Super union would wage $50M drive

A proposed merger between the Canadian Auto Workers and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada would create a 310,000-member union dedicated to strengthening the embattled labour movement and waging the largest organizing drive in Canadian history, union leaders said Wednesday.

The new union would allocate 10 per cent of dues revenue or more than $50 million over five years to recruit new members - doubling what the CAW and CEP union currently spend on organizing, according to the final report recommending the merger.

"This is the largest coming together of two unions in the history of Canada," Dave Coles, CEP president, said at a news conference in Toronto. "It will have the ability to fight."

CAW president Ken Lewenza said the new union would be in a stronger position to fend off right-to-work laws that are becoming more prevalent throughout the United States.

"Do we want Canada to look like the U.S.?" said Lewenza. "We will fight for a larger, more influential role in the economy and society."

But bigger is not necessarily better, cautioned Charlotte Yates, political scientist and professor of labour studies at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Similar union mergers in such countries as the U.S., Britain and Australia have met with little, if any success, she said. "Yes, it increases membership and resources, and it gives them a foundation from which to become more powerful. But it's tough to do when you have two unions with different cultures and interests."

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said he wasn't "going to lose sleep" over the merger.

"They're trying to build as much strength as they can because they've been so ravaged by Canadians turning their backs on organized labour," said Kelly.

"I don't think they're going to be any more effective in penetrating small business because employees in small companies, for the most part, want to avoid unions like the plague."

In Canada, union membership has been falling steadily from just under 40 per cent in the 1970s to about 30 per cent.

While unionization in the public sector has remained steady, private sector unions "are literally fighting for their lives," the report said. "De-unionization in Canada's private sector is following the same trend as in the U.S., where less than seven per cent of workers now have the protection of a union."

The new union would also try to recruit members who are in unorganized workplaces, the unemployed and retired to broaden the union's appeal and build support in communities, the report said.

These new members will pay dues, and be allowed to participate in union activities, although details still have to be worked out.

The report also recommends changes in the way unions dues are calculated. Under the new structure, the dues formula will be set as a percentage of a members' regular wages - a change only for CAW members, whose dues are determined on the basis of a certain number of hours' pay.

The report caps eight months of discussions between the CAW, which represents 195,000 members and the 110,000-member CEP.

Late last month, the executive boards of the two unions approved the final recommendations by a special joint committee charged with the task of drawing up a report on the merger.

Delegates of the two unions will vote on the report at separate conventions in August and October. Acceptance would lead to a founding convention next year.

The committee report recommends a 25-member national elected board with representation from all regions, major industries and workers of colour.

Both Lewenza and Coles sidestepped questions on whether they would be seeking the leadership of the new union, saying that question won't be discussed until the union's founding convention.

"I can assure people there's no politics being played today," said Lewenza.

"It's about what kind of a vision we want for the country and we'll let our delegates decide who our next leadership of this union is going to be."

Added Cole: "Not at one time for one second has there been any discussion about who the leaders would be of this union. It is not the question. The question is to build the union and to build the movement."