Union haters run aground

The rescue of 99 passengers and crew from the sinking of The Queen of the North off Hartley Bay is certainly welcome news. What a lot of right-wing, anti-union British Columbians won't want to hear today is that much of the rescue operation's success can be attributed to the professionalism and safety procedures carried out by the members of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union who worked on the Queen of the North.

Just over two years ago, BCFMWU members went on strike to protect their jobs against CEO David Hahn and his mandate from the BC Liberals: Torpedo the fleet through rollbacks, reckless cost-cutting measures (like delaying replacement of northern ferries...), stabbing BC shipbuilders in the back, and airport-style privatization. For their efforts in fighting Hahn and the Liberals, BCFMWU members were vilified by the media and whichever hotheads pulled up to a TV camera at Tsawwassen or Swartz.

Today, many of those same hotheads are probably praising the courage of the BC Ferries staff, even though it was only a few months ago they were claiming (as read on rabble.ca at the time) that some "lazy, corrupt, incompetent" BC Ferries workers are paid $18 an hour to do nothing but make toast. To those outstanding judges of character, help yourself, and by all means enjoy.