Fact sheet: It’s time to find an effective solution to raiding

The labour movement must be about unity, solidarity and shared struggles on behalf of our members and all working people.

NUPGE has always been dedicated to this vision.

That’s why we’ve always been a strong supporter of the “House of Labour” – including the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the provincial Federations of Labour and community Labour Councils.

We believe our record in supporting these central labour bodies is second to none.

The negative impact of raiding

Raiding (when one union tries to take members away from another union) is one of the most destructive practices within the labour movement:

• It erodes trust and undermines solidarity by pitting union against union and member against member;
• It drains the union being raided of scarce resources needed to take on the real opponents, whether it’s an employer or a government; and,
• It diverts resources from important union services such as providing education, bargaining collective agreements and organizing non-union workers.

Ultimately, raiding is not what union members want and expect of their union. A poll conducted by the CLC shows that 70% of union activists want the leadership of the labour movement to find a solution that will stop raiding.

NUPGE’s opposition to raiding

NUPGE’s strong opposition to raiding and our desire to find an effective solution has been clear and consistent for many years:

• We’ve raised the issue of raiding at every CLC convention since 1990;
• We’ve participated in every CLC constitutional and structural review over the last two decades and always raised the issue of raiding;
• NUPGE president James Clancy has repeatedly raised the issue at meetings of the CLC executive committee and council; and,
• We’ve made many attempts to start a discussion about this issue and we’ve encouraged other unions to share their ideas.

NUPGE’s proposal to deal with raiding

We’ve put forward proposals to reform the rules in order to find a solution to raiding.

Most recently, we particpated in the April 2010 CLC Structural Review Conference which included a discussion about raiding. We had real hope for progress.

Our union has proposed that the following principles guide any policy for dealing with raiding:

• There should be a penalty against the raiding union that would go to the raided union to cover the damages of defending against the raid;
• There should be strong, strict and certain consequences for the union that raided; and,
• The rules and penalties for raiding must be consistently applied.

Recent actions

Unfortunately, despite our attempts, over many years, to get the CLC to deal with the issue of raiding, there has been no progress.

Today there is very little in the rules to deter unions from raiding in the labour movement.

In fact, when a raid occurs, the raiding union often remains in the “House of Labour” and ends up with a financial gain through increased dues from their new members.

We find it difficult to continue participating in CLC activities at the national level when our partner unions around the table are violating a fundamental cornerstone of labour unity.

That’s why we decided to suspend our participation in CLC activities – at the national level only.

NUPGE and its Components remain committed to continuing our participation in provincial Federations of Labour and community Labour Councils across the country.

Unfortunately, rather than deal with the problem of raiding at the national level, the CLC has decided to make the situation worse by expelling NUPGE and its Components from the Federations of Labour and Labour Councils.

It’s disappointing that the CLC has made this decision.