Unions continue to play a major role in making Canada a more equal and democratic society. Canadian unions are relatively strong partly because of the stronger tradition of “social unionism” which stresses the need to work in the interests of all working people through political action. Our labour laws reflect broad public support for unions and their positive role in the workplace and the wider society.
However, labour rights in Canada are under attack. There is a significant attempt by the political right to import radical US-style anti labour laws which would severely weaken unions. These proposed laws would reverse Canadian legislation which:
- provides that all union members who benefit from union wages and protections should pay dues;
- considers political activities a reasonable extension of the workplace role of unions in a democratic society;
- reinforces that it is up to unions to democratically decide how they spend their funds.
This frontal assault on the legitimacy of Canadian unions threatens to make Canada a much less equal and democratic society. When union density decreases, income inequality tends to increase along similar lines: since the early 1980s, the decline in union representation has been a significant factor behind the stagnation of middle-class wages and the fast-rising income share of the top 1%.
‘Union Communities, Healthy Communities: The New Attack on Unions and its Threat to Shared Prosperity in Canada’ is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
