Root of Democracy

by James Shelley, January 7, 2012
Readability | Instapaper

About 465 people in my city are in the middle of a labor dispute that is rippling across North America, even provoking substantial reporting in the New York Times,1 Reuters2 and the Wall Street Journal.3

At issue: an American company (Caterpillar) who owns a local locomotive plant (Electro-Motive Diesel) has locked out the unionized (Canadian Auto Workers) workforce who voted to strike if necessary4 against a renewed labor contract that would cut the worker’s wage in half and eliminate their pensions.5 Caterpillar asserts that the current wage levels are not “sufficiently flexible and cost competitive in the global marketplace.“6 The union argues that Caterpillar is highly profitable, with sales up 30% in the past three months7 — not to mention CEO Douglas R. Oberhelman’s compensation of $10,550,300.00 last year.8 But according to Caterpillar, the cost of wages and benefits at the plant here are already double the amount at the company’s facility in Illinois.9 Some union representatives are suggesting that Caterpillar’s plan is to simply move operations out of Canada altogether and into cheaper labor markets in the United States.10

In short: it’s the perfect recipe for a very bitter dispute.

It’s also a perfect recipe for churning up some juicy political rhetoric. When so many jobs are on the line in a fragile local economy (9.6% jobless rate11 in December) tempers tend to bare their political stripes quite clearly.

The standard Conservative message from the federal government, as articulated by MP Susan Truppe: “We don’t have jurisdiction over this…Because this is a private company, it falls between the company and the union.“12

Not so fast, says NDP MP Irene Mathyssen: “It was only three years ago Stephen Harper used this very plant as a backdrop to announce a $5 million federal tax break for this already profitable company.” 13

Well, yes, but that was different, replies Harper spokesman Carl Vallée: “The Prime Minister’s [2008] announcement related to the government’s tax policies for all companies. A low tax environment is the best way to ensure job creators come to Canada and stay in Canada, as proven by the nearly 600,000 jobs created in Canada since July 2009.”14

The Conservatives have a double-standard, says Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union.: “The federal government certainly had no problem interfering in bargaining between Air Canada and the CAW last year,” What’s more, “Caterpillar declared a gain of $1.3 billion in assets on its books following the takeover of EMC. The federal government now says that the takeover did not meet the threshold of $299 million for a full review, or to seek legally-binding commitments to Canada.“15

Frustrated? No matter what your political predispositions are, you found an argument above to support your case. Whether you think corporate tax cuts are positive or negative, whether you tend toward protectionism or wide open markets, whether you are for or against unions, whether you want a hands-off government or a governing mediator — whatever lens you look through — you’ll see this whole dispute through your ideological filter.

And damn it, this whole debacle just goes to prove your point, doesn’t it?

So is there really such a thing as objectivity? I hope there is, but I can’t imagine any other way to find this allusive perspective apart from sitting together in issue-centric, non-personal, mutually respectful arenas of discourse… and I don’t see many people doing this in the civic sphere. Federally, provincially, municipally, we all seem to have our minds made up already. We do not have arenas of discourse, tragically — but we seem to have quite a few arenas of dogma, wherein predetermined ideologies pummel each other like moral inquisitions.

At the root of democracy there must be a space where we are allowed to change our minds, alter our opinions, and try out some new lenses on the world. If we lose this space to experiment and learn then we are left with no option than to polarize and attack one another.

Somewhere between proselytizing our assured ideas and excusing ourselves for our flippant uncertainty is a sacred middle ground.

I still choose to believe we can go there together.

I am still a dogmatic moderate.16

  1. Caterpillar Locks Out Workers in Canada, By Ian Austen, New York Times, January 2, 2012 [↩]
  2. CAW seeks strike OK at Caterpillar plant, Lynn Adler, Reuters, Thu, 29 Dec, 2011 [↩]
  3. Caterpillar, Rio Initiate Lockouts in Canada, Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty, Caroline Van Hasselt, January 3, 2012 [↩]
  4. CAW Members at Caterpillar vote 97 per cent in Favour of Strike Action, if Necessary, CAW, December 30, 2011 [↩]
  5. Unions face new fiscal reality, Scott Taylor, The London Free Press, January 6, 2012; also see: CAW seeks strike OK at Caterpillar plant, Lynn Adler, Reuters, Thu, 29 Dec, 2011 [↩]
  6. EMC Update page, accessed on January 7, 2012, at 12:09 a.m. [↩]
  7. Caterpillar’s three-month global sales rise 30%, Bob Tita, MarketWatch, Dec. 19, 2011, 11:05 a.m. EST [↩]
  8. Douglas R. Oberhelman Forbes Profile [↩]
  9. EMC Update page, accessed on January 7, 2012, at 12:47 a.m. [↩]
  10. UPDATE 1-Caterpillar unit rejects CAW contract extension request, Reuters, Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:56pm EST [↩]
  11. Jobless rate drops but …, Hank Daniszewski, London Free Press, January 6, 2012 [↩]
  12. On the political hot seat, Scott Taylor, London Free Press, January 5, 2012 [↩]
  13. CATERPILLAR LOCKOUT REQUIRES GOVERNMENT ACTION NDP MPs SAY, 2012 01 06, Irene Mathyssen [↩]
  14. Tories mum on lockout at plant Harper used to tout corporate tax cuts, Globe & Mail [↩]
  15. CAW Questions Government Claims Regarding Electro-Motive Assets, Calls for Full Disclosure of Sale, Canada NewsWire, Jan. 5, 2012 [↩]
  16. James Shelley, Creed of the Dogmatic Moderate, April 25, 2011 [↩]