March 30, 2009

Judge dodges issue of worker rights in election spending decision

VANCOUVER, BC - In his decision to overturn Bill 42, which imposed election spending limits on third parties, BC Supreme Court Justice Frank Cole chose to sidestep the question of the democratic rights of workers who do not support their union’s political views.

Two educators: Gloria Laurence, a CUPE member, and Wendy Weis, a member of BCTF, were parties to the court case to try to prevent their unions from spending their mandatory dues to attack a government they support.

“We are extremely disappointed that Justice Cole, while acknowledging that supporting political parties is not part of collective bargaining, refused to take any steps to protect the rights of these workers,” said Philip Hochstein President of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), who supported the two educators in their legal fight. “Someone needs to stand up to British Columbia’s labour unions to stop them from using the dues of working men and women to finance their political agenda." 

“In the 2005 election, four B.C. unions spent nearly $3 million trying to get the NDP elected,” added Hochstein. “And this decision gives the labour movement even more power to use member’s dues against their will for distasteful political ads like the recent Gordon Campbell Hates You Campaign.” 

A public opinion poll by the Canadian Labour Watch Association found that about 80 per cent of union members oppose the use of union dues for political purposes. 

“What this decision really makes clear is that BC must get in line with the rest of the world by passing a law that forces unions to collect political action money on a voluntary basis, rather than through union dues,” said Hochstein.

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