CHRISTINA: Do you see any job creation coming out of the free trade deal?

MADELEINE: Very, very little. They tell us we will have a chance to "make it" in the American market. But all of that is part of the race and tough competitive struggle of corporations. Large US corporation want our natural resources: oil and gas, hydro, forestry, minerals. There are comparatively few jobs for us in those areas. The US doesn't need our manufacturing plants, except to buy those they don't own already in order to shut them down later, knocking out a competitor.

The need for Canadian companies to compete with US companies in costs of production will put great pressure on Canada's social programs. There is no national, free medicare program in the USA. There is no universal old-age pension plan and there is no national unemployment insurance program. How will we be able to support the costs of better quality social programs in bare-knuckled competitive struggle with US corporations?

CHRISTINA: To return to the subject of unions, do you have a vision of unionism that is not hierarchical or bureaucratic? In other words, are unions where a majority of women are involved run differently?

MADELEINE: Many unions today have women's committees. Some are very active, some face obstacles from a union bureaucracy. The most successful carry out educational functions for the women, explaining the complaints procedure, the issues for grievances, the way in which the grievances of women, such as sexual harassment or job equity problems, are handled. Where you have an active women's committee, women's power within the union improves and that always helps to democratize the organization, provided male leaders are not the main influence in the choice of women spokespersons. A good number of women elected remain responsible to their base of support, that is, to women in the union. An example of that is Monique Simard who is vice-president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions and who has made enforcement of equal pay for work of equal value a main demand in contract negotiations in the Quebec public sector. Through an active women's committee, union women are informed and become educated. They are able to give voice to their concerns and to take part in union debates on issues for contract negotiations, thereby influencing the outcome.

CHRISTINA: What about the new nurses union in Quebec, which is now autonomous and comprised almost 100% of women?

MADELEINE: As a result of a recent merger convention, there is now in Quebec a block of 40,000 nurses who have an independent union. Women are the dominant force in the union, though male nurses have minority representation on the board. As a new organization they are trying to develop policies of consultation with the membership much information as possible. They also have a women's committee working on feminist issues, both at work and in the community. I have great faith in what they are going to be able to do.

CHRISTINA: What role can unions, or as you've already mentioned, the women's committees within the unions, play in educating not just the women workers but the rest of the union and perhaps society at large about women's issues?

MADELEINE: The women's committees make it possible for rank-and-file women to give voice to inequities and injustices in the workplace and to work out a more equal relationship with their brothers in the union.