The fight against austerity in Quebec
2015Robbie Mahood 2015-07Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 8 →
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8 SOCIALIST ACTION JULY 2015 MONTREAL—Since it was elected with a majority in 2014, the Quebec Liberal government of Philippe Couillard has embarked on an aggressive austerity drive aimed at liquidating the social gains remaining from the class and national in surgency of the 1960s and ’70s.
Slashing budgets, opening up contracts to raid the pension plans of municipal employees, imposing new or higher user fees for public services, increasing the workload of teachers and nurses, elimi nating programmes to safeguard health and the environment or provide assis tance for vulnerable citizens—the gov ernment has cut a wide swath, targeting even privileged groups such as doctors.
This spring, anti-austerity mobiliza tion showed promise—spearheaded by a student strike—but it could not be sus tained. Expectations are now focussed on the renewal of the public-sector con tracts this fall.
The Common Front of public-sector unions represents some 400,000 work ers whose contracts will expire in Octo ber. The government insists on a two-year wage freeze and three more years of increases tied to inflation. But everyone knows that more is at stake than a fight over wages. A defeat for the Liberals would place its entire austerity agenda in jeopardy. Even a sustained struggle by the Common Front could bolster the morale of the forces opposing the gov ernment.
The Liberals hold many cards in their hands. They exude an air of self-confi dence and absolute conviction. Aided by a pliant media, they will try to por tray government employees as lazy and pampered. Polls indicate support for the government and its austerity policies, at least for the moment. Couillard and his cronies can also rely on stepped up re pression—including, if required, a spe cial law aimed at forcing striking employ ees back to work.
In the anti-austerity camp there is un even consciousness and lack of strategic unity. The militant wing of the student movement, and many of the popular or ganizations that dot the Quebec political landscape, have absorbed the lesson of the 2012 “printemps d’érable” that only a general or “social” strike can defeat neoliberal governments.
In contrast, the bureaucratic union leaderships are trying to revive the class compromise of 50 years ago. Their plea to negotiate in good faith falls on deaf ears.
Undoubtedly, many union activists see the need for a radical re-orientation, in which the unions champion the demands of other sections of society, make com mon cause with them, and recognize the intransigence of the bosses.
Nevertheless, at the big union mobili zations, the last of which was in Novem ber 2014, the placards urging a return to collective bargaining were dominant, reflecting the strategic orientation of the union apparatus.
Missing is a cross-union tendency ready to fight for a revitalized labour move ment by advancing a class-struggle pro gram that rejects the concertationist line of the union brass. At present, there is no political leadership in Quebec capable of spearheading such a tendency.
Although disposed in theory towards the perspective of a social strike against austerity, Quebec Solidaire (QS), lacks the base and the political will to build an opposition in the unions. While ensuring a presence at all the big anti-austerity mobilizations, QS does not provide lead ership. Its role is reduced to being the (hoped for) beneficiary at the ballot box of the radicalizing dynamic in the move ment.
With these caveats in mind, it is wise not to have exaggerated hopes. Neverthe less, the looming confrontation in the fall, may bring surprises.
Quebec has a history of struggles be coming quickly generalized across the society. At the least, there will be lessons for future struggles that this bankrupt social system is sure to produce. n