The British Columbia Federation of Labour has a plan to help the New Democrats win the next election. And, not surprisingly, the province's unionists - whose job is mobilizing workplace action - are calling for better organization. According to a resolution submitted by the federation and scheduled to be debated at the party's upcoming convention, the New Democrats should "build a political movement that extends far beyond the traditional election time frame." And that means developing a plan that will ensure:
* activists have technological support needed to "develop and maintain the capacity build grassroots campaigns and mobilize voters"
* there's a "membership building strategy and targets for each riding;" and
* the search for candidates in key ridings includes both input from constituencies associations and "discussions with the central office."
The following is a complete copy of that resolution:
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G2009-04 ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY TO BUILD OUR CAPACITY
WHEREAS the provincial NDP lost the last election by only 3,500 votes spread across eight ridings; and
WHEREAS the need to organize grassroots supporters and to build a political movement that extends far beyond the traditional election time frame are critical to electoral success in 2013; and
WHEREAS the job of building the campaigns and base for the party in critical areas of the province must begin now and continue until the election; and
WHEREAS the resources necessary for this capacity building must be found if the NDP is to successfully win the next election; now
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the incoming Executive of the Party, along with the Caucus, develop a new organizational strategy for mobilizing our support and building our capacity in key areas of the province; and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the new organization strategy deal with the following issues:
1. Technological support necessary to develop and maintain the capacity to build grassroots campaigns and mobilize voters;
2. Organizational models for constituencies that need to build between elections;
3. A membership building strategy and targets for each riding;
4. Financial and human resources necessary for both the central office and the ridings and a proposal on how these resources could be raised. In particular, a plan to fundraise so resources are in place well in advance of the election;
5. A strategy for candidate search in key ridings that includes input from the ridings and discussions with the central office;
6. A plan for building where the NDP has incumbent ridings now; and
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY BE RESOLVED that the new Executive give a report on the strategy to the provincial council within six months.
BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR
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