By Christian Corbière by unristan wordiere
The economic situation in Québec is distinctly worse than in Canada as a whole. The economic growth rate is less than half that of English Canada; the official unemployment rate is 11.5%, compared to 8.5% in the country as a whole. Thus, the difference between the rate of unemployment in Québec and the Canadian average, normally between 1.7% and 1.8%, has climbed to 3%. Québec did not benefit in the least from the very weak economic recovery in Canada.
Faced with the economic crisis, the Parti Québécois government's room for maneuver is extremely limited. Lacking its own program to stop the deteriorating economic situation, the PQ must work within the frame-work of Ottawa's austerity plan. It cannot even complete its own modest reform projects, let alone meet the demands of labor. The PQ thus finds it increasingly difficult to avoid clashes with the working class.
Social service cutbacks inaugurated by the Bourassa government are being pursued zealously by the PQ. Finance Minister Parizeau has clearly rejected large public works programs, a traditional means of reducing unemployment in Qué- bec, for lack of funds.
In fact, up to now, the PQ has had a very strict policy of reducing both borrowing and the Québec government's debt. Its "sovereignty-association" goal requires "healthy public finances" to demonstrate that it is a responsible capitalist government and to maintain the borrowing capacity of a "sovereign" Québec.
The Levesque government's investment policy concentrates on consolidating the Québec economy. Together with the most important pulp and paper companies, the natural resources minister is planning a huge project of modernizing factories to restore the industry's ability to compete in international markets.
Among other things, this plan will eliminate all uncompetitive and unprofitable factories. The closing of the Wayagamack mill in Cap de la Madeleine gives a taste of what is to come.
Other traditional sectors of Québec industry now face possible extinctiontextiles, footwear, and furniture. The factories in these sectors are small, often ar chaic enterprises. Last year 55,000 of the 100,000 workers in these industries lost their jobs. The elimination of these industries has resulted in official unemployment rates of over 20% in some regions.
The PQ response has been to attack Ottawa, calling on the federal government to apply protectionist measures.
The PQ began to move right even before it came to power-retreating on both its economic program and independence. Nevertheless, the PQ program contained enough social reforms to make it attractive to the working class and other layers of the population. On coming to power, the government granted some concessions to the working class: cost of living adjustments in the minimum wage; an end to all legal suits initiated by the Liberal government against the Common Front public sector unions; and pulling Québec out of Trudeau's "anti-inflation" program.
But in only a few months, the government adopted a blatantly anti-workingclass course, under the impact of the economic crisis and imperialist pressure.
For months the PQ has been putting together the elements of a huge offensive against the working class. In the health sector, PQ efforts to "rationalize" public expenditure have already resulted in more than 1,000 jobs being cut. And by allowing local hospital administrations to determine the necessary cuts, the government has succeeded in preventing the healthsector workers from carrying out any centralized mobilization.
The Levesque government aims to turn back the clock to the dark ages of Québec education. In primary and secondary schools, the Ministry of Education green paper sanctions a return to reactionary teaching methods. In the universities, a series of partial reforms aim to give greater powers to the administration and to establish more strict control over course content. All this tightening up of the education system will lead to cuts in the size of the teaching staff.
But the central element in the PQ's antiunion offensive is the Martin commission, which was set up to reevaluate bargaining in the public sector. Public sector contracts expire in June 1979. Negotiations for new contracts will probably overlap with the PQ's referendum campaign. As a result, the Levesque government is obsessed with the need to avoid repeating the experience of the Common Front strug. gles of 1972 and 1976.
The economic crisis confronts the PQ with a difficult task. It must continue to make social services more profitable while avoiding a major confrontation with the trade-union movement. As a result, the PQ's main aim now is to decentralize public sector contract negotiations as much as possible-to isolate the unions and defeat them one by one. It is determined to break the power of the most militant sectors once and for all: Hospital workers will come under particularly heavy fire.
This strategy of divide and rule will be coupled with an ideological campaign around the referendum, stressing the need to unite the nation behind the PQ government against Ottawa.
In addition to its attempt to isolate the public sector unions, the PQ government is working actively to divide the labor movement. It is now wooing the Québec Federation of Labor (FTQ), while adopting a much more aggressive policy toward the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) and the Québec Teachers Federation (CEQ).
The reasons are easy to understand. The CSN and CEQ have been much more hesitant than the FTQ to give political support to the PQ. As well, the CSN and CEQ are the dominant federations in the public sector where the government plans to launch its biggest attacks.
At last May's economic summit at la Malbaie the FTQ adopted a much more collaborationist stance toward the PQ than did the other two federations. The FTQ has also supported Law 45, the socalled antiscab bill. It refused to participate on the December 16 Québec City demonstration against Law 45.
In the guise of offering some concessions to the unions-making unionization easier, "prohibiting" scabs-Law 45 contains provisions directly attacking the independence of the unions from the state. It determines the methods of strike votes, allows the state to intervene in these votes, and reaffirms the law against strikes in "essential services."
And that's not all. In the face of the employers' enraged reaction, the PQ softened the "antiscab" sections of the bill by adding two new clauses: the prohibition against hiring scabs will not apply in services designated as "essential"; and the bosses will be allowed to take measures they judge adequate to protect themselves against attacks on their private property.
In essence, Law 45 will not apply to the government, which can declare its employees to be performing "essential services." And the bosses have an open door to use any pretext to hire "supplementary personnel." Finally, the "antiscab" provisions apply only during legal strikes.
The FTQ has two reasons for supporting the law. First, it supports clauses that facilitate the unionization campaigns it is planning. Second, because the international unions which constitute the backbone of the FTQ have their constitutions outside Québec, they are not subject to clauses relating to government interference in strike votes and elections of union officials.
Because they are more directly under attack, notably by the "essential services" clause, the CSN and CEQ have denounced the amendments.
Despite its moves to increase state control of internal union life and to increase the obstacles to the right to strike, the PQ is not interested in a massive confrontation with the labor movement. This fact lies behind PQ government attempts to divide the trade-union federations.
The PQ is still able to exert treme: dous political pressure on the labor movement because of the national question. Despite more militant rhetoric (and a few more militant actions) than the FTQ, the CEQ and CSN leaderships have no proposals to made nthe pes to term a were barve oppose the PQ government. They have based on the trade unions in clear opposition to the PQ.
The PQ's strategy is determined by two constraints: It must manage the economic crisis as well as possible and take advantage of the crisis to begin to restructure the economy of a future "sovereign" Québec. And it must prove itself a loyal capitalist manager in the eyes of imperialism.
Winning the struggle for the referendum is the PQ's trump card in its negotiations with imperialism. The realization of a "national consensus" in Québec and the establishment of "social peace" are the fundamental elements for a referendum victory and cool-handed negotiations with imperialism.
From these imperatives flow the PQ's constant drive to check, by every possible means, the independence of the tradeunion movement.