Coalitions, Labour and the Political Left

摘要

Over the last twenty years we have witnessed the dramatic rise in political coalitions both in Canada and abroad. They have arisen because of the inability of the existing political parties on the left to defend the welfare state and labour rights inthe face of the neoliberal agenda pushed by big business. Political coalitions in the advanced industrialized countries have common characteristics. They have been a broad alliance between the trade union movement and social and community organizations.They have operated in the extra-parliamentary political area. They have had a much more difficult time creating a common positive political program. For the most part, they have been organized to defend the welfare state and the rights of labour. Most often the trade unions have close ties to the social democratic parties. Thus the coalitions seem to work best when confronting governments of the right. They have a much more difficult time when the governments implementing the neoliberal agenda are social democratic or socialist governments.