Prominent provincial and regional labour leaders are losing patience with the Coalition of Progressive Electors and Vision Vancouver.

Both progressive parties received extensive union backing in the 2005 election, but a well-publicized split in the COPE ranks beforehand—leading to the creation of Vision Vancouver—went some way to enabling Mayor Sam Sullivan and the Non-Partisan Association to regain the majority they enjoy on council, the school board, and the park board.

It is still two months until the halfway mark to the November 2008 election, but Hospital Employees' Union president Fred Muzin told the Georgia Straight his union is not going to fund either side in the interim "until they can heal their rift".

"I wouldn't talk on behalf of labour, but I know the HEU is not funding any of their fundraising events right now," Muzin said by phone. "We want a viable alternative to the current municipal government, and we're not very pleased with what's happening over at City Hall. We haven't moved off of our ideology of supporting progressive solutions, but we're just not fundraising for some of the fundraising events, that's all."

Vancouver and District Labour Council president Bill Saunders said the issue of withholding funds from COPE and Vision "has not been discussed at the VDLC executive".

"I don't think that's as formal as that," Saunders told the Straight. "It's more a lack of enthusiasm. The default position, as every political supporter knows, is your supporters sit on their hands [if parties are divided], as they don't know what to do. When someone comes up with a good idea as to how to unite these two parties together, that's when you're going to get that enthusiasm. Until that time, why is anybody going to put a lot of time and energy into a losing situation?"

COPE's total 2005 election contributions of $525,740 consisted of $360,511 in union donations. Vision raised $1.35 million, but only $158,318 of that came from union contributions. Canadian Union of Public Employees BC president Barry O'Neill was in a taxi heading to downtown Ottawa when he told the Straight he "never liked the idea of two progressive parties being split".

"Certainly we don't have much of an appetite for supporting conflicting parties," he said. "That's clearly not wise political sense, but we have some time left, and I'm hoping at the end of the day those parties—or some semblance of those parties—will come together and talk about one progressive party that goes forward in civic elections. Yeah, we have some concerns."

CUPE BC donated a total of $124,625 in six separate donations to COPE in 2005. Its contribution to Vision amounted to $72,700. CUPE locals 15 and 1004 also made donations and recommendations through the VDLC, according to Saunders. When the Straight asked O'Neill whether CUPE BC was endorsing either COPE or Vision through funding, he said, "No."

"Something has got to happen over the next couple of months; that much is clear," he said. "At the end of the day, I suspect that calmer minds will prevail. I suspect that what I would do—and what I intend to do—is sit some people down and talk about what we have in common, what our differences are, what the problems seem to be, and try to come up with something that works for both parties. I may be part of that [discussion] and I may not be."

George Heyman, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, told the Straight he tried brokering a deal between COPE and Vision "right up until the last election" and that he had "limited success".

"There were many, many meetings and discussions prior to the last election, and many people who are now in the COPE executive were unwilling to find an accommodation of any kind until it was so late in the day that we got the result we did," Heyman said. "My position prior to the last municipal election as a member of COPE—and I argued this strongly—was a reunited slate between Vision and COPE and that people should work together and run under one ticket. I haven't particularly changed my position."

Heyman said he "wants to urge both parties to have discussions" and that BCGEU was "not giving funds to either".

"But that's more a case of not having adopted a policy to provide some funds for them, which is what we need to do," he said. "I remain personally a member of COPE, but I'm certainly interested in what's happening with Vision as well. Both parties are presenting a progressive alternative, and I think it's problematic that they are not working in a more unified fashion."

The COPE executive held out an olive branch at its December meeting, agreeing to send a letter to Vision Vancouver asking for a meeting to discuss a possible united slate in 2008. Vision board cochair Mike Magee confirmed receipt in a phone interview.

"We don't think that this matter should be talked about or negotiated in the media," Magee told the Straight. "We'll look at the letter and decide what to do. There's been no decisions made at this time. We'd be very interested to see what COPE proposes, having turned down a number of unity deals in the past."

Jim Houlahan, vice president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union Local 111, said his local opened its purse strings for the February 17 COPE fundraiser featuring a keynote address from BC Teachers' Federation president Jinny Sims.

"Our executive agreed to buy 10 tickets for $500," Houlahan told the Straight. "They [COPE] have supported us with regard to bus concerns faithfully over the years. We're not going to not participate and help out in midterm fundraisers. It's no different than if we got asked to help out with a Vision fundraiser—we would probably try to help out and make the effort to attend."