An interview with Raul Burbano (he/him), Program Director, Common Frontiers, by Annie Ohana (she/her), member of BCTF International Solidarity Advisory Committee

I was absolutely honoured to have a conversation with Raul Burbano from Common Frontiers Canada. Below is the wisdom he shared with me during our truly enlightening and invigorating conversation.

What is Common Frontiers, and why does it matter for BCTF members?

Raul: Common Frontiers is a national, multisector working group that was born during struggles against the neoliberal agenda. We focus on research, education, and action across the Americas. Our guiding principles are international solidarity, democratic freedoms, respect for human rights, the promotion of labour rights, and strong public services with the goal of holding Canadian government and corporations accountable. We work with people in the global south who have been ravaged by Canadian corporate interests (including mining).

This matters for BCTF members because Canadian foreign policy plays a critical role in a lot of issues related to protecting our jobs. The Canadian government markets itself as pro-democracy and human rights, but, in reality, Canadian foreign policy is focused on economic interests, and benefits from the exploitation of the global south. These corporate interests push for privatization of public services, including education.

What are some key struggles in your opinion?

Raul: Some of the key struggles that we are experiencing include the COVID-19 pandemic, which has underscored the critical need for international solidarity, rather than the alternative of every country for itself. This results in vaccine apartheids, systemic racism, and creeping privatization through technology.

We have also seen a rise in antidemocratic governments in Latin America. For example, in Brazil the government is imposing harsh neoliberal policies that affect people disproportionately and have led to deaths.

At the same time, Canada and the USA are imposing unilateral sanctions on countries in Latin America (including Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua) for purely political reasons. These sanctions destroy the economies of those countries. Millions are fleeing because of economic destruction causing a ripple effect in displacement poverty across the Americas. We have also seen the Canadian embassy facilitate corporate interests over human nights. We must pay close attention to foreign policy and hold our government accountable. 

Why is international solidarity important?

Raul: Global struggles need a global response. These struggles are against privatization, deregulation, environmental destruction, corporate influence on our democracy, precarious working conditions, and more. International solidarity helps us understand the interconnectivity of these issues and build a collective response. It solidifies reciprocal relationship-building where learning and teaching occur horizontally and concurrently. 

What is the bottom line for all of us?

Raul: The old model of TINA, There Is No Alternative, needs to be done away with. International solidarity, through international connections, builds alternatives to the neoliberal model. International solidarity unmasks the façade that we are stuck in a race to the bottom.

Corporations have ingrained in us that we need to accept the lowest common denominator during bargaining battles. Through collective bargaining and power, we help ourselves and the global south. When we win rights, there is a positive effect on all workers. We don’t want corporations setting the standard of racing to the bottom.

Our unions are not just service models. Unless we build inter-national connections and links, we as a labour movement end up losing the battle against privatization eroding public education.

One of the BCTF’s oldest international solidarity partners: SUTEP, the Union of Peruvian Education Workers

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, SUTEP leaders have worked tirelessly to support teachers within a context of an underfunded public health system on the brink of collapse. Thousands of SUTEP members have tested positive, and many have passed away or lost family members because of the virus. While schools and businesses were originally closed, Peru’s ministry of education called for the return to in-person classes in 2021, despite very low vaccination rates and a health system in crisis. SUTEP successfully challenged the government orders and demanded improvement of schools’ infrastructure, mass vaccination of teachers, and provision of bio-safety measures to protect the lives of the educational communities.

At the same time, SUTEP has responded to the needs of thou-sands of teachers who were new to technology and online teaching, continued to organize members, and campaigned for the recent presidential elections. Today, SUTEP continues defending the integration of a gender-sensitive approach in the national basic education curricula and demanding that newly elected President Castillo respect teachers’ rights and recognize SUTEP as the official teachers’ union in Peru.