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Denise Boucher is vice president of Quebec’s Confédération
des syndicats nationaux (CSN), a Canadian labor
confederation that groups 2,800 trade unions with a combined
membership of 300,000. CSN was one of the leading
organizations that participated in the “Labor Action and
Social Solidarity Economy” workshop, and it showed the
greatest development in this issue. Interviewed by
Sirel, Denise
spoke of the importance of the connection between trade
unions and the Social Solidarity Economy (ESS).
-Tell us about CSN.
-It’s the second most important labor organization in
Canada, it’s specifically francophone, and it promotes a
free, democratic model of trade unionism. It groups unions
in a full range of activities, like health, education and
other public sector activities, and private industries, such
as metallurgy, forestry and others.
-How was it that your organization came to be involved in
solidarity economy practices?
-It started quite a few years ago. We took up these
practices because we realized that workers were being
exploited by financial or credit banks, so we decided to
establish a body -called ACEF- with the purpose of
protecting family economy, helping families draw up budgets
for their expenses or showing them where to find credits
with lower interest rates. That was our first goal. Then we
went on to establish the Workers Economy Fund, which
some years ago became the Solidarity Economy Fund.
The decision came from the trade unions themselves, who
first established a fund that would cover their needs during
strikes and conflicts, but would also promote solidarity
economy companies and finance cultural bodies.
-Could you give an example?
-The worldwide famous Cirque du Soleil is organized
as a cooperative and when it started out it was unable to
obtain loans from conventional banks. They came to our Fund
and we had the immense pleasure of helping launch this
wonderful venture. Although it now handles millions of
dollars, Cirque du Soleil still has its accounts in
our Fund, and in that way it contributes to our work,
enabling us to further our policy. Another important aspect
of our work in this area is the help we provide companies
that have been recovered by their workers. We have a
department, the MCE Council, which is formed by
economists and fiscal experts. When we learn that a company
with unions affiliated to our confederation is in trouble we
offer our help, advising them, and these bankrupt companies
often turn into cooperative businesses that practice
democracy in the workplace. To sum up: we support our unions
through action, and then we address social needs, which we
commit ourselves to.
-And does it work?
-It certainly does. In 1998, the Quebec government
organized a large forum with the participation of civil
society organizations, under the Summit on Employment. At
that forum we unanimously decided to found the Social
Economy Site (Chantier de l'économie sociale), with the
support of the government. The Chantier is the main instance
of institutional coordination for social solidarity economy
actors and initiatives, and we have formed part of its
Administrative Council for many years. So, Quebec has
a Social Solidarity Economy culture. Nonetheless we still
feel we need to direct efforts to support it, because the
large financial institutions know very little or nothing at
all about it, and therefore we’ve implemented mechanism to
promote it. We also set up the Action Fund, which is a
social security savings fund where people deposit money to
retire with a better pension. Their savings are increased
through investments in cooperative or Social Solidarity
Economy companies. We don’t believe that the entire economy
should be a social economy, or that all companies must
belong to the State, but the option we, as trade unions,
have made is to do whatever we can to make Social Solidarity
Economy companies viable.
-For many the connection between a Social Solidarity Economy
and trade unionism is not evident. Why do you feel it’s
important?
-I would say it’s important for all of Quebec. We’re
the only francophone province in Canada, and at the
same time we’re very close to the United States, so
for us it is critical to underline the characteristics that
set our community apart. I think our members understand that
while we address social concerns, our first priorities are
still trade union action, negotiation, mobilizations and
other labor issues, and we’ll never neglect these. But we
must also be capable of being strongly engaged in social
matters, for many reasons, but most of all because we want
to strengthen a sector that can create jobs, jobs which the
dominant system is destroying through a number of ways. And
the government has the obligation of backing and supporting
this sector, which can absorb a portion of unemployment.
When the current prime minister, Jean Charest, who is
now into his third term, first took office, he tried to
destroy CSN, not just our trade union activities but
also our work as promoters of a social movement. But he
failed because even the major newspapers, which are owned by
neoliberal capitalists, know perfectly well that they can’t
attack us, because it would mean going against our own way
of being, the image that Quebec has in the rest of
Canada.
Like any other labor organization, we’ve received our share
of criticism, but many have also expressed their support, or
at least their recognition for our work.
-What is your evaluation of the “Labor Action and Social
Solidarity Economy” workshop in Lux’09 RIPESS?
-I’m pretty satisfied, as we were the ones who asked for
this workshop to be organized, because we think we need to
show our fellow labor organizations a range of models for
Social Solidarity Economy-trade union integration. Our
model is not perfect, but it’s very advanced with respect to
others we saw at the workshop. We also feel that there are
organizations, particularly in Europe, that view our
Social Solidarity Economy action as a commercial
gesture. But what we’re doing is providing support, social
support, which is something very different. In our opinion,
trade unions must be key social actors, they must commit
themselves to combating poverty and fighting for a greater
equality among regions, and they must also contribute to
create wealth through a model other than neoliberalism, in
which people will not be exploited like they are under
capitalism. I think this attitude creates spaces of
dialogue, and that -in this day and age- is a success all in
itself.
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