Union News - September 2024
I don’t think there is anyone out there who hasn’t heard the line “I don’t need a union; their time has passed”.
In the broader context, sure, the union movement has had arguably bigger impact through greater struggles in the past such as fighting child labour in mines, fighting for shorter working weeks, obvious health and safety improvements, etc., but does this mean that their purpose is no longer needed? Of course not. Putting aside increases in pay and benefits in a collective agreement for now, unions have been at the forefront of everyday improvements and protections.
Without unions, there would most certainly be no balance in power between the worker and the “corporate” bosses. No reasonable person can justify giving all the power to the corporate bosses. We have all heard the garbage arguments about keeping wages down for the “good of the economy” and the self-serving need for “higher profits”. The anti-union types would have you believe that the employers are doing the workers a favour by employing them, and that without such brilliant CEOs the world would collapse if unions got too much power. In no case, other than the spin in corporate media, has it been shown that unions have the greater punch in the boxing ring of work-life balance and wage fights.
Unions were the ones who backed the fight for higher minimum wages. For example, higher wages for those in the service industry, result in a higher tax base, a better life for their children, food on the table, purchasing power in the local community, etc. This flies in the face of the argument that higher wages hurt the economy. Never has there been a more apparent widening of the gap between the rich and the worker. It’s not just a matter of fairness, it’s simply good for all. That is, except for the largesse inheriting, yacht sailing, Monaco gambling, bread-price-fixing billionaire class; if their dividends and salary go down woe is them.
The media and a good deal of the population put the rich on a pedestal, as if we are to look up to them thinking “One day, just maybe if we play our cards right, we too can join their ranks”. That is just not the way the system is built, and it will remain that way until a very unlikely flipping of the tables. If we are to believe that the bosses know what’s best for us, we wouldn’t have such benefits as parental leaves (some richer countries still don’t have this, believe it or not). No society should hold their head high when a family can’t have a house to call their own and a fridge full of food to ensure they and their kids can start the day nourished. Unions have been fighting for equality since they were born and will continue to do so.
There is so much more to unions than simply a collective agreement. During the pandemic can you imagine what would have happened to workers without the benefits of unions? Even front-line essential workers at grocery stores were given “hero pay”. This was a small but well-deserved bump in pay for their commitment to their companies. Of course, according to the fat-cat bosses, they were only heroes for a bit and that pay ended – because it ate into their profits.
Unions affect legislation and politics. As our day-to-day lives are governed by legislation, workers and families need an advocate to protect us from the rising tides. Unions have been effective at lobbying for changes that benefit workers, not bosses, and that will be a never-ending battle as successive governments are equally, if not more, lobbied by the corporations and anti-worker organizations, and are frankly more welcomed by some governments. The balance unions fight for is not just helpful, but absolutely a necessity, especially at times when life is getting harder and more expensive for folks like you and me. The Westons, McCains and Coutus fortunes will be just fine – don’t lose sleep over their dividends. The time for the worker to have a bigger slice of the pie is long overdue. In fact, the complete opposite is happening. There is a correlation between the growing advantage of the rich and the declining union density. That is a fact. Even non-unionized workers benefit from union advocacy, as the private non-unionized sector needs to offer wages and benefits to compete. The Amazons and Starbucks of the world don’t fight unionization in their workplaces for a hobby. They do so because a successful organized workplace will make the difference between their 17 bedroom island paradise and a 15 bedroom island paradise.
Take care of each other, never stop fighting the power, involve yourself.
Adam Jackson
2nd Vice President