Organized Labour and the NDP: Then and Now

by T. H. Hatte

In February, the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour hosted the Halifax round of its province-wide “conversations” with union members. On the table was organized labour and the NDP party with regard to its past years in power and the upcoming election. 

My union, I.A.T.S.E local 680, is a tech service union that sets up audio, lights and staging for concerts, conferences and other such events.  We are more like construction and trade unions with delegates to the Labour Council, but unlike the civil service locals, at 680, we must depend on our business agent to negotiate with independent venues, promoters and other companies in the entertainment and conference business. 

At my local, as in other trades, the executives deal with labour issues and the “politics” of labour, and translate these to members.  In 680, regular members rarely show up for a rally, unless they’re getting paid to set up the tech for the event.  I’ve had a tad more exposure, sitting in as an observer at Labour Council meetings, where it seemed every delegate present was an executive union representative caught up in negotiation issues.  I expected more of the same at the “conversation,” not much of relevance to the “rank and file" union member like myself.

A life long NDP supporter, I had been disappointed by what for me appeared to be a middle of the road first term NDP government compared to the successful and dynamic actions of virgin NDP governments in Manitoba and British Columbia. Strong and clear labour support in British Columbia, and courageous policies like government automobile insurance in Manitoba, had laid down a solid successful base which created NDP dynasties. Not so in Nova Scotia, where labour — from my point of view — was doing little to pressure the NDP, and I expected the round table “conversations” to be a predictable “Ra! Ra!" event where labour execs united behind the NDP in the run up to a coming election. 

About 40 odd people seated around tables filled up the room at the Dartmouth Holiday Inn. I was the only non-executive member attending. Kyle Buott, the energetic, heavily involved activist president of the Halifax Dartmouth District Labour Council, was our moderator.  Tony Tracy, local Canadian Labour Council representative, stood beside a flip chart, marker in hand ready to write comments as the members spun the conversational wheel of political fortune.  

Buott bounced through the categories: what had been positive; missed opportunities; how best to go forward.  Unlike many of the government locals, I.A.T.S.E. 680 members needed union friendly venues to keep working. Consequently, my issues were less negotiation driven, and boiled down to one basic question: Why didn’t the supposedly labour friendly NDP pass legislation that at the very least would force government subsidized venues to hire union workers?

The Rebecca Cohn, for example, while part of unionized Dalhousie, is a non-union concert house, without a deal from our local I.A. union, even though our local business agent is the Cohn’s technical director. Event techs at the Metro Centre are non-union, and minimum waged agency workers are used there for change overs and convention set ups at the Trade Centre. All of these venues are provincially funded.

As some speakers pointed out during the evening, the NDP is down in support, especially among workers, because the perception is that the NDP is not a worker sensitive government and in fact not a proactive Labour government at all.  As a speaker, I made the point that if legislation were put forward to ensure all workers in public venues were unionized, a wider worker public would see the NDP as their advocate as well.  Local labour unions pressing government on this kind of issue and getting results would be good marks, both  for Labour and the NDP.  

Many of the members voiced agreement to this suggestion.  When the new convention centre was brought up, construction union representatives reiterated my point, as did other union reps who lamented the NDP’s lack of resolve when it came to changing the entrenched Tory anti-labour bureaucrats in the government’s ranks, be it in education or in public venues like the Trade Centre. 

Then, the opposition parties were discussed. The Liberals were currently and illogically ahead in the polls. Communication, it appeared, was the problem. Dexter always seemed to be noncommittal, though Maureen Macdonald was singled out for praise because of her recent declaration that she wouldn’t be attempting any budget balancing gulags, like the Tories had attempted in pre-election modes past.  Many asked why the NDP was defensive and quiet about their achievements and so reticent to make future policy directions public. 

The danger with these kinds of round table sessions is one can be drawn into post game couch potato coach mindset, seeing all the flaws and shoulda, coulda, wouldas so that the flavour of the collective whine flattens any initial bouquet of exuberant solidarity felt at the opening of the conversational evening’s bottle as it were. 

This is the kind of conversation that should have happened four years ago right after the NDP was elected. Had labour been more demanding and pushed the new government more from the start, there would be a stronger awareness among working class Nova Scotians that for the first time in the province’s history, a government in power was not only aware of the need to support them, but also had the courage to make party platform points legal realities. 

A summation of the collective feeling of Labour representatives at the round table night was summed up best as the final speaker, Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union, stepped to the microphone. She reminded everyone of what it was like before the party came to power. She had a point. Her wrap up mini speech reinvigorated the room. And I left thinking while perhaps I’m not a union activist, per se, it was better to be actively supporting another labour friendly government, because otherwise there would be no labour government conversation at all.

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