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June 7, 2002
Wrong attitude, CUPE
Editorial
The Canadian Union of Public Employees has passed a resolution
criticizing Israel and demanding a withdrawal from the occupied
territories. On the face of it, one might ask why a Canadian labor
union is taking a stand on an issue so far removed from its everyday
affairs. However, CUPE is a member-based democratic organization
and, like all Canadian individuals and groups, it has a right to
speak out freely.
What was saddening about the resolution, which was adopted by the
Ontario region of the union, is that it flies directly in the face
of what CUPE allegedly stands for: respect for working people and
free collective bargaining.
By taking a public stand against Israel, CUPE has spoken out against
the only Middle East nation that respects western standards of labor
relations. Israel is an exemplary state in terms of legislation
protecting workers and assurances of collective bargaining rights.
Indeed, the very state of Israel was partially founded on socialist,
labor and Zionist principles. The early pioneers of the kibbutz
movement and the founders of Israel's Labor party shared the kinds
of philosophical values purportedly held by CUPE and its allies
in the international labor movement.
While Israelis, Canadians and others take these rights for granted,
Arabs who live under Middle Eastern regimes other than Israeli can
only dream about the sorts of rights enjoyed by Israeli workers.
In the Palestinian context, the idea of workers' rights is a tragic
farce. Thanks to 53 years of varying degrees of what we now call
intifada, the Palestinians have almost no economic infrastructure.
Let's assume that, if the Palestinian leadership put down its arms
and attempted to build a fruitful state, there would be a growing
class of moderately successful working people. What sort of rights
might these workers expect from a newly independent Palestinian
state?
We can only guess, of course, because for 53 years the Palestinian
leadership has refused to work toward any truly democratic elements
of statehood. This allows both sides in the discussion an empty
canvas on which to imagine how a Palestinian state would behave
on labor issues and all other matters.
Even under the Oslo-created Palestinian Authority, a functional
justice system remains a fantasy, policing verges on vigilantism
and Yasser Arafat runs the place in a fashion more like his fellow
Arab dictators than like the leader of an emerging democracy.
It is nice of CUPE members to imagine themselves as defenders of
the downtrodden. Before getting too caught up in their sympathy
for the Palestinian cause, though, they might have taken a moment
to consider who the real friends of working people are in the Middle
East.
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