Mulroney-Harper alliance bad news for Canada's workers

Mulroney has emerged as one of Harper's most important advisers in the June 28 Canadian election campaign. He is also the chairman of Quebecor World of Montreal, one of the largest commercial print media services companies anywhere.

Quebecor has just been blasted by U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry for gross interference with American employees who want to join a union. (Full text below.)

Now, 11 years after the fact, he is making a comeback of sorts through his association with Harper — and workers are justified in being uneasy. Harper is opposed to unions and workers on general ideological grounds. Mulroney is opposed for practical business reasons - the fewer unions there are, and the weaker they are, the better it is for the bottom line.

Cause for concern

The Quebecor union-busting campaign came to light in Canada with the release last week of a damning letter from Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, to Quebecor World. He addressed it to Quebecor president Pierre Peladeau and copied it to Mulroney, John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO in Washington, and George Tedeschi, president of the Graphic Communications International Union. The full text follows:

Mr. Pierre Karl Peladeau
President and Chief Executive Officer
Quebecor World, Inc
612 St. Jacques Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3C 4M8

Dear Mr. Peladeau:

I would like to express my continuing support for workers employed by Quebecor World, Inc. who are attempting to form a union. Forming and joining a union is a fundamental right under federal law that all working people deserve the freedom to exercise in representation elections, unencumbered by management interference.

After speaking with Larry Johnson a maintenance department employee in your Olive Branch, Mississippi plant I am deeply concerned by what I have heard. Mr. Johnson described an atmosphere of fear in the Mississippi plant of fear created by management to prevent workers from forming a union. He offered personal accounts of being followed by supervisors, reprimanded for talking to his co-workers about forming a union and forced to attend anti-union meetings - all clear violations of the rights granted under the National Labor Relations Act. Mr. Johnson assured me that workers in every Quebecor plant where workers are attempting to form a union are subject to similar abridgements of their rights.

My concerns are reinforced by 41 unfair labor practice charges that have been filed with the U.S National Labor Relations Board detailing specific incidents where Quebecor's management has interfered with and intimidated workers attempting to form a union. Although these are serious charges the remedies seldom counteract the effect of management's actions.

For these reasons I have strongly supported the Employee Free Choice Act. This federal legislation ensures that when a majority of employees in a workplace decide to form a union, they can do so without the debilitating obstacles employers now use to block workers' right to choose union representation. The Act will streamline the process of forming a union by respecting the decision of a majority of workers, by bypassing the contentious and delay-prone National Labor Relations Board election procedure.

This legislation proposes a process that is very similar to the process in Quebec. Major corporations such as Hilton Hotels, Daimler-Chrysler and Johnson Controls have determined that a process of card check neutrality is in their best interest. I support the Graphic Communications International Union in their quest for securing this process in the United States. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to refrain from abridging the rights of Quebecor workers guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act.

Sincerely,

Sen. John F. Kerry

cc: John Sweeney, President AFL-CIO
Hon. Brian Mulroney, Chairman Quebecor World, Inc.
George Tedeschi, President GCIU

Mulroney's attack dog responds

Neither Peladeau nor Mulroney have replied to the Kerry letter.

Instead, Luc Lavoie, Mulroney's former press secretary and long-time faithful attack dog, issued the kind of smear-laden statement Canadians have become accustomed to reading when the former prime minister senses trouble.

Lavoie, now a vice-president of Quebecor World, refused to comment directly on the allegations made by Kerry. Instead, he assailed the U.S. presidential candidate's motives, accusing him of unfairly criticizing Quebecor (and by inference Mulroney).

"It's a well-known tactic . . . the idea is, you target a company and use any means necessary to smear them so they will give up on a number of legal points," Lavoie said.

"Obviously he's in an election campaign and every vote counts, including those of the AFL-CIO. We are going to reply to Mr. Kerry in the most respectful way . . . we are not going to give in."

Praise from Harper

On the same day the Kerry letter was making headlines, Harper paused during his election campaign to praise Mulroney for his help in uniting the former Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties into the new Conservative party prior to the Canadian election.

"Mr. Mulroney was very supportive — as (were former Reform leader Preston) Manning and Mr. (Mike) Harris and all kinds of people — very, very supportive of bringing the parties together," Harper said.

"He provided me, when I've asked, with very insightful advice on not just Quebec, but on Canadian politics."

Meanwhile, Harper has hinted that he may appoint Mulroney senators to his cabinet if he becomes prime minister after June 28 - and lacks MPs from Quebec.

Mulroney's corporate network

Mulroney has aligned himself with a wide range of corporations since leaving politics, reaping millions in the process.

As well as chairman of the board at Quebecor World, he is a director of Barrick Gold Corp. (Toronto), TrizecHahn Corp. (Toronto), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Decatur, Illinois), Cendant Corp. (New York), AOL Latin America, Inc. (New York) and Cognicase Inc. (Montreal).

He is a senior coulsellor to Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, a global private equity fund in Dallas, chairman of Forbes Global (New York).

He is also chairman of various international "advisory boards" and "councils" for many international companies, including Barrick, Gold, Hicks, Power Corp. (Montreal), Bombardier (Montreal), the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (Beijing), J. P. Morgan Chase and Co. (New York), Violy, Byorum and Partners (New York), VS&A Communications Partners (New York), Independant Newspapers (Dublin) and General Enterprise Management Services Limited (British Virgin Islands).

GCIU thanks Kerry

George Tedeschi issued a statement on behalf of the GCIU praising Sentaor Kerry as an ally of working families in the United States.

"On behalf of the 75,000 men and women of the GCIU, I applaud him for his efforts to help Quebecor workers win justice on the job," Tedeschi said.

Kerry supports efforts by Quebecor World workers to establish "majority verification," (sometimes called "card check') as the best way to ensure workers can form a union without the debilitating obstacles employers set up to block their free choice.

Majority verification is an election in which workers use authorization cards as ballots. Once a majority of workers have signed the cards, the company recognizes their union. Kerry has sponsored pending legislation that would mandate majority verification elections.

The organization drive at Quebecor, launched in December 2003, is an unprecedented effort by workers and their unions throughout the world to win basic human rights on the job at Quebecor World's facilities. Workers in the United States want a fair, democratic process to form a union — free from management's harassment and intimidation. [NUPGE]

Web posted by NUPGE: 23 June 2004