Letters to the Editor Union leaders hit on freer trade

Big union leaders should be ashamed of how they’re opposing freer trade.

Bob White of the autoworkers, Shirley Carr of the clc and Jeff Rose of cupe are all indulging in irresponsible scaremongering over the freer trade pact.

They have no confidence in the creativity, entrepreneurial ability and capacity for hard work by Canadians.

Big union leaders want Canada as a protectionist backwater where the unions can continue to collect their $1.6 billion in dues each year. The jobs of big union leaders are on the line, not those of workers.

These union leaders want government to be able to tax more, spend more and regulate more without facing competitive pressures.

What is most shameful about the opposition to freer trade by union leaders is that they’re not even representing the views of workers who are forced to pay union dues to them.

A recent national poll found that 46% of union members supported freer trade while only 38% opposed it.

Yet Bob White spent $400,000 of the dues of workers in double-page ads across the country opposing freer trade.

His spending spree is a good example of why Merv Lavigne launched a constitutional court challenge to the use of forced union dues for political parties and causes. Bob White and other big union leaders are violating the basic political freedoms of hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers b y using union dues in this way.

For these workers’ sakes, we hope Merv Lavigne is successful in stopping this repugnant practice. David Somerville President The National Citizens’ Coalition Toronto, Ont.