Running head: 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 1

Transcription

1 Running head: 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY PEA Scholarship Essay Chris Clausen March, 2018

2 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 2 Table of Contents Expand Existing Unions... 3 Strengthen the Labour Board... 4 Organize New Unions... 4 Use New Technology... 5 Conclusion... 5

3 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY PEA Scholarship Essay Recent research indicates that millennial workers have a much more favourable view of labour unions than other generations; however, only a small percentage of young workers are represented by a union. Why aren t young workers joining unions and what can the labour movement do to change this? The decline in union industries coupled with anti-union legislation contributed to a decline in unionized workforces, which has limited opportunities for young people to enter a unionized environment. Between 1981 and 2012 union membership in Canada dropped from 38 to 30% (Statistics Canada, n.d.-a). This means that out of the 14.9 million jobs in 2012, there were 1.2 million fewer union positions available to young Canadians than there would have been in 1981 (Statistics Canada, n.d.-b). This can be reversed by lobbying for policies which increase the number of existing unionized positions within industries with high union density while strengthening labour law to protect and expand organizing to industries with a low union density. Expand Existing Unions The first step to increasing young worker participation in unions is to expand industries that have a high union density, such as Government, Education, Health Care (UFCW, n.d.). Expanding services through a government administered universal pharma care program would increase the number of government employees that would be necessary for administering the program. Many of the 148 thousand Canadians who work in the private health insurance industry could be rolled into government unions via nationalization (Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, 2016). Expanding services through a government administered universal

4 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 4 child care program would also expand the unionized public service. With at least 39 thousand businesses providing child care services it could be expected that tens of thousands of Canadians could gain union employment by transferring services to a publicly administered program (Govenrment of Canada, n.d.-a). To achieve this unions need to take a leadership role in politics to ensure that political parties commit to expanding the public service through government administered programs, and that they commit to ending private delivery of services. Strengthen the Labour Board Labour law must be strengthened to provide scaling penalties for when employees are retaliated against for unionizing. Walmart famously shut down a Quebec store in 2005 when the employees unionized and fought the union all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada before losing and finally paying out compensation in 2013 (CBC News, 2014, June 27). Wallmart sales are estimated at $25 billion (Strauss, 2017, February 21), whereas the labour board of Canada can fine up to a maximum of $250 thousand for each offense (Government of Canada, n.d.-b). These fines are too small to influence the behaviour of large corporations and should be replaced with fines that scale to revenues. Unions need to shame politicians into addressing this inequality in order to bring fairness back to the justice system. Organize New Unions Unions have been tied down with anti-union regulation which makes it harder to organize employees without intimidation. Card check is the easiest way to certify a new union without intimidation because it is a process that can occur without employer involvement. Once a threshold of cards have been signed a union can then be certified. Forcing a vote allows the

5 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 5 employer to intimidate employees with threats of retaliation or termination. When asked about card check Stephanie Smith, president of the BCGEU, stated Over the last 16 years, it s simply been made more and more difficult for workers to organize and become unionized. Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan all require a vote for certification (USW, n.d.). If unions can pressure politicians in these provinces to reinstate card check, then organizers can target hostile industries that employ the majority of young workers such as food service and retail. Use New Technology More than 96% of young workers have a smartphone and are native users of social media (Nielsen, 2016, November 11). Organizing face to face using pen and paper will seem antiquated to young workers. Creating a smartphone app would give organizers a safe and secure way to connect and organize young workers. Chat features would allow people to discuss unionization and self organize meetings, and collection of cell phone numbers would be automatic. Notifications could be used by the organizer to push important information such as meeting dates and deadlines to workers. The union cards could also be signed directly through the app itself. The use of digital signatures is on the rise and are now recognized as legal signatures in all Canadian federal and provincial courts of law (Legal Line, n.d.). Given the flexibility that an apps can provide, unions should dedicate the resources necessary to build them. Conclusion There is no one solution to the problem of young worker unionization, so unions need to take a multi-faceted approach. The easiest solution is to expand the public service by

6 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 6 implementing popular new programs, which would give young workers the ability to join unionized workplaces. In addition, unions can expand into non-union industries by organizing through social media and young workers would be prime targets for a card check based unionization drive via smartphone apps. However, organizing new unions will remain an uphill battle as long as corporations with deep pockets face disproportionate retaliation from illegal actions, so the legal system will have to be bolstered in order to support newly organized bargaining units. References Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. (2016). Canadian Life and Health Insurance

7 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 7 Facts. Retrieved from Factbook_2/$file/2016+CLHIA+Factbook+ENG.pdf Government of Canada. (n.d.-a). Summary Canadian Industry Statistics. Retrieved from Government of Canada. (n.d.-b). Complaint labour standards. Retrieved from Legal Line. (n.d.). Is an electronic signature legal? Retrieved from Marina Strauss. (2017, February 21). Wal-Mart Canada s sales soften in fourth quarter. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from Neilsen. (2016, November 11). Millennials are top smartphone users. Retrieved from Statistics Canada. (n.d.-a). Long term trends in unionization. Retrieved from Statistics Canada (n.d.-b). Employment, by enterprise size, by province and territory (Canada). Retrieved from UFCW. (n.d.). Union Density in Canada, Retrieved from

8 2018 PEA SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY 8 USW. (n.d.). Vote or Card Count. Retrieved from