The Christian Labour Association of Canada, with offices in Rexdale, Ontario, has stated as its aim, "to organize workers in trade and industrial unions, for the purpose of propagating, establishing and maintaining justice in the sphere of labour, and industry, and promoting the economic, social and moral interests of the workers through the practical application of Christian principles in collective bargaining and other means of mutual aid or protection".
Unions are a product of the industrial revolution. They grew out of the necessity for workers to organize in order to bargain effectively with their employers on matters pertaining to wages and working conditions. In obtaining better conditions and just wages for their members, unions acted legally and justly. With the passage of time unions have grown to such an extent, and have been so used by the professional organizers of unionism, that today they constitute a powerful organization which has extended its functions into fields not considered by the original aims; fields which in many cases ought not to come within the proper limits of unionism.
As a consequence of manipulation by corrupt, power-hungry leaders, aided and abetted by the apathy of members, unions in many cases have come to constitute a threat to community well-being, and, viewed in a less harsh light, have backed ideologies and policies which can bring nothing but harm to the democratic principles upon which our society is supposed to be founded. We refer, of course, to the trend towards Socialism. We do not here take into account the savage hoodlumism and the unspeakable graft and corruption which has afflicted some large unions such as the Teamsters Union under the ruthless Hoffa.
So it is quite evident that any move by an organization which professes an aim such as stated above, deserves every sympathetic consideration. The Christian Labour Association wants to promote the interests of the workers through the application of Christian principles. It has set this aim down in its constitution. It is formally dedicated to the application of Christian principles to the world of workers.
However, the Ontario Labour Relations Board does not consider that a union, founded on professedly Christian principles and teachings, has any place in our society under existing statutes. It has formally rejected the application of a CLAC union for certification. And the reason given by the board is precisely the expression of Christian aims and Christian teaching by the CLAC. The board feels that the rights of those not professing Christian principles or not giving adherence to Christian teachings, might be prejudiced.
The Christian Labour Association, on its side, states explicitly, that, "no applicant for membership shall be refused by reason of color, creed, race or national origin". Note that there is no question of creed; it is a matter of principles.
The Union of Electors is not an organization devoted to the affairs of unionism. The editor of this publication professes no great knowledge of the rules, regulations and statutes governing the formation, direction and functioning of unions. We are not a union paper. We are not against unions. Our stand with regard to such organizations is set forth in another article in this issue. But we are concerned with those matters which affect the rights of the individual.
The society in which we presently live professes democracy as its way of life. Our schools, our public institutions, our press and other media of communications, give at least lip service to this ideology. What is the essence of democracy? Christian principles, of course. We are speaking here of the spirit of democracy, not the outward forms and trappings which can so often be deceiving. Men are born equal and have the right to equal opportunities. That is, they cannot, in principle, be denied such opportunities if they present themselves. This does not mean that society is under an obligation to present equal opportunities to each man. Such rights spring from one fact and one fact only - the fact of the brotherhood of men under the fatherhood of God, and the obligation for all men to live together in the spirit of holy charity. These are facts, divine facts, just as God is a fact. All other ideals — justice, equality, liberty, charity, etic, spring from these facts.
If you deny the facts then there no longer remains a valid reason for the consequences. Deny God and there no longer exists a valid reason why the individual should enjoy justice or liberty. He is at the mercy of the law of the jungle. Authority no longer becomes a precious office stemming from God's authority to be exercised always as a trust from Him for the greater benefit of individuals. The individual no longer is an individual, the most important factor in society. He becomes merely a cog in a machine, subject to the whims and moods of the strongest. Deny God and you deny the individual.
The philosophy of Social Credit, that school which is taught by the Union of Electors, is aimed at propagating doctrines and policies which will foster and safeguard the rights of the individual — the maximum of security with the maximum of liberty. For this reason we uphold and teach Christian principles and Christian doctrine.
Democracy, true democracy, can only be such as long as it is founded on such principles and teachings. Democratic organizations can only be democratic as long as they are founded on Christian principles and the outward manifestation of such principles. Those who deny such principles are not Christian, just as non-Christians who uphold such principles, whether or not they are conscious that they are laws written in every human heart by God, become members of the spiritual body of Christ and ipso facto, members of the spiritual Church.
Whether or not the Ontario Labour Relations Board was right or wrong, under existing statutes, in denying certification to a CLAC union, we shall not here discuss. But in denying this union certification because it professes, in its constitution, to be a Christian union devoted to furthering Christian ideals in unions, the Board denies that Christianity is the very foundation of our country's being. And such a denial is wrong, whether or not the laws in the statute books support such a denial.
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What the Ontario Labour Relations Board says in effect is that there is no place in this country for a union whose members avow, as union members, the principles and teachings of Christianity.
There can be no Christian unions!
And this is a state of affairs no Canadian can allow to pass without protest.