Unions

P.1 “Unions are groups of working people who join to talk to employers about wages and conditions of work instead of workers talking to employers on an individual basis.”1 Because they speak for everybody, unions can get a better deal for each worker than one employee could by negotiating with the employer. As seen in the short movie “WHY UNIONS?”, non-unionized workers talks about the unfair treatment they experience in the work place. Through collective action, workers formed unions so they could have a voice in deciding wages, hours, working conditions and dealing with the many problems arises in the workplace. Unions are not just organizations trying to get more dollars and cents or better working conditions for people who hold union cards. People who don’t enjoy the benefits of union protection get benefits too. “The labour movement was in the forefront of the struggles for public health care, for public education, for minimum wages, holidays and employment conditions.”2 1 D. Martin, Form War To Peace, Canadian Labour Congress, Quebec, 1991, P.17 2 Notes On Unions, Canadian Labour Congress, Quebec, 1992, P.1
P.2 UNION NOWADAYS “Unions are like businesses: their success depends upon attracting and retaining buyers (new members). Recently, one of the major problems faced by the union movement is that few Canadians understand what services unions come into public.”3 The public also don’t know the union is also helping Canada in other parts of areas such as economy, etc. The public think that the only time unions come into the public’s eye is as a result of strike or withdrawal of services. This is because of the impressed strikes held by the union workers. The memorable one would be the strike held by the Toronto Transit Commission workers back in September 1991. The lack of transportation resulted in inconveniences among the public. The Canadian public becomes upset over conflict. The strikes make the public forget about the contributions of unions in other areas. “From a marketing perspective, the union movement has positioned itself like the nuclear industry — it receives attention only when it is about to blow up, melt or leak.”4 Five important needs for union movements are: 3 Alistair Davidson and Ian Mckinnon, “Unions need to study marketing,” The Globe and Mail, May 8 1984, Business section, P.8 4 D. D. Carter, Canadian Industrial Relations In The Year 2000, Industrial Relations Centre, Kingston, 1992, P.50
P.3 1) job preservation 2) health preservation in the workplace 3) day-care 4) retraining 5) financial negotiations on behalf of members “Union leaders and members must become as sophisticated as management to support the attempt by Canadian business to survive fierce international competition.”5 There are about four million members of Canadian unions and 10.5 million members of co-operatives. There are two choices: traditionally, unions have only tried to increase their members’ standard of living by negotiating a higher wage, more benefits or fewer hours. “The union movement has played an important role in the past in the formation of new institutions such as credit unions. Today, new demands on the union movement will force it to examine its strategic choices.”6 Above all, the union movement must structure itself to aid the survival of Canadian industry and Canadian jobs in a fiercely competitive world market. 5 Bryan D. Palmer, Solidarity: The Rise And Fall Of An Opposition In B.C., New Star Books, 1987, P.63 6 Peter Sinclair, Unemployment: Economic Theory And Evidence, Oxford Press, 1987, P.215
P.4 CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS At the national level, the “organization of unions” is the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The CLC is the central body in Canada and is composed of about 85 national and international unions representing about 2.2 million workers. LABOUR’S SOCIAL OBJECTIVES “The social objectives of the Canadian labour movement are a reflection of the aims and desires of a large segment of the country’s working population.”7 In some ways, the objectives are related to the economy. The objectives are: Health Programmes – the lack of available health care to all Canadians caused the labour movement to redouble its long-standing efforts to have a national medicare plan by which needed medical services would be available to all Canadians whatever their financial means. Medicare as a