British Columbia survey shows religion is on decline

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... Native American land under siege SOCIALIST ACTION NOVEMBER 2016 11 The Canadian census mandatory long-form has, for many years, been an important guide for the government to understand the extent of religious belief in the coun­ try. The census results are used to assist government in providing social and cultural resources to the population according to greatest need and demographics. Secular humanists, however, have long wondered if the word­ ing on the census was too favorable towards religion and skewed the results.

The British Columbia Humanist Association (BCHA) set out to inquire further into this subject by hiring In­ sights West, a survey company, to conduct 800 on-line interviews between May 31 and June 3, 2016. The BCHA hoped to find out more detail about people’s religious be­ liefs and practice. The results were quite marked. While 56% of respondents replied that they believed in the ex­ istence of a higher power (26% did not believe and 18% ... Teachers (continued from page 3: “Chicago teachers cancel strike and accept contract”) the third year, and 2.5 percent in the fourth year. Teachers will retain “step-and-lane” pay hikes for experienced teachers based on seniority, special skills, and training, but will start pay­ ing higher health insurance costs in 2019 and beyond. The union negotiators agreed to initial member payment of nearly 1 percent of annual total pay.

The contract eliminates a no-layoff provision from the earlier contract, and thereby acknowl­ edges school board plans to lay off members in coming years. It would give teachers with years of service a cash bonus if they resign or retire and leave the school system by next summer.

Under the pact, some tenured teachers im­ pacted by layoffs can be given the option to fill temporary vacant positions for up to 10 months while earning full pay and benefits.

Also, teachers of kindergarten through second grade with a class size of 32 or more students can receive an assistant to help with classroom instruction. However, such assistance will not (continued from page 6: “Native American land under siege”) ment today, and then the construction will stop.” Labor for Standing Rock An important development is the establishment of the rank-and-file “Labor for Standing Rock” (LSR), which is challenging AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s support for DAPL (see Facebook Labor for Standing Rock). Trumka described DAPL as, incred­ ibly, “providing over 4500 high-quality, family-sup­ porting jobs.” But, as the saying goes, “There are no ... Women strike (continued from page 12: “Women strike around the world for equal rights”) women’s pay is equal. Women are saying that is not acceptable.

In the capital, Reykjavik, thousands of women gath­ ered in the central square when they had walked out of offices, shops, factories, and schools. There were similar but smaller actions all around the country.

Women in Iceland have a long history of resorting to strikes as their favored tactic of protest. While in oth­ er countries women may demonstrate, organize ral­ lies, or just decide to lobby for law reform, in Iceland they usually decide to withdraw their labor power from the economy. The tactic has gotten some results and empowers women for their next struggle.

On the same date, Oct. 24, in 1975, 90% of the wom­ en in rural and urban Iceland went on strike, which they called a “day off.” They left their jobs, refused to cook or do housework, or take care of the children. Many industries had to shut down, newspapers were not printed, there was no telephone service, and most schools were closed. They wanted to illustrate the im­ portance of women, and protest their lack of political were unsure), when the same people were asked in a separate question if they actually practiced a particular religion or faith, 69% responded that they did not. When asked whether they ever attended religious services at a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue, 55% indicated that they never attended, 23% indicated that they only attended on holidays or for special events, 4% attended once or twice a month, 5% only several times a year, and only 11% attended once a week or more.

The results indicate that religious observance, through attendance at a religious institution, is low regardless of whether people profess to believe in a higher power. Sixty per cent said they supported charitable status for religious groups. However, when this question was bro­ ken down into separate questions about specific govern­ ment subsidies (tax exemptions and income tax credits) for houses of worship, parking lots, and clergy residences, support dropped significantly with 51%, 68%, and 58% opposed, respectively. The support for subsidy to institu­ be provided to special education teachers and clinicians who were especially dissatisfied with the agreement.

Clinicians face extreme challenges, and with community activists had been demanding re­ lief. Currently, there are only 300 social work­ ers to handle a CPS student population of over 350,000. Union leaders are telling their mem­ bers and the community that this issue is not “strikable,” and public pressure and lobbying will be necessary to build awareness of these is­ sues in the future.

During negotiations the mayor finally agreed to tap the $175 million Tax Increment Financing Account surplus. To support the deal roughly half of this fund surplus is scheduled to be al­ located to the Chicago Public schools. The CTU had been demanding use of these funds that have traditionally gone to new business devel­ opment projects. The contract and local budget assumes that the state legislature in Springfield will come up with $215 million in pension relief money due in January 2017. If the state fails to meet this obligation, additional teacher layoffs may be implemented to pay for the resulting budget deficit. n jobs on a dead planet.” An on-line statement opposing Trumka’s “business unionism” was issued by “Labor for Palestine,” which garnered over 12,000 signers. Michael Letwin, a co-founder of LSR, is a veteran of the Wounded Knee support movement in 1973 and former president of the Association of Legal Aid At­ torneys, UAW Local 2325, in New York City. Letwin said, “Escalating police attacks against unarmed wa­ ter protectors at standing rock on behalf of the oil and gas industry evokes images of Wounded Knee in 1890 and 1973, brutality against the civil rights movement, power and equal pay. At the time, women made 40% less than men.

In 2005, women left work at 2:08 p.m. the time at which they said they would have started working for free. In 2008, they went on strike at 2:25 p.m. This year, a 20-year-old striker talked about how disheartening it is to see the continuing pay gap: “We know that no country in the world has reached gen­ der equality, but today reminds me that not even the country that is supposed to have the most equal rights pays women the same as men.”

United States Many feminists in the United States have been marveling at the amazing pictures of the strikes and marches in these three countries. But how is it possi­ ble to look at what has happened there and not look at what happens here? What are the basic differences? All three countries had an element of militancy rarely seen in the U.S. In every country the organizers spoke about the actions empowering women. That is what strikes and mass actions achieve. In Argentina every year women organize marches with 50,000 or 60,000 women in the streets, and there are confer­ ences with thousands of women who strategize how to move forward the struggle for women’s rights.

... Spain (continued from page 4: “Spain: Socialist Party in crisis as right-wing government is formed”) the Socialist Party and forms its most conservative and au­ thoritarian segment. In light of the abstentions, the PSOE has lost considerable standing as an opposition party to the PP.

The big winner is perhaps the left-populist party Podem­ os. Podemos refused to nego­ tiate with the PP. It proposed an electoral coalition in op­ position to austerity with the PSOE and Ciudadanos, an an­ ti-corruption capitalist party. But both parties rejected the proposal, and Ciudadanos formed a coalition with the PP.

Podemos has been clear on its support of regional auton­ omy and the right to indepen­ dence for the Basque Coun­ try and the Catalan region. Podemos is now only a few percentage points behind the tions such as religious hospitals also dropped significant­ ly if these institutions were seen to discriminate in human resource decisions against a job candidate or employee based on the person’s religious beliefs (56% strongly opposed and 19% somewhat opposed), and support for government subsidized religious hospitals significantly dropped if they refused to provide specific services to the public such as abortions or doctor-assisted dying (52% strongly opposed and 19% somewhat opposed).

Ian Bushfield, the executive director of the BCHA re­ marked that “Religion is on the wane in BC. In its place is an increasingly secular and non-religious constituency that politicians and policy makers will need to pay atten­ tion to. ...

“As B.C. becomes increasingly irreligious, it is up to re­ ligious groups to justify the entitlements they continue to enjoy at taxpayer’s expense. ... The state doesn’t need to continue to privilege religious world views over secular ones.” n PSOE in polls, and has posi­ tioned itself as the only signifi­ cant political force opposed to austerity and the attacks on workers rights.

But Podemos may not be able to take advantage of the crisis within the PSOE, as it faces its own internal crisis. Currently, there is a power struggle be­ tween Pablo Iglesias, the gen­ eral secretary of Podemos, and the number-two leader of the party. In addition, a sig­ nificant dissident current has emerged from within Podem­ os that is demanding greater internal party democracy and inclusiveness.

The situation remains fluid, and only time and the Span­ ish people will determine the outcome of the current politi­ cal crisis. While the right has regained control, their power has never been more fragile since the end of the Franco dic­ tatorship 40 years ago. n and state violence today from Ferguson and Baltimore to Palestine.” He continued, “The labor movement has faced similar violence throughout its history, and from the same forces of greed and injustice.”

Over the weekend of Oct. 28-29, a dozen LSR mem­ bers established a campsite at Standing Rock with a flag that stated “Union Camp.”

As Water Protector Dallas Goldtooth said in a re­ cent video, “Colonization hasn’t ended. This process of imperialism where we are regulated in our ability to decide what happens to our land, our water, our bodies, our futures in an overtly militarized law en­ forcement, we stand strong and committed to peace­ ful disobedience and to stop this pipeline.” n When you look at the United States the women’s movement looks tranquil. What is the difference? One thing is that the movements in Poland, Argentina, and Iceland are independent of political parties. In the United States the Democrats undermine, control, and manipulate grassroots movements. They prom­ ise incremental change, which becomes meaningless. No wonder those pictures of strikes and mass actions captivated feminists here! Notice that in Poland after the women’s strike the ruling party did not say that they would “make changes” to the hated legislation. They said their members should vote against it.

Also, compare the tactic of the strike to the main tactic of most U.S. women’s organizations—lobbying. Lobbying politicians for small reforms is the most dis­ empowering activity for any movement. Strikes are the most empowering.

Feminists in the United States who want a movement that empowers women should take the first step; they must cut the chain and start building a movement in­ dependent of Democrats and Republicans.

We need to learn from the militancy of other coun­ tries and not just admire their pictures. It’s time to build the independent power necessary to move for­ ward our struggle for women’s rights. n

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SOCIALIST ACTION Pall Stefansson