To read media accounts, it was a brutal blow to a party struggling to prove itself a major player - or, as the Toronto Star's Chantal Hebert put it, "a kiss of death intended for Jack Layton" that will ultimately force the NDP "to reflect on its shrinking power of attraction." But as betrayed as New Democrats felt by Buzz Hargrove's apparent endorsement of the Liberals, they might yet come to recognize it as a blessing in disguise.
At one time, it would have been impossible to imagine organized labour and the NDP going their separate ways. But today, their relationship is a curious one. With little shared common ground, it has more to do with a sense of obligation than serving any practical purpose.
When unions were made up mostly of the working poor, locked in a perpetual struggle against capitalist bosses, it only made sense to align themselves with a socialist party - hence the 1960s merger of the old CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress to form the NDP. But today, unions such as Hargrove's Canadian Auto Workers have done so well for workers that their members are predominantly middle-class suburbanites inclined to vote for the Liberals or Conservatives. Meanwhile, the NDP has shifted toward causes - homelessness, urban poverty and the environment, for instance - that aren't top of mind for folks pulling eight-hour shifts at the Ford plant.
For the most part, union officials have remained on board with the party. But the rank-and-file are perfectly capable of making up their own minds. And so the most that the likes of Hargrove are able to deliver to the NDP are some old-school, hard-line members willing to knock on doors or put up signs.
That extra manpower is nice. But it's simply not worth the price the NDP pays for it. Completely disproportionate to its actual power, organized labour is still guaranteed at least 25% of the votes in any federal NDP leadership contest. And so any New Democrat with eyes on the top job has to spend time kowtowing to unions leaders.
Less tangible, but probably no less detrimental, is the impact of the relationship on public sentiment. However well unions serve their members, most outsiders - particularly recent immigrants - feel little connection to them. That's hardly a big help to a populist leader trying to reach beyond the NDP's traditional base.
Layton should take a lesson from Carole James, who's modernized the B.C. NDP by loosening its ties with all unions. With the country's most prominent labour leader having embarrassed him and infuriated other New Democrats during a national campaign, Layton could usefully seize the opportunity to follow James's lead once election day has passed.
