LSPU-NPL Manifesto for 2025 Provincial Election Presents Bold, Progressive Agenda for Working People

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Thank you for your interest in the LSPU NPL Manifesto. This document embodies the beliefs and principles of the LSPU, the oldest active union in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador, and consists of statements of support our Non-Partisan League would like our provincial candidates to consider in the 2025 provincial election.  We have a preamble followed by 18 policies in the spirit of our members who struck in the 1918 Reid NL General Strike.

Preamble

We are members of the LSPU who debate policies through our Nonpartisan League (NPL) and who together lobby to build an ethical government emphasizing priorities that will create a better tomorrow for all Newfoundlanders & Labradorians.  These are 6 underpinning principles that our 1918 Reid NL Strikers believed in that still hold value today.

• society should be based on equality and social justice.
• people should have the democratic power to influence their workplace and social institutions.
• quality of life should be at the forefront of political debate and not an afterthought.
• justice can only come from peace and support for human rights.
• ideas, learning, arts and culture have the power to transform society and individuals.
• all these principles are underpinned by the importance of national identity and a vision for Newfoundland & Labrador.

Newfoundland & Labrador is a maritime nation. Our island & Labrador coast relies on ships for food, fuel, medicine, and trade. Yet the very workers who keep our ferries, freight and offshore industries afloat are often treated as disposable. Too often exploited, underpaid, and abandoned, DOCKERS are fighting for dignity and justice in the face of a shipping industry that often ruthlessly prioritises corporate greed over human lives.

Decent Jobs on NL Docks

Dockers in the Port of St. John’s earn the most of any Dockers in Newfoundland & Labrador’s Marine Transport Industry.  We have been negotiating agreements for 135+ years in the Port of St. John’s, but we still haven’t been able to achieve terms and conditions equal to our mainland comrades who work on the docks in Halifax and Montreal.

Our provincial government gave an energy company an estimated $500 million dollars of taxpayer money with NO caveats, and they decided to get a refit in Spain, and to use a Port of Convenience for their supply vessels. This port doesn’t have a maritime dockers’ union present, resulting in wages and working conditions that are notably lower than the national industry standard.

That wasn’t a one-off. It was a glimpse into a business model built on exploitation. Resource development corporations sometimes avoid taxes and undercut wages by using ports of convenience. They may exploit loopholes to employ travelling gangs of longshorepersons with a golden parachute, while our people suffer from lower labour costs, pitting worker against worker in a global race to the bottom. Often, these private ports are looking for financing from our government to build the infrastructure for the port.  No public money should be going to private ports who do not offer family sustaining wages, terms and conditions of employment.

Poverty Pay on the Docks

Dockers should be respected as vital and key workers on our island and across this coastal province. Instead, they face:

• Wages far below the minimum most people would accept on docks on the mainland.
• Sporadic contracts leading to months with no overtime, pension or benefits.
• Long hours leading to inadequate rest, and dangerous working conditions.

In the marine transport sector, some operators pay less than half the marine industry standard wage to crew docks on our island. Meanwhile, bosses pocket millions in dividends for economies not local.  It is time for Sectoral Standards in our industry, so everyone who works in it can live a decent life and have a pension and benefits.

Safety must be a priority

Exploitation isn’t just a moral outrage: it’s a safety risk. Fatigued, underpaid and undertrained workers make mistakes. When docks are understaffed to save money, this piles pressure on those left on do the work. Accidents on docks are too often traced back to corporate cost-cutting.

Workers deserve safe conditions. It is not possible when operators slash jobs and drive down pay in the pursuit of profit.  Occupational standards have to be implemented with Industry, Transport Canada and/or the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Education.

Dockers Rights are Workers’ Rights

The fight for dockers is part of the wider battle against outsourcing, deregulation and corporate greed. Dockers in NL are not second-class workers. They deserve:

• A fair wage, no lower than the Canadian mainland standard — regardless of region in our Province.
• Decent contracts with guaranteed family leave and rest periods.
• Trade union rights, respected and enforced on all NL docks.

No loopholes. No ports of convenience. No exploitation. An Atlantic Accord with some teeth to protect decent jobs for our people.

LSPU Leading the Struggle

LSPU has fought relentlessly for dockers on our island for 135+ years: exposing corporate greed & crimes, challenging poverty pay contracts, and demanding government action. We’ve built international solidarity, uniting maritime workers across borders to resist the divide-and-conquer tactics of some bosses.

We’re calling for:

• A mandatory dockers charterto guarantee sectoral standards and conditions.
• Federal collective bargaining agreementscovering marine cargo, ferry and offshore services.  Federal undertakings should be regulated federally.
• Tougher enforcementagainst rogue employers who exploit loopholes.
• A just transitionfor Dockers in the green renewable economy.
• ILO Dock Work Convention No. 137 (1973), and associated recommendations, require each government to have a national policy to promote the permanent or regular employment of dock workers and to grant priority to registered dockers. This needs to be ratified in Newfoundland & Labrador as well as Canada.  The Canadian government has ratified ILO Convention 87 (freedom of association) and ILO Convention 98 (the right to strike) but their commitment to these Conventions is questionable when federal governments interfere with free collective bargaining.

A Call to Action

• Dockers carry our economy on their backs. Yet too many are left invisible, voiceless and exploited.
• LSPU will not stand by while some bosses treat dockers as disposable goods. We will fight in Parliament, Confederation building, on the picket line, and alongside our international comrades until dockers win the dignity and justice they deserve in our ports.
• The battle for dockers is a battle for all workers. If exploitation in ports in our province is allowed to thrive, it will infect every industry. But if dockers win, it will be a victory for the entire working class.
• Solidarity with all Dockers. The fight has only just begun!

1. Fishery, Agriculture, Food, & Land Stewardship

The fishery has been the keystone of our society and must be preserved, along with family farms and the encouragement thereof.

We support:

• Preservation and protection of fish stock through conservation and sound sustainable ecological practices including science and fisheries-based research.
• The economic well-being of rural communities through the preservation of small business, rural fishing industry, family farms and fair prices for fishery & agricultural products.
• Access to farm credit at reasonable terms and interest rates, including temporary relief during economic emergencies.
• Educational research and development programs, including sustainable fishery & agriculture.
• Cooperative and marketing systems structured for the financial security of fishers, producers and improvement of products.
• Use of fishery & agricultural surpluses to alleviate hunger in the Canada and all other nations.

2. Civil, Human, & Constitutional Rights

When an individual’s rights are threatened, so are the rights of all. We therefore pledge to preserve our constitutional and civil rights.

We Support:

• Separation of church and state and the right to privacy.
• Only voluntary enlistment in the armed services.
• An immigration policy based on respect for humanity and recognition of our immigrant heritage and our increasingly interconnected world.

We Oppose:

• Discrimination against any person on the basis of race, ethnicity, creed, religion, immigration status, sex, sexual or affectional orientation, HIV status, gender identity or expression, marital or family status, disability or age.
• Government interference in all matters related to the control of one’s own body, including protections of the rights of women to bear children, practice birth control and obtain safe and legal abortions, and the rights of patients and their families, guardians, and physicians to honor a decision not to extend life by artificial means.
• Barriers to participation in society.

3. Community Development & Local Business

Community development decisions must consider our long-term benefits and promote opportunity, prosperity, and housing security. Communities thrive when locally owned business development begins on the Street corner. Prosperity comes from the mutual contributions of all stakeholders including residents, local government, and local businesses.

We Support:

• Community reinvestment to promote local business and home ownership.
• Small business development, especially ownership by members of economically disadvantaged groups.
• Economic investment in troubled regions or industries.
• Responsible use of economic development funds.
• Affordable housing for all Newfoundlanders & Labradorians, including assistance to local governments that promote mixed-income housing opportunities.
• Municipalities and cities’ right to set stricter standards than those required by the province for land use and local development, and the right to enact zoning ordinances to protect the health and well-being of their community.

4. Corporate Accountability to the Public

Public investments of all sorts empower business success which benefits both business and the communities they serve. Businesses in return must act responsibly in the interest of the common good to promote economic prosperity for all.  

We Support:

• Businesses that build, employ, and invest in the Newfoundland & Labrador.
• Reasonable regulations that encourage fair competition, ensure safety, environmental and labor standards, and prevent price discrimination.
• Regulation of inter-provincial businesses, especially banks, to prevent adverse effects on locally owned businesses and banks. Banks should be operating in our provincial interests.

5. Consumer Protection

We believe citizens have a right to safe and reasonably-priced products, fair treatment in the marketplace, and complete and accurate information about products and services.

We Support:

• Fully funded consumer education and public enforcement to protect consumers from fraudulent practices.
• Food quality and labeling standards that protect the public from unsafe food products and deceptive labeling.
• Licensing of health care professionals and counselors and establishment of health care data collection systems to inform the public about costs and quality of health care.
• Requiring housing inspection when government-backed mortgage loans are involved, with liability for failure to notice defects.

6. Education

We believe a vigorous and universally available system of public education is a basis to a productive, democratic society.

We Support:

• A strong system of public education at all levels, with stable funding and equal educational opportunities.
• Academic freedom, student and faculty rights, and continued church-state separation in public school curriculum and educational funding.
• Moderate class sizes and a safe, suitable environment for both students and teachers.
• A broad curriculum of liberal arts, technology, social issues, vocational, and physical education.
• High standards for teachers and compensation that reflects the responsibilities society places on them.
• Effective services in the areas of health, counseling, careers, and nutrition.
• Publicly accessible, high-quality libraries and information systems.
• High quality, well-funded post-secondary education, affordable for everyone.
• Continuing education and adult literacy programs.

7. Energy & Climate

We believe in safe, sustainable, and secure energy sources that offer coming generations access to fuels and power.

We Support:

• Increased use of renewable energy sources.
• Aggressive energy conservation in transportation, commercial, industrial, residential, and governmental sectors.
• Utility prices comparable to what Hydro Quebec consumers pay.
• Independent review of MOU with Hydro Quebec and approval only if it meets the benefit of all the people of the province and doesn’t hinder the right of the people of the province or Indigenous groups’ rights to self determination.
• Construction of new Come by Chance refinery for our province’s own sovereignty.
• The Bay Du Nord Project, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador should reap the benefits of full employment from such project.

8. Government Accountability to the Public

We pledge to ensure the political rights of all citizens through fair elections and responsible government.

We Support:

• Campaign finance reform, including fair public financing of provincial elections.
• A ban on gifts from lobbyists to elected officials.
• Disclosure of financial political campaign support.
• Enforcement of standards of ethical conduct and accountability for elected officials.
• Ensuring public availability of government information.
• Policies that enforce honest conduct by government officials and contractors who provide services to government agencies.
• Adequate government funding for MUN research and development in areas of humanitarian and scientific significance.
• Government agency actions that ensure citizen safety and fair treatment.
• Providing veterans and military personnel with the appreciation, respect, and benefits deserved because of honorable service to our country.
• Efforts to locate and bring home service personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action.
• Indigenous rights to self-government, self determination and the generation of revenue to serve their people, and enforcement of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
• The use of ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, for all provincial elections.

We Oppose:

• Unnecessary government regulations.
• Using government agencies for political purposes.
• Laws and policies that restrict government employees’ right to participate in the political process.

9. Health & Human Services

We believe that all people should have the opportunity to be self-sufficient, secure, and healthy. Cost-effective and adequately-funded programs can help ensure these basic needs.

We Support:

• Nationally & provincially funded, community-based comprehensive and affordable universal health care for all.
• Services to children to ensure their healthy start in life.
• Adequate provision for the needs of physically, mentally or emotionally challenged persons, including in home and institutional care services.
• Institutional and outpatient mental health programs and services that provide equal access, continuity of care, and protection of patient rights.
• Private and public funding for health care programs that include pregnancy care, family planning and abortions, regardless of age or income.
• Programs to assist displaced persons, including refugees, displaced homemakers, and the

homeless.

10. Labour & Employment

We promote the Newfoundland & Labrador labour movement and the rights of all workers.

We Support:

• The right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
• Comparable wage standards and pay equity.
• A minimum wage that keeps pace with inflation and provides full time workers with an income above the poverty level.
• Adequate compensation for injured workers.
• Programs to promote full time employment.
• Hiring our province’s people for jobs created when provincial/local tax incentives are involved in development projects.

We Oppose:

• The replacement of striking workers.
• Sexual harassment in the workplace.

11. Natural Resources & The Environment

We believe in leaving the world in a better condition than we found it.

We Support:

• Preservation of biodiversity and wilderness.
• Strong environmental programs with provisions for strong enforcement that provide for healthy surroundings for all citizens and for sustainable, long-term use of natural resources and a strong role for government in environmental protection.

• Living and working conditions free from significant exposure to poisons and radioactivity in air, water and soil.
• Responsibility of individuals, businesses and government to notify others of possible environmental hazards, to clean up those they have created, and to compensate others for any resulting damages.
• Recognize, protect and conserve clean water as a shared resource held in public trust for the health, safety and benefit of the public.

We Oppose:

• Disposal of hazardous wastes below ground.
• Nuclear power, as it is not a viable energy source.

12. Public Safety & Crime Protection

We advocate strong law enforcement policies combined with vigorous crime prevention programs that emphasize education, treatment, and rehabilitation.

We Support:

• Protection of victims of crime through the mandatory arrest of domestic abusers and mandatory sentences for convicted rapists, as well as government-funded programs to house, treat, counsel and educate victims of abuse, rape or other violence.
• Protection of children exposed to abuse or violence, with stiff penalties for child abusers.
• Reasonable firearm policies that promote public safety and crime prevention without infringing on the rights of hunters and other sports enthusiasts.
• Enforcement of traffic safety laws, particularly against impaired drivers.
• Freedom from unreasonable searches, seizures and surveillance contrary to our constitutional rights.

We Oppose:

• Mandatory sentencing practices for drug-related crimes.

13. Retirement Security

We believe all Newfoundlanders & Labradorians have a right to secure retirement.

We Support:

• Establishment of a provincial public pension fund with offshore energy royalties, with funds invested and used solely for payment of benefits.
• Full funding of pharmacare for those who worked and paid taxes their whole lives.

14. Tax & Budget Policy

We believe government budgets must be based on sound fiscal policies and fair taxation aimed at achieving economic growth, conservation of resources, and full employment.

We Support:

• Balancing the provincial budget and reducing the provincial debt.
• A progressive tax structure with minimal reliance on sales and excise taxes.
• Taxing all income-producing property owned by tax-exempt organizations, at the same rate as other income producing property.
• Establishing a lower tax base for industry in rural areas of Newfoundland & Labrador as an aid to the economic well-being of those areas.
• Taxing agricultural lands based on production value rather than market value.
• Providing tax incentives for equity investment in small businesses.
• Lobbying the federal government to reduce the military budget and using the savings to fund social, scientific and environmental programs and research and development.
• Exempting senior citizens from paying property taxes if their income does not exceed 125% of the poverty level and they live in single-family homes.
• Denying tax exemptions for corporate welfare recipients.

15. Transportation

We believe that to prosper, all citizens and businesses must have access to efficient, and affordable transportation.

We Support:

• Multi-modal, environmentally sensitive solutions that use natural resources efficiently.
• Well-designed and maintained roads, bridges & ferry services throughout the province.
• Increased investment in Newfoundland & Labrador’s transportation and infrastructure, on a regional and provincewide basis, including public transportation, mass transit, commuter buses, pedestrians and bicycles.

16. Veterans Affairs

The LSPU honours and respects the men and women who have served and are serving our country. We must advocate for their physical and emotional well-being, both abroad and at home, as well as their economic security. We must ensure that our military is the best-trained, equipped, and supported force in the world and that the men and women of our military are ready to meet the new threats of the 21st century. Their sacrifices and those of their families must never be forgotten.

We Support:

• Providing timely and sufficient funding to appropriate government agencies to honor all our obligations to active-duty military and military veterans.
• Providing veterans and military personnel with appreciation, respect, and benefits merited through honorable service to our country.
• Voluntary enlistment in the armed service.

17. Newfoundland Liberation Bill

We believe the Newfoundland & Labrador people should be made aware of the Newfoundland Liberation Bill as proposed by Lord Sempill to the House of Lords in February of 1949 (HL Deb 17 February 1949 vol 160 c 937). This was a Bill to restore self-government to Newfoundland.

We Support:

The publication, distribution, review & dissemination of this Bill to the people of Newfoundland & Labrador, who can judge what has been gained by Confederation negotiated on other countries’ terms and conditions and take appropriate action to address the shortcomings of Confederation without external interference from other countries.

18. The Right to Self Determination

The UN Charter establishes the principle of self-determination in Article 1(2) and Article 55, framing it as a fundamental purpose of the United Nations to foster friendly relations among nations based on respect for the equal rights and self-determination of all peoples. This right allows peoples to freely determine their political status, pursue their economic, social, and cultural development, and choose their form of government without external interference. The Atlantic Charter signed off our shores on August 14, 1941 by Churchill & Rosevelt preceded the UN Charter and gained the following: adherence to political self-determination and economic development for all nations, a vision for a post-war world of free trade and collective security, the establishment of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions like NATO, and inspiration for colonial peoples fighting for independence. It also promoted freedom of the seas, disarmament, and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.

We Support:

• Fair Trade
• The right of Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world to self determination and the right to be pre-informed & give consent.
• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as adopted by the General Assembly.
• We support Indigenous peoples’ right to self determination, as 51% of our West Coast members are Qalipu First Nation.
• We support the right to self-determination of the people of Newfoundland & Labrador.
• We believe that if Prime Minister Mark Carney has Irish & British Citizenship the people of Newfoundland & Labrador should also have the opportunity to carry those passports.

We Oppose:

• MOU deals that threaten our peoples’ right to self determination.
• Foreign corporations profiteering off our peoples’ backs.

Ode to Newfoundland:

When sunrays crown thy pine-clad hills
And Summer spreads her hand
When silvern voices tune thy rills
We love thee smiling land
We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee smiling land.

When spreads thy cloak of shimm’ring white
At Winter’s stern command
Thro’ shortened day and starlit night
We love thee frozen land
We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee frozen land.

When blinding storm gusts fret thy shore
And wild waves lash thy strand
Thro’ spindrift swirl and tempest roar
We love thee wind-swept land
We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee wind-swept land.

As loved our fathers, so we love
Where once they stood we stand
Their prayer we raise to heav’n above
God guard thee Newfoundland
God guard thee, God guard thee
God guard thee Newfoundland.

Credit:  -Sir Cavendish Boyle