A couple of weeks ago, postal workers in Canada went on strike. They do have some concerns, which need addressing, but as with everything I find myself looking at many sides of the issue.
There was a time when there were no unions. I can almost remember far enough back to a time when there were very few. They were needed, because without them, management had free rein to treat employees any way they wanted - and employees either had to work with it, or give up a much-needed job and perhaps end up taking welfare.
There are still people in our country who need a union. Right off the bat I can think of several - people in lower-paying service industry jobs who can barely hold body and soul together. Some of them go to work and live on the streets, because they cannot afford anything else. There are people who do have unions but still are at the bottom of the scale - hotel workers leap to mind. In my denomination, The United Church of Canada, administrative support staff need a union. (No, not the ministers - the admin support. The ministers are a whole other discussion.)
But then we have other unions - groups like the auto workers, postal workers, transit commissions. Many of them are represented by the Canadian Auto Workers Union, or Canadian Union of Public Employees. They enjoy good job security, good pay, good medical care, and good retirement benefits. So far.
About twenty years ago, York University professors were advised by their union reps to strike for higher pay and better benefits. Note, that these are already people who have a *permanent* position. They cannot be terminated until they retire, except for gross misconduct. They enjoy excellent salaries, and excellent benefits. The end result of that strike - over two months - was that the union settled for barely more than its original contract. Those who did not walk the picket lines received no income at all. Some professors actually lost their homes trying to stay afloat, and had to start all over again. My husband and I - with four children - estimated we lost over ten thousand dollars during that strike. What saved us was that I worked, and had a full-time income. The second time the faculty went on strike, my husband not only refused to stop teaching, he went all the way to the university senate to insist on his right to continue teaching *on* the campus. He won his case, and continued to teach, at York on campus. He felt that the strike was a mistake (it was) and that those who disagreed with the union should not be penalised. He argued that his contract stated precisely what his agreement for teaching was, and he had every right to meet the terms of that contract. He remains the only professor who has done that.
Just a few short years ago, teaching assistants and contractually-limited teachers at York University went on strike. They wanted better pay, and permanent contracts. In other words, they wanted tenure as teachers, prior to receiving a degree, and without going through the requirements for tenure. To give a teaching assistant a permanent position is guaranteeing them a job after they graduate. It can't be done, and shouldn't. The same for contractually limited employment. What was particularly odious about the strike was that TAs and CLTs already receive exactly the same benefits that the tenured professors do. The only thing they do *not* receive is a permanent position. Not only that, at York University they are the highest-paid teaching assistants and contractual teachers in the country.
Now we have a postal workers strike, and at the beginning I was not a supporter. In fairness, they were negotiating in good faith, and rotating strikes across the country ensured that the mail continued to move. Then Canada Post management decided to lock them out altogether. No good faith on *their* side of the table. So I now find myself supporting the postal workers, if only because I don't think management has made the right decision, and is working in bad faith.
Ticket and booking agents at Air Canada went on strike this week. Their issue - pensions and salaries. On the one hand, I know they really don't get paid well. Even the pilots don't really receive a decent wage for the work they do. Management, in my opinion, gets paid far more than they are worth and get paid for making bad decisions. Our airline can barely limp along, but because it is almost the only airline in the country, it is able to charge outrageous fares and get them, pay huge salaries to management, and chisel the front-line workers.
OK so this is a rant and there are all kinds of issues here. The economy is rapidly changing, and the real truth is that most people will never be able to command the salaries or benefits which are being commanded now. Bargaining for better and more security isn't going to work so much any more. Yet we see management taking a larger and larger share for itself, telling its workers they need to cut back, tighten up - and NOT doing it themselves. We see our politicians and leaders padding their own bank accounts, and willing to stomp on unions.
I don't know what the answer is.....I am not a great fan of unions, and I think they throw their weight around too often, too much, and are getting greedy. At the same time I see the managers treating them with disdain, and I see lots of attempts at union-busting too.
I guess I come down squarely in the middle - or squarely all over the place. Unions are necessary to some extent, but when they start holding ordinary people hostage in an attempt to gain all they possibly can, their time has passed. Some changes are needed. I am not advocating the end of unions - but today's economic factors are far different than they were even twenty years ago. *Everyone* needs to start looking at things differently.
