The Rand Formula is under growing attack in Canada

Quebec's Young Liberals sound a warning that Canadian labour must take seriously Ottawa - There was a time when Liberals were vaguely liberal, not left-wing really, but loosely in favour of doing good and improving the lives of ordinary people. Then along came regimes like the budget-bashing federal Liberals of the 1990s, the Frank McKenna boardroom Liberals, who ruled New Brunswick for a decade, and the blatantly anti-worker British Columbia Liberals of Gordon Campbell. Over the past two decades Canada's political landscape has changed dramatically. No longer is it necessary for voters to elect Conservative politicians to put conservatives in power. The most liberal of today's Liberals are often more conservative than mainstream Conservatives were a generation ago. The latest wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Liberal is Jean Charest, the former federal Tory leader who is now the premier of Quebec. The packaging of Charest as a federalist has masked the fact that he remains as conservative as ever, running a "Liberal" government that is vastly more "bleu" ideologically than "rouge."

Established in 1946

All of which may explain why Quebec's Young Liberals, at a weekend conference in Trois Rivieres, voted to abolish the Rand Formula, which dates back to 1946 and forms the basis of Canadian trade unionism.

This regressive, libertarian vote, which will give heart to big business lobby groups, like the Fraser Institute, and anti-union commentators, like those who rule the National Post, and pollute open-line radio, was passed by a strong majority of young Liberal delegates attending the meeting.

Whatever the motive, the vote should sound alarm bells throughout the entire Canadian labour movement. In fact, everyone who cares about fairness in the Canadian workplace should be concerned.

Charest was smart enough to refrain from instantly embracing the motion. Headlines quoted him as saying the motion does not represent government policy. But that doesn't mean he is not in favour of it. In fact, Charest indicated that the proposal will now go forward to the Quebec Liberal congress in November, where it will be considered by the full party.

Thus, the stage has been quietly set for the ruling party, in Canada's second largest province, to seriously debate the abolition of what amounts to the heart and soul of the labour movement in Canada.

Landmark compromise

The Rand Formula is a landmark arbitration handed down by Supreme Court Justice Ivan Rand on 29 January 1946 - following a 100-day strike by Ford auto workers.

"The Rand Formula is a form of union security whereby an employer deducts a portion of the salaries of all employees within a bargaining unit, union members or not, to go to the union as union dues (checkoff)," the Canadian Encyclopedia notes.

"The original formula was based on the assumption that the union is essential for all workers and must be responsible for them.

"Two interrelated provisions following from this assumption guaranteed the union the financial means to carry out its programs, and established the financial penalties for employees and unions engaging in work stoppages or illegal strikes," the reference book adds.

"For employees, these sanctions could consist of daily fines and loss of seniority; for the union, the suspension of union dues."

Benefits and responsibilities

The genius of Rand's decision is that it recognizes the benefits all workers derive from collective bargaining and the inherent obligation of each employee to contribute by paying union dues.

However, the views of employees opposed to unions were also taken into account by Justice Rand. He granted them the right not to join a union against their wishes, even though they enjoy all of the benefits gained through collective action.

The Rand Formula is a seminal compromise, balancing the competing rights of employers and employees on a variety of levels. It is so eminently fair that it has been adopted as a model in jurisdictions across Canada and beyond, including the United States. Nothing would do more damage to labour relations in Canada than to abolish it.

Yet forces are gathering to challenge and undo this historic formula. The vote by Quebec's Young Liberals is only the latest salvo in a growing wave of attacks.

Such assaults were once confined to extreme commentators and lobbyists, but they have now become common among influential business groups like the Fraser Institute and a growing number of militant columnists and laissez-faire politicians.

Wake-up call to labour

What happened over the weekend in Quebec should serve as a wake-up call to everyone who cares about the future of the Canadian labour movement. What happens at the Liberal congress in November will be even more notable.

At stake in the long run is nothing less than the survival of a labour movement, which has already been weakened by successive blows from right-wing governments like the Campbell Liberals in B.C., the Danny Williams Conservatives in Newfoundland, the former Mike Harris Tories in Ontario and the Ralph Klein Conservatives in Alberta.

By maintaining a balance between employers and employees, the Rand Formula has played a critical role in every improvement in  wages, benefits, pensions and other rights that workers have won for more than half a century. If it is lost, millions of workers will be the losers - for generations to come. (NUPGE)

Web posted by NUPGE: 10 August 2004

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