One in the same. Whether you like the NDP or not.
NDP Affiliation – What Does It Mean?
At the March 12th Provincial Council meeting, a motion was passed to affiliate COPE Local 397 with the NDP.
This issue was also discussed with members at the two membership meetings in February and March [in fact we advertised that this was going to be discussed on the meeting notice], and at the Steward’s meeting, which also took place in March. I have also discussed the implications of NDP affiliation at a number of meetings over the last couple of months and in the ‘President’s Message’ portion of the website posted on March 24th, 2010.
Background as to why this decision was taken can be read here » President's Message
I had asked that members call me if there were any questions and there have been a few enquiries from members recently which lead me to believe that there are some misconceptions as to what affiliation means.
So let’s clear them up.
Here are some questions that we have been getting.
Question: Is my name on a list that is being sent to the NDP?
Answer: No, absolutely not, we have a privacy policy and member’s names, addresses and other information are not shared outside this organization other than to do our annual survey. Never have been, never will be.
Question: Is there going to be a deduction from my paycheque for this initiative?
Answer: No. The affiliation fee is $.25 per member per month and this comes out of the dues that we already receive.
Question: I don’t want my dues supporting a political party.
Answer: No problem, while we will remain affiliated to the NDP as per the motion that was passed, we will remove the $.25 that represents 'your' portion of the monthly affiliation submission at your request. Just send us an email.
Question: Ok, this was discussed on the COPE website and at the monthly meetings but why wasn’t a notice sent to every member at SGI?
Answer: We aren’t allowed to distribute ‘political’ information through SGI’s mail distribution system, for obvious reasons. Aside from this though we have publicized this issue at meetings, membership meetings and our website, to make sure members are aware.
As always, if members have concerns over this, or any other issue, please don’t hesitate to call me at 535-4580.
Thanks.
Garry Hamblin
President
What pressure might people feel, who have no choice but to be represented by the union but don't support the NDP, to pay the affiliation fee in order to "not to rock the boat"?
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1 comment:
first I want to say that I am glad there is finally a blog willing to ask the hard questions about the association of a Canadian political party with Unions. What is particularly bothersome is the NDP's ties to the big American trade unions that are notorious for their ties to organized crime. It's quite easy to connect some of the most violent Mafia bosses in the US to the leaders of the NDP, yet the news media chooses to turn a blind eye.
Secondly, the CCF under Tommy Douglas were so incredibly corrupt they became known as the 'Saskatchewan Mafia' for their strong arm tactics and shakedowns, so when you study their history this tactic of negative marketing is by no means surprising.
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