Lux' 2009

RIPESS* Intercontinental Meeting

With Denise Boucher

Trade unions must also be key social actors

 

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.

   

 

En Luxemburgo, Carlos Amorín
Rel-UITA
12 de junio de 2009

 

 

 

 

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