Howard Hampton and Ontario's Working Class

At this past weekend's NDP convention, Howard Hampton spoke on the need to pass anti-scab legislation in Ontario to protect striking workers from being replaced by scabs. He cited an example of a government funded agency bringing in scab workers to work at a shelter, and housing those workers in the shelter. He then referred to Dalton McGuinty as a rat for allowing scabbing to take place in Ontario. Here's what he said...

"Last week I was honoured to join the workers at Nova Vita, a shelter in Brantford. They were on the picket-line, supported by dozens of brothers and sisters from the Brantford community. The employer, a government-funded agency, was bringing in scabs and housing them at the shelter itself. How can they get away with it? The other day the workers brought a giant inflatable rat to Brantford city hall to expose the scandal of scabs living side by side with women at the shelter. Who is the chief rat? That would be the Premier who continues to allow scabs in Ontario workplaces. Those women in Brantford know, and we know, there’s no place for scabs in Ontario. Ban scabs that take the jobs of hard-working men and women. That’s an idea for today in Ontario."

Let me say that I support the move to (re)pass anti-scab legislastion in Ontario. It sounds like Hampton is standing up for Ontario's working class, right? While I certainly commend the party for its support of anti-scab legislation, it seems hypocritcal for Hampton to call McGuinty a rat for working against the interests of labour in Ontario. I wonder if Hampton saw a rat when he looked in the mirror after voting in favour of the social contract? Does he consider that selling out Ontario's working class?

Apparently not. Here's a quote from Hampton when asked about Bob Rae's leadership campaign for the federal Liberals. When speaking of the pay raise given to civil servants in 1990 and the aforementioned social contract, Hampton stated...

"Many members of the cabinet said, 'We are in a recession. We cannot afford this. If you look at a three-year agreement, and compound it, we are looking at pay increases of over 20%'...Some of them said, 'Look we could end up in a situation where, three years from now, we have to roll back these increases.' Bob Rae told them they didn't know what they were talking about, but two years later he had to impose the social contract."

Are you kidding Howie? So its the unions fault for negotiating an honest wage increase and the government was justified in its draconian actions? Isn't the NDP the party that's supposed to stand up for workers? Come on Howie...

Hampton is no socialist. Hell, this guy isn't even a Keynesian. He's an ineffective social democrat. He voted in favour of the social contract, something he neglected to mention in his quote. An Ontario manifestation of the third way? I think so. This is a guy that hasn't been able to mobilize Ontario's working class in over a decade, and has guided the party to near irrelevance in the process. Blame it on Bob Rae? Come on now. The party hasn't changed much at all in the past 10 years. After all, Hampton, Shelly Martel, Gilles Bisson, and Rosario Marchese all voted in favour of the social contract. Niagara Centre MPP Peter Kormos is the only current NDP MPP from the Rae era who opposed the measure.