Hudak’s Class Warfare Approach May Revive the Liberals

Tim Hudak has rolled the dice on a Class Warfare approach to the seemingly imminent Ontario election and, in the process is helping to breathe life into the moribund Ontario Liberal Party with an extremist message. Broadly speaking Hudak will attack the entire Labour movement with Right to Work (RTW) plus an attack on the public sector labour movement. One only needs to look at the fundraising speech where he clearly lays out his totalitarian plans.

RTW is a blatant attempt at nothing more than undercutting labour lowering wages benefits and pensions and using the savings to reward capital. As Bill Clinton aptly put it, Right to Work means the Right to Work for less.

Hudak doesn’t pull any punches as he attacks wind and solar power as official fart catcher for the fossil fuel, and nuclear industry.

Under Hudak we, are in for another round of deregulation. Haven’t we seen this movie before, fewer environmental, food, health and safety regulations?  Hudak openly proposes this stupidity.

He clearly states that tax savings will go to “job creators” large corporations that are already enjoying a low tax regime and still sitting on their ...um... assets and refusing to invest.

Hudak’s plans include removing Toronto control over TTC rail assets.

He is demanding Merit Pay (performance pay) for teachers and nurses as an example. This is compounded by a 2 year wage freeze, unclear whether includes the Bill 115 period or only begins when Hudak legislates.

In a staggering attack on the teaching profession and all public sector workers, Hudak plans to phase out defined benefit pension plans such as OTPP and OMERS.

http://www.ontariopc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-04-09-Ontario-Can-Do-Better-Notes-for-Remarks-by-Ontario-PC-Leader-Tim-Hudak.pdf

This breathtaking plan will provoke “an equal and opposite reaction” as the two sides of the classic dialectic meet in mortal combat over the highest stakes in many elections.

I sometimes despair at the slow plodding response of the labour movement and some of its allies at the increasingly obvious agenda of some major sectors of the business community to roll back every single gain made by labour and workers since WW2.

At this point, teachers, education workers, CUPE, other PS unions and private unions take note. Everything you have ever worked for and everything you have achieved in the last almost 70 years in on the chopping block with Hudak.

Where do we go from here?

On one hand, Hudak and his Tea Party followers are at the gates leading most polls but without, at this point, enough strength to win a majority but elections matter.

On the other hand, teachers, CUPE, other education workers have not yet recovered from a bitter struggle with the Ontario Liberals over Bill 115. Asking them to rise up and smite Hudak by backing the OLP is close to asking too much. On the other hand, doing nothing leads to Hudak and;

·             -Further wage freezes

- Merit Pay attempts

- Attacks on public pensions

- The end of statutory membership

- Right to Work legislation.

Some major private sector unions such as the recently merged CEP-CAW union do not have the NDP support clause in the new constitution. UFCW is considering some support for Liberals under the circumstances.

The good news is that Hudak and the PCs are not positioned to win a majority AT THIS POINT.

That could lead to a highly circumscribed Hudak minority unable to implement the worst aspects of its agenda or some form of Liberal-NDP cohabitation an accord, a coalition government or a bill by bill negotiation similar to the present situation.

The polls are all over the map

What are the federations, unions, teachers, education workers and progressive allies to do in this situation?

- Electing Hudak would be a disaster

- Rewarding the Liberals after Bill 115 sends the wrong message

- Electing the NDP will be very difficult although a big leap forward is in the  cards.

There are 11 seats on top of the NDP incumbents where the NDP has an outstanding chance to defeat the Liberals and supporting the NDP does not allow the Tories to come up the middle.

This includes two seats in Windsor, four more seats in Toronto, Oshawa, and Ottawa Centre, two seats in Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie. If the election goes well there are more seats in Toronto, Kitchener, and Peterborough.

Beyond NDP incumbents and these 11-15 seats, if the Hudak PCs are to be defeated, it is only by supporting Liberals that this is possible.

That leaves education progressives exactly where they have been since 2003, strategic voting but that is not the same as supporting ALL Liberal and NDP incumbents. The Liberals must pay a stiff price for their treachery. The seats above are the price.

On the other hand, cutting off one’s nose to spite your face seems a bit foolhardy. Minority government is the answer.

Our future is in our hands. 

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