BC politics

cartoon by Bob Krieger at thetyee.ca

A little context for those of you not familiar with the bizarre world of BC politics. That's our premier, Gordon Campbell, after his arrest for drunk driving in Maui.

BC's teachers are being bashed over the head because 'they're breaking the law'. The law they're breaking is a grossly unfair one which imposed a contract on the teachers and prohibited them from striking.

This isn't a strike; it's civil disobedience. It's a political protest. (which is now underlined by the fact the Courts prohibited the union from giving picketing teachers strike pay) Laws are not created equal, and throughout history rulers have imposed laws which were unjust and which were rightly resisted by segments of the population.

Drunk driving is way more serious than disobeying a law passed by an arrogant government intent on breaking unions in BC.

"The UN convention of the ILO — # 87 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention (1948) — was signed by Canada and all 10 provinces in 1972.

In uncharacteristically blunt language, the ILO has ruled that the Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell repeatedly violated the rights of thousands of provincial employees by refusing to negotiate contracts with their unions, and by using the legislature to arbitrarily enforce its will.

As a remedy, the ILO has taken the unusual step of asking the B.C. government to repeal one bill entirely. It also recommended major amendments in other statutes enacted by the Liberals to enforce its will on employees."

This was in 2003. Things have only got worse since then.