The Western Socialist
Vol. 27 - No. 218
No. 7, 1960
page 17
Foolish Unions
May I comment on the merging of farmers and labor with the CCF into a new Canadian labor party. I fail to see any identity of interest between labor and the farmer; on the contrary, their interests are diametrically opposed to one another.
First, the farmer is not only a buyer of commodities, including labor power, he is also a seller of commodities — grain, beef, etc. Anyone who has worked for a farmer knows what a hard bargain he drives. On the other hand the farmer looks for the last cent his commodities will realize on the market.
Secondly, labor has nothing to sell but its labor power, and it is only by united effort through the unions that they can command a fair price for same.
The CCF, rapidly losing ground and facing extinction as a political party, is pushing this merger to link up with their petit bourgeois farmer friends, hoping the CCF elements who hold office in the various unions will be able to persuade the rank and file to join, assuring funds to carry on political campaigns and provide good jobs for most of its leaders.
It is an illusion for the workers to think that this new party can get them important benefits through reform legislation. On the contrary, it stifles the real advantage that should be achieved through trade union activity.
C. LUFF
Daily Colonist, Victoria, B.C. Aug. 26, 1960