC Committee report
Mary Catherine McCarthy
National Coordinator
CUPE Anti-privatization Fight-Back
voice: 613-237-1590
cell: 613-899-5158
fax: 613-237-5508
http://cupe.ca/privatizationwatch
For video of presentation go to
Mary Catherine McCarthy On
Canadian CUPE's Fightback Against Privatization