by JEFF MILLAR
The Common Front of public sector unions has scrapped plans for a strike this fall.
The Common Front announced a plan of action in September which called for one day general strikes for the week of October 25 and an unimited strike starting November 18.
The final results of strike votes from locals across the province were announced the second last week of October. They rejected strike action by a narrow margin.
The fatal blow came when the 90,000 healthcare workers of the CSN's Health and Social Services Federation voted against any strike action.
Public sector workers had been gearing up for a showdown with the Bouchard government after 14 months of dead end negotiations. But the leaders of the front explained the vote results by saying their members weren't ready for strike action.
The leadership are trying to excuse themselves by saying that their members felt that the nurses' strike this summer showed that strike action could not win.
They are right that that is why many workers voted down the strike but the conclusions being drawn from the nurses' strike are wrong.
The nurses were right to go on strike. The massive support from the public and the determination the nurses showed during the strike proves the time was right for a fightback against years of cuts and wage freezes.
The nurses defied back-to-work legislation and even rejected a poor tentative agreement.
But the union leadership forced the nurses back to work without any gains.
The leaders sold out and many nurses felt bitter and betrayed.
Nurses decided to go on an illegal strike because they knew that this government would make even a legal strike illegal by passing special legislation.
The rank and file nurses were determined to fight and could have won. What the strike showed was the need for solidarity.
If the immense solidarity of other workers had been mobilized, the nurses could have beaten Bouchard.
By doing nothing to build solidarity, the leaders of the Common Front sowed the seeds of the failure of this fall's general strike.
Cracks began to show in the Common Front as soon as the plan of action was announced in September, when teachers federations withdrew support for the one day walkouts.
But the plan collapsed because the unity of the union leaders at the top was never translated into mobilizing support for a strike among the rank and file.
The vote results around the strike plan were very uneven. Public school teachers were overwhelmingly against, while cegep teachers voted 60% against.
However, members of the FTQ union federation voted 80% in favour of strike action. Overall, the strike was rejected by only a slight majority.
There are still many workers who did vote for a strike and who recognize that united action by all public sector workers is the only way to win.
What these workers need to do is to organize to keep up the pressure and build solidarity.
The Common Front strategy now is to redouble efforts at negotiating while keeping up minor pressure tactics at the local level. But if the negotiations don't result in any real gains support might return for more militant action.