Back in March, The Georgia Straight's Matthew Burrows quoted Hospital Employees' Union president Fred Muzin as saying his union wouldn't fund the Coalition of Progressive Electors or Vision Vancouver, "until they can heal their rift." And, when asked whether the Canadian Union of Public Employees would be endorsing either civic party through funding, British Columbia president Barry O'Neil said, "No." But it seems some unionists are less than pleased with that policy. In an email sent out late last night, select labour leaders called on their brothers and sisters to end the "boycott of COPE and Vision" and, presumably, back the coalition. The following is a complete copy of that email.

Why Punish COPE?

1) Labour's Boycott Is Not Even-Handed -

The labour leaderships' boycott of COPE and Vision is anything but balanced. First, COPE is far more reliant on contributions from the union movement than Vision is. In the 2005 election, 69% of COPE's total contributions were from the labour movement, but only 12% of Vision's donations came from unions. Second, the breakaway faction who left COPE to form Vision skipped out on their share of COPE's 2002 election debt- a debt that got them elected in the first place - leaving COPE to pick up the tab of hundreds of thousands of dollars used to elect Vision councillors. Add to this the fact that Vision spent over three times as much as COPE did in 2005 and it becomes clear that the supposedly even-handed boycott hits COPE far worse than it does Vision.

2) COPE Is Not Responsible For The Split -

Mayor Larry Campbell broke from COPE even before he took office when he threatened to go ahead and obtain an injunction against the Woodwards squat. The Friends of Larry Campbell broke democratically-adopted COPE policy which supports a freeze on transit fares when their rep on Translink voted for a fare increase. They broke COPE election promises to oppose slot machines. They broke with COPE policy opposing P3's when they purged Fred Bass from the Translink board and had his replacement Raymond Louie cast the deciding vote that brought in the P3 RAV line. They tried unsuccessfully to expel Fred Bass, Tim Louis and Anne Roberts from the COPE executive. They started organizing their own fundraisers and setting up their web site months before the incident they used as a pretext for their split. Vision broke away from COPE, not the other way around. Vision Vancouver and its leadership have to bear full responsibility for the split. They were the ones who organized it, after all.

3) Vision Vancouver Does Not Respect Democracy -

After repeated unsuccessful attempts to change COPE policy, Vision simply ignored the repeated votes of the majority of COPE members. They went further, setting up an organization run by an unelected executive committee, fielding hand- picked candidates that had never seen a nominating meeting, and putting forward policies developed in the back rooms that had never come before a membership meeting.

4) Vision Vancouver Runs On Corporate Money -

You dance with them what brung you. In 2005, 69% of COPE's donations were from the union movement. Vision Vancouver's funding shows where their support comes from. 73% of Vision's funds came from corporations. Only 12% came from unions. Nearly half of Vision's total contributions - 46.7%, or $632,622 - came from developers and gambling and liquor interests. Even more telling, Vision Vancouver does not hesitate to accept money from some of the worst lockout artists in town, like Gary Jackson of Royal Diamond Casino fame, and like Telus' $9,100 donation, most of which Vision received in the middle of Telus' 2005 lockout of TWU.

The "labour boycott of COPE and Vision" is not neutral, is not even-handed, is not constructive, and is not even rooted in reality. We in labour should not be punishing COPE for the disunity that Vision has created.

Signed in personal capacity. Organizations are listed for identification purposes only.

John Ames
Secretary treasurer
B.C. Government and Service Employees Union local 503
Delegate, Vancouver and District Labour Council

Jim Houlahan
Vice-president
Canadian Auto Workers local 111
Delegate, VDLC

Gretchen Dulmage
Vice-chair and chief shop steward
Childrens and Women's Hospital Site
HEU / PSHA Amalgamated local, CUPE 6010
VDLC executive member-at-large

Dick Fahlman
Steward and former treasurer
International Theatre and Stage Employees Union
Local 891
(motion picture production technicians)

Gordon Flett
Shop steward
Communication, Energy and Paparworkers local 2000
Former chair, VDLC strike support committee

John Yano
Conductor and steward, HEU St. Paul's local
HEU / CUPE 6016
Member, HEU provincial executive subcommittee for support workers
Member, HEU LG standing committee
Delegate, VDLC

Will Offley
Member, B.C. Nurses Union
Central Vancouver Region
Delegate, VDLC

Isobel Kiborn
HEU / CUPE (retired)

Mike Palacek
Shop steward
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Vancouver local

Ken Hiebert
Member, International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Local 500

Christine Arcand
Former executive member
HEU / CUPE Vancouver General Hospital local

Mike O'Neill
Executive member
Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association
Former COPE school board trustee

Cathy Peters
PHSA Amalgamated Local HEU/CUPE 6010
HEU People with Disabilities Equity Standing Committee
CUPE National Disability Rights Working Group
VDLC alternate delegate

Larry Tallman
Member, Canadian Union of Public Employees
Local 15

Frank Barbeau
Retired member
Brewery and Distillery Workers local 300

Gene McGuckin
Executive member, CEP 1129
Delegate, VDLC

Maureen Bourke
Secretary treasurer
Telecommunication Workers Union local 63

Claudio Eckdahl
Component 6 executive member
BCGEU 603
VDLC delegate

Jim Brown
Member, TWU 30

Paul Houle
Shop steward
BCGEU 603
COPE treasurer