Republican News · Thursday 9 January 2003

Quebec Labour expands pressure campaign on Blair

Following the recent lead of the Montreal Central Council of the Confederation des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) trade union federation, the Confederal Council of the CSN itself, representing 280,000 workers, voted in mid-December to bring pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair to restore the Assembly.

On 4 December, the 80,000 strong Montreal Council of the CSN passed a similar motion in response to a request from the Coalition for Peace in Ireland (CPI). Manon Perron, secretary-treasurer of the Montreal labour body, who was an international observer of the Orange marches on the Garvaghy Road in 1998, then brought the issue to the Confederal Council in mid-December. Over three hundred delegates heard Perron explain that support for the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish peace process was crucially important in this period of reaction and militarism.

The motion to contact Blair and call for restoration of the Assembly passed unanimously and the various federations of the CSN will also be encouraged to follow suit.

CPI Spokesperson Kevin Callahan said that the Montreal Coalition for Peace in Ireland hoped in the new year to expand the campaign to support the GFA to other Quebec unions as well as politicians and human rights groups. According to Callahan, "international support for the Irish peace process is vitally important. We cannot leave the Good Friday Agreement to the mercy of British government indifference and unionist intransigence".