In Nanaimo this week, the president of Local 333 for the Canadian Auto Workers — that local represents transit workers in the city of Victoria — jumped up on stage to endorse Jack Layton and the NDP. This was noteworthy, of course, because of CAW national president Buzz Hargrove’s decision to apparently endorse Paul Martin and the Liberals.
In fact, what Buzz did was endorse the idea of a minority Liberal government with a strong NDP presence. He called on CAW workers to work to elect an NDP MP in ridings where the NDP had a realistic chance. But in those ridings where there was no viable NDP opportunity, Buzz argued that CAW members ought to vote Liberal. Buzz then hugged Martin to the apparent despair of many of his members. The thinking of Buzz and the national CAW council on this voting thing might have been perfectly rational but, for many NDP activists and CAW members, it muddied the waters and made things more difficult for Layton and his campaign. One of the perennial problems for the NDP has been losing ballots because voters decide to vote ‘strategically’, i.e. they figure if their guy can’t win, they’ll vote for anyone that prevents the one they really hate from voting. One CAW worker in Nanaimo said that when he heard what Buzz had done, he wanted to tear up his CAW card and join another union. Layton, in his stump speeches of the last couple of days, has been pleading for voters to ignore this whole strategic voting argument. He’s been saying that a vote for the NDP this time elects an NDP MP.
On Saturday, Layton got a bit of help so far as this goes from Bill Young, the president of CAW Local 333. Young stood up to present Layton with a CAW jacket — a totem awarded only to those who are either CAW members or to those who are True Friends of the union. In fact, that was Layton’s fourth jacket since Hargrove gave a CAW jacket to Martin. CAW members have been popping up all over place on the NDP campaign to try to undo what Buzz did — i.e. leave the impression that labour and the CAW was deserting Layton.
In fact, some NDPers on the campaign say that Buzz may have actually mobilized the so-called union vote because his declaration for Martin raised the ire of many rank-and-file union members and may be the boost that’s needed to get them out on January 23rd to vote NDP.