Unions In Canada

Unions were a major turning point in Canada’s labor industry since they were meant to put the power of government behind the rights of the workers for them to bargain collectively with their employees on matters like working conditions, wages, and working hours. Trade unions were supposed to protect workers against arbitrary decisions like sudden wage cuts, layoffs and firing. Trade unions were majorly meant to protect the interest of the workers. Employers, however, do not like trade unions. In an economy that has a lot of uncertainty, employers want to have the flexibility of cutting wages, hiring and firing and also adding extra hours to the workers when there is a need. However, there is a decline in labor unions due to the current employment shift. There was a shift in employment from industries that had high unionization rates like the manufacturing and construction industries to occupations with lower unionization rates like retail trade and professional services. Even though most of the things trade unions did like ensuring comfortable working conditions have been enshrined in the law, trade unions are still crucial in ensuring workers are safe in their workplace.

As business and corporations became bigger, unions also became as bigger. Unions are a political force in many states. Unions are also a fighting force for social policies benefiting all workers, not just union members. They are leading movements to raise the minimum wage, protect pensions, advance health insurance, reform corporate governance, ensure labor protections in trade agreements, and more.

First some disclosure about myself: my mother was a strong union member for General Motors for over 32 years where she held several different offices in the union. My stepfather was a member of the local iron workers union and then a member of the union at Tinker Field Airbase. When I got out of high school I worked at General Motors wishing I could join the union. Within a year of being out of school I hired on the fire department and joined their local union where I was a member for over 22 years. Needless to say I have a long history with labor unions and the benefits they provide. I know unions have done great things for our nation and have been a counterbalance to greedy companies that take advantage of

All the workers who have difficulty forming unions would be within the reach of unions and would be able to negotiate better conditions for themselves. Both the Canadian Labour Laws and The New Zealand Employment Act have advantages and disadvantages, but have systems that have merit and may benefit from the law makers revisiting and changing some of the rules to give workers more voice. Unions have to find other ways of surviving, and attracting other sectors of workers that have no representation right now. They need to show their relevancy in the workplace because employers are giving the same conditions that unions were fighting over to non-union employees, the nature of work has changed and so the foundations the unions have built their business need to grow and change with the

Labor unions have been around ever since the industrial revolution in Europe when working conditions in factories were very low. The concepts introduced in this time by the labor unions have become ingrained in our culture here in America. While workers benefit when they join a union by being able to fight for higher wages and better working conditions, these benefits that the unions get often “come at the expense of consumers, nonunion workers, the jobless, taxpayers, and owners of corporations” (Reynolds). Unions, while once playing a very beneficial role in history, are no longer all that necessary and may even be hurting all those outside of the union workers that they help.

Unions have a way of having pros and cons, which working in the union is either good or bad. Not everyone likes or supports the union, but there are those who demand to have a job in the union. Over the times of history, unions were very big but have started to decrease in time. If you work in a job setting that might be a manufacturing job or government job it’s good to have the union supporting you. You don’t always think the union will have your back but never underestimate that you job is secure, which having a union job or not, your chances of losing a job is always possible. After working in a position that was a union job, I can agree to some facts that the unions are good for representing you, but sometimes

Unions have a long and sometimes contentious history in Canada, although they are also the source of many of the labour laws and standards that we have come to accept as normal. However, since the 1980s, an increasing trend towards favouring neoliberal policies has erased many of the social welfare and employment standards gains by unions, with particularly harsh effects on more vulnerable populations including women, immigrants, younger workers, and Aboriginal peoples. A striking example of these shifts is seen in the restaurant sector in B.C., where recent controversies with Canada’s temporary foreign worker program has at least brought some discussions of worker’s rights to the headlines in regional and national newspapers. Unfortunately, despite this new attention the current political climate continues to be hostile to workers’ groups and to workers’ rights.

- Focus statement: This paper will focus on the opposition between western Canadian labour unions’ resolve to play a larger role in politics and industry and employers’ objection to comply with them.

Surprisingly, there are more women unionized today than there have been in the past. Women currently account for more than half of Canada’s unionized workforce, with the greatest amount of membership in the past three decades. (Canadian Labour Congress, 2009) Within CUPE, women account for approximately 67% of all members, making them the majority of the union participation rate (CUPE Women, n.d.). However, there are still some within the workforce that cannot or choose not to participate in the union. Despite, all attempts that CUPE has made to actively involve them, this group of non-involved workers continues to experience barriers that have led to their lack of vigorous participation.

Before world war two union organizations where small in numbers two and late during world war two where union organizations doubled in number. Many factors played a role in development of strengthen the trade union organization. These circumstances forged to make union organization in Canada deep rooted labor unions in Canada’s political and economic structure.

In a unionized environment, employers exert their power mainly by working against union organizing. Their most important goal is to be union-free. Efforts to control organizational costs have also contributed to employer’s resistance to unions. The management may work towards sidelining union membership by designing work in such a way that it creates a work culture that increases employee commitment and job satisfaction. Employers use a variety of methods to refrain worker’s from organizing campaigns and unionize. Their efforts range from hiring consultants to distributing leaflets and letters to presenting the company’s viewpoint at meeting with employees. Some employers also

This Paper is a systematic review of articles relating to labor unions and how they affect the workplace. Labor unions are becoming a part of the past workforce as we move forward into the modern workforce and the right to work laws. In general the literature pointed to many different benefits of having a unionized workforce. These benefits are on both sides of the line, employees and employers. These benefits can range from group bargaining during contracts, protective action when to come to discipline, and overall organization for employees. On the employers side the union brings organization when it comes to discipline, and gives direction when it comes to policies and procedures.

To begin with the most important role is that Unions have undoubtedly been a leading force in refining and transform the laws by democratizing the economies of each nation. Like it has been mentioned previously that unions play a vital role in increasing and sustaining democracy of the society, unions are significantly important for democracy, not just in the working institution, but also in the society :-globally, nationally, and locally. Unions make democracy work more desirable and suitable, they stress for more useful policies to be used for socially, economically and environmentally. A justified and democratic society relies on an active and free labor movement. It is undoubtedly countries where there are active and free labor union

“The trade union movement represents the organized economic power of the workers... It is in reality the most potent and the most direct social insurance the workers can establish.” Samuel Gompers. A trade union is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions. Unions are of a great benefit for workers and communities as being in an union delivers better pay alongside benefits and a right to fair treatment becomes enforce. Displayed by the Canadian Labour Congress’s

It is evident that curtailing the power of unions by reducing membership will not give employees more freedoms. It is also too risky to wait and see if right-to-work laws create new jobs opportunities. Throughout history unions have been the driving force in achieving positive changes for employees against companies that to this day are still putting “profits ahead of workers”. Unions battled and won the eight-hour day, child labor laws, overtime pay, pensions, and workplace safety regulations. So when companies cannot be persuaded to provide for their workers, unions become the organized force behind the