One of the many differences between the Heartattack direct action march against the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the Get of the Fence direct action march against the G20 in Toronto, is that there was almost a complete absence of organized Labour involved in anti-olympics organizing.

The support of rank and file unionists was noticeably absent, and would have contributed greatly to organizational capacity, but the absence of Big Union Bosses and Organized Union Leadership was a breath of fresh air that let community activists loose of the overbearing bureaucracy, fake radical posturing, and eventual bitter sell out that comes with the weight of their organizations.

Initially, Union organizations had been part of anti-olympic activity, but quickly died off --coincidently- as they were offered contracts at Olympics venues. Prompting one older anti-poverty activist to say, “They’d build gas chambers if it was a union contract.”

Harsh words, but over the last ten years B.C. has seen Union Bosses shaking hands with government and big business in back room deals that has decimated the gains union workers have fought for –layoffs, privatization, wage cuts, etc. and betrayed community groups that both relied on the support from unions and in turn offered solidarity and support to them. And in addition, Olympics Venues and the investment and development to proceed them is on Unceded Indigenous Territory, and is contributing to the destruction of native land, thus negatively impacting native communities and cultures feeding into Canada’s ongoing policy of genocide of native peoples. 

After the anti-G20riot there has been a lot of criticism directed at anarchists and other militants’ actions, so in the spirit of fair play, let’s turn the lens around for a few minutes to see if Union Organizing could use an improvement here or there…

To people who had been organizing in BC for the ten years before the anti-Olympics movement, Big Union’s sellout was little surprise. In 2001, Gordon Campbell and the Liberal Party took over BC government. There was a massive uprising in B.C. from all sectors, much of it relying heavily on the organizational power of unions. Also, importantly, union organizers, leadership, and rank and file members really stepped up to the plate to support non-union sectors of resistance. Including Union and more mainstream groups learning about and...