Trade union members in BC should be proud of what they’ve accomplished since October 7, when teachers walked off the job to protest a law that settled their contract before they’d even started bargaining.
CUPE National President Paul Moist said the civil disobedience movement against the BC government taught workers everywhere that solidarity works.
“We hope as well, we’ve taught the BC government that when they come to dismantle public services like education, that they’re in for a huge fight,” Moist said.
Tens of thousands of CUPE members joined teachers in protest against the law, which let the government ignore teacher demands for reduced class sizes and improved working conditions, and impose a contract designed to cut costs and impoverish the public education system.
“I am immeasurably proud of CUPE’s members in BC,” Moist said. “We were there shoulder to shoulder with teachers, because we understood that the struggle wasn’t about one union’s problems, it was about all workers’ rights.”
Moist cautionned that while the union movement has been able to get the Campbell government to back off somewhat, they’re still very much in business.
“But from what I’ve seen in the past few weeks, it’s very clear to me that the union movement will last one day longer than the Campbell government. We will prevail.”
