A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats
“Never let a good crisis go to waste”. These words were uttered by the great Winston Churchill, and they are relevant now as ever. With the COVID-19 pandemic surging on, there are those that continue to benefit. The elites have made extraordinary gains in a time where the masses are living paycheque to paycheque.
A precarious time for the world has made work unions even more vulnerable. Policies that would normally be considered contentious, have been pushed through at an alarming rate. With picket lines not being possible due to the pandemic, union supporters have been forced to reconcile the certainty of no recourse. At a time where union members should be protected, employers are salivating at the thought of undermining unions.
In Quebec, Premier Francois Legault used the guise of COVID-19 to unilaterally suspend key provisions in the collective agreements with the provincial teachers union. Ontario follows a similar trend. After an extended period of rotating strikes, they had to be cut short due to the pandemic. Subsequently, it forced the teachers union to have to reach tentative settlements with the province, evidently to limit more cuts in the future. For some sectors, it is not all doom and gloom.
Gains will likely only be temporary
Select grocery chains have temporarily increased wages in response to COVID-19. Unfortunately this will not last. Employers are likely to use the economic blowback from the pandemic as a justification for withdrawing back those gains and demanding unprecedented concessions from their employees.
Moving forward, unions are likely to find it incredibly difficult to negotiate gains for their members who will be expected to “share the pain” of an economic recession, a recession not of their making.
Public sector workers will also become targets. Circa 2008 when the government bailed select corporations. Taxpayers had to foot the bill and demanded that health care, education and social service workers do more with less, a tactic that is far too short-sighted. In the upcoming years, this could again become a reality.
It is expected that employers will create a negative perception of unions to the public. This would be done by villyfing unions, and misconstruing the notion that unions are selfish for trying to defend the interests of their members. Unions, in contrast, should leverage this unprecedented opportunity to turn that narrative on its head.
Unions can and must become champions of converting new temporary income supports, social protections and employment standards into sustainable and enduring measures. This would help rebuild Canada’s diminishing social safety net. This method will also demonstrate that unions are fighting for the common good rather than simply for the welfare of their members. A rising tide lifts all boats should be the mantra that unions reiterate to the public.
Resist Bailouts unless beneficial to Workers
Unions should encourage their members to oppose bailouts of big corporations. If a bailout were to happen, it should be inclusive of bailing out workers and give employees more say over how industries deemed “too big to fail” are run.
This way, unions can demonstrate the important role they play in ensuring that governments prioritize common people over corporate executives. This will ensure a more equitable society.
Finally, unions must continue to lead the resistance to service cuts and demands for privatized health-care services. Why? Because the COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of why Canada needs a strong and expanded public health-care system.
It’s worth noting that the strength of the collective response to COVID-19 is in part shaped by the strength and resiliency showcased by union members who labour every day to help us overcome the pandemic. Nurses, cleaners, grocery store clerks and other unionized workers have been on the forefront of this fight. They should emerge from it with a greater level of respect that is reflected in dollar figures.
Unions, in their continued defence of decent jobs and expanded services, play a key role in promoting the public good. They play this role by acting as a critical equalizer to the power of economic elites who have always prioritized profits over people.
It is certain that some figures will try to use the pandemic as a justification to push for privatization and austerity, unions should be a voice that speaks in guarding public services and social investments.
