Article content

Private sector labour unions have had a tough go, seeing their numbers and bargaining power ravaged over the years. Only 13.8 per cent of workers were unionized in 2021, down from 19 per cent in 1997, according to Statistics Canada figures.

Article content

The public sector, where there is no market discipline and politicians, not wanting a strike on their watch, capitulate, writing cheques with taxpayer dollars, is a different story. Its unionization rate jumped from 69.5 to 74 per cent in the same period.

Article content

Partly because of the sectors they were concentrated in and partly because of the inefficiencies the collective agreements created, unionized workplaces have disproportionately gone out of business. Just think of steel, auto, farm implement manufacturing and more.

The unions have responded with large mergers in order to retain the numbers needed to remain viable.

So, one might think, are unions a spent force and must employers maintain their campaigns, and engage law firms, to prevent new certifications?

Article content

I am seeing unions gaining a new lease on life. Inflation, in particular, has been a major calling card. It is an easy sell to say to an employee, “Look, the cost of living has gone up 11 per cent while your wages only increased two per cent, so that you are effectively earning nine per cent less this year alone” — and then promise them the moon. The unions do not mention that their own collective agreements provided the...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVGh0dHBzOi8vZmluYW5jaWFscG9zd...