Manitoba NDP chooses new premier

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A Minister Greg Salinger, 58, became NDP provincial “Before being elected to the Legislature, Selinger had La history of being a popular City Councillor and a key Leader and Premier-elect by defeating a challenger contributor to CHO!CES, a coalition of leftist indepenfrom the left, MLA Steve Ashton, 53. “Race for top job dent community activists. As Finance Minister he has in Manitoba pits centre against left”, read a headline in brought in ten fairly progressive and balanced budgets and was seen as largely responsible for Manitoba being Not so, according to long-time socialist Harry Paine. relatively able to fend off the effects of the current global He was one of the 2003 delegates who packed the Win- financial crisis. He also instituted an open community nipeg Convention Centre on Oct. 17 for the party lead- consultative process in the period leading up to budget ership vote. The difference wasn’t left versus right. The issue was who is best able to keep the labour-based “‘Renewal’ was the slogan adopted by the Provincial NDP in government in Manitoba, the prairie province Executive going into this Leadership Campaign and that (population 1.2 million) just north of Minnesota and was probably an accurate choice as the departure of Doer marks a shift to a greater involvement of commuIn a report to the NDP Socialist Caucus, Paine wrote: nity based influences in the party and the government. “More significant for anyone attempting to gauge the How that will reflect itself in policy is hard to say at this level of consciousness of the NDP membership and consequently how that reflects the consciousness of “Poverty is still a big issue in Manitoba especially in Manitobans was the fact that the first candidate out of much of the rural farm areas, for those on a fixed income, the gate, Andrew Swan (a younger cabinet minister), and in almost all of the First Nations reserves and comchose to drop out of the race after a couple of weeks. munities. At the same time there is a shortage of skilled There was some speculation that the Third Way (neo- labour and fairly dramatic population growth. While the liberal) machine that had been running the party for effects of the latest crisis of Capitalism have not been the last couple of decades had been grooming Swan to felt as much in Manitoba as other provinces, there is wear the mantle of Gary Doer (the 10-year Premier who considerable nervousness and discussion among those left office to become Canada’s ambassador to the United States), but the first few NDP delegate selection meetings indicated a much stronger intervention by commu- ist alternative is little more than a band-aid solution to nity activists and Swan was unable to get more than a cover the open sores of capitalism and make life a little more tolerable. On the positive side there is a growing “In the few short weeks of the campaign leading up to consciousness that there needs to be a fundamental the delegate selection meetings the membership more structural change in the distribution of wealth in socithan doubled and therein was the first serious contro- ety. Interest is renewed in the lessons of the past, and versy. The Steve Ashton campaign was accused of signing up hundreds of new members from within ethnic I asked Harry Paine about grassroots involvement. He communities, many of whom had little or no real loyalty responded, “Activists in Manitoba are not so much in to the NDP. This raised the whole question of voting pro- political party life, as they are involved in community cess and the ugly head of ‘One Member, One Vote’ arose organizations. I think that is becoming somewhat universal as capitalism declines dramatically; the working “Ashton tried to present as the more traditional left class has to rely more on its defensive organizations. candidate, but surrounded himself with some ques- The challenge for socialists is how do we integrate the tionable and opportunistic public face supporters. The transitional demands of a socialist program into the Chair of his campaign committee was maverick City pragmatic concerns of these defensive community orCouncillor Russ Wyatt who has joined, and quit, the party depending on his need for assistance from the NDP “Manitoba has one of the highest rates of volunteerism electoral machine. Main union support came from the in North America. One in three Manitobans volunteer in Firefighters Union, which is often just as comfortable their community. Of course that includes sports coaches and Girl Guide leaders, but there are huge numbers who “Greg Selinger was able to garner support from a much are working with the homeless, the aged, in food banks, wider sector of the working-class organizations that included almost all of the MLAs, the Manitoba Federation “These people often support the NDP because it is a of Labour, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives lot easier to get grants and legislation passed with them staff and most of the constituencies’ traditional activ- than it was with the Tories in government. The fact that ists. He was seen as a leader who could bring the party community representatives are listened to and consultLed does more to keep our membership figures up than Socialist Action november 2009 9 According to the business media, Manitoba Finance the Toronto Star.

North Dakota. handful of delegate supporters. once again. supporting Tory candidates as it is backing the NDP. together into the ‘Renewal’ mode. production. time. looking for answers.

Marxism is very much on the discussion agenda.” ganizations?

and so on. “Community activism that doesn’t pose a clear social- strikebreakers? lieve the only real answer is to overthrow capitalism. strength of the NDP riding association.

“In spite of his popularity, Gary Doer was seen as beSenate, is where Doer properly belongs.” part were an unprincipled combination. ally believed Ashton was serious about his program.”

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NEW YORK—What began in August 2008 as a strike at the Stella D’Oro bakery in the Bronx became an 11-month protracted war and one of the great labor battles in recent New York history. The Stella D’Oro workers became a national symbol of resistance to a heartless economic system.

Stella bosses had demanded slashing wages as much as 25 percent, making insurance premiums unaffordable and eliminating holidays, vacation, and sick pay. During the strike not one of the 136 strikers crossed the line, a rare achievement.

After 78 years, on Oct. 8, Stella D’Oro’s owners, Brynwood Partners of Connecticut, closed its doors and laid off all of its workers in an act of outright union busting. Brynwood sold the bakery Sept. 9 to Lance, Inc., a non-union junk-food company, for an undisclosed amount, estimated at $12 to $17 million. Lance is moving all production to its non-union plant in Ashland, Ohio.

After a Stella boss announced the closing, one worker, George Kahassi, shouted into his face, “The workers united will never be defeated!”

About 90 workers chanted along with Kahassi for several emotion-filled minutes. The workers then Marty Goodman / Socialist Action cleared out their lockers and filed out, some in tears, but as labor heroes nonetheless. In a personal tragedy, one Stella worker of 29 years lost his father the day before he also lost his job.

The Stella workforce is mostly Latino, but also Italian, Greek, Albanian, West African, Eritrean, and Indian. They are represented by Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM). About a week after the shutdown, workers received contractual severance pay, although one estimate puts outstanding compensation at 40 percent.

Typical of the capitalists that have thrown millions into unemployment lines, Brynwood is a Wall Street hedge fund that boasts of delivering high profits to wealthy investors—meaning, of course, profits on the backs of working people!

The investment firm of Goldman-Sachs, the largest recipient in federal bailout funds ($12.9 billion), is a major investor in Brynwood Partners. Goldman-Sachs plans to distribute $16 billion in employee bonuses in 2009.

Over the years Brynwood received $425,000 in city tax breaks to keep production and jobs in the Bronx. City officials claim that there is no legal recourse under New York laws to prevent bosses from absconding with machinery paid for, in part, by New York’s working class. Moreover, capitalist law is so rigged that it is legally difficult to stop companies from closing plants in retaliation for a union’s unwillingness to accept concessions, although a Local 50 appeal is pending.

What is needed to stop company shutdowns and save jobs is mobilizing the power of the labor movement to stop scabs in their tracks and shut down production cold. Reliance on the boss-friendly court system is a trap for workers.

On June 30, in response to a union appeal, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Brynwood had “bargained in bad faith” and ordered the company to take back the workers and negotiate a contract. In an act of retaliation, the company announced the day the workers returned on July 7 that it would close in 90 days. Throughout, the local City Labor Council affiliate of the AFL-CIO did nothing to mobilize workers. Stella workers assess their struggle Emile Dorsu, a Ghanian immigrant and Stella packer, told Socialist Action, “I was thinking it’s been a failure. But, after speaking to some people, they say that we motivated them. We proved that we can stand up and fight. That makes me feel like, ‘OK, even if we didn’t win now, we have set some example for people to fight for what they believe in.’ She added, “That makes me feel good.”

Shop steward Mike Filippou said, “If we had 20,000 workers around Stella, the bosses couldn’t win. The labor movement is so weak. When we wanted to sit-down to get what we earned, they said they were afraid of lawsuits. The bosses take advantage of that, and the laws are made for them.”

He added, “Our Stella D’Oro Support Committee was a great thing. We had many rallies. We had people from every corner of the labor movement.” Filippou was suspended during the final month in retaliation, although there may be a negotiated deal on his status soon.

“I’m very proud of my co-workers,” Filippou told Socialist Action. “We stayed out and fought. But, it’s not over yet. We have to convince the city to allow CITGO petroleum [owned by the Venezuelan government] to make Brynwood sell it and make it into a worker co-op, as they’ve said they’re still willing to do.”

Only the physical Stella plant remains, owned by Brynwood. Thus far, Brynwood has not responded to CITGO. For a complete history of the Stella D’Oro struggle go to www.stelladorostrike.com. n