Crises in Canadian Labor Market
Name
LABR 1P95: Introduction to the Canadian Labour Movement
Professor Name
April 14, 2021
劳动经济学essay代写 Some other factors that caused the decline in Canadian Labor Movement are identified by Ogmunson and Doyle (2002).
Is the Canadian labour movement in crisis? If so, what are the main features of this crisis?
How did this crisis arise? What are the main social forces and who are the main actors responsible for this crisis? Has the Canadian labour movement contributed to this crisis? If so, is there a general awareness of this within the Canadian labour movement? If you think that the labour movement isn’t in crisis, why not? Why are those who argue it is in crisis wrong? How do the strengths and successes of the labour movement today compare to the past?
The importance of unions can be noted from Camfield’s assessment who shed light on the importance of unions and labor movements. He stated in his assessment that unions are indispensable for the success of the working class. However, their existence is inadequate in the contemporary world. The weak unions in the face of the corporate world can be discerned in some recent conflicts which have taken place in Canada (Lewchuk, 2012). The Canadian labor movement has ameliorated the lives of the workers for a long time. Some of the rights they have fought for are overtime pay, parental and minimum leave, minimum wage, workplace safety measures protection from inequality and harassment and vacation pay, etc. The union work is getting hard to protect their rights.
The labor union went into crises gradually by falling along with the obsolete organizational structure. 劳动经济学essay代写
They lacked any strategic plan for themselves. They did not have even a slight political ambition. One of the cases depicted that these labor crises in Canada were centered in Toronto with diverse militant history of organizing the hospitality sector in the region of Toronto. Labor movements have gone through a number of challenges since the instigation of these crises (Cartwright, 2018). Researchers and social scientists have identified various factors that became the reason for these crises.
For instance, globalization is one of such factors which enhanced the existence of the non-unionized workforce through flexible working hours, the greater international trade and the governmental policies in the favor of corporations. Technological innovation is another key factor affecting the labor unions in the manufacturing sector (UK Essays, 2020). The history of crises in the Canadian Labor movement began in the 1980s which the introduction of globalization, capitalism and advanced technologies. The entire industrial structure changed which debilitated the labor movement of Canada as organizations transformed their structure and manufacturing industries turned into services industries. The colonial influence also affected the labor movement in Canada and nearby countries such as America and Mexico.
Goldfield and Palmer (2007), studied the uneven development in Canada’s labor movement.
Canada’s economy, its political and labor movements have depicted divided aspects. They were highly influenced by the imperialist colossus to the south. Canada despite being an advanced nation remains very much under the American influence. According to them, the beginning of the Canadian labor union crisis is marked with the dynamic expansion of US capitalism. The Canadian home industries turned vulnerable in the face of US capital’s expansion and its influence over Canadian markets.
The bourgeois class was battered by the series of blows which were material as well as ideological.
The complex scenario depicted that neo-liberal restructuring which began with the free trade era did not bolster the Canadian capital like its counterpart the United States. However, the unions were not weaker since the beginning. In fact, the labor unions registered substantial gains in the years the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The younger workers instigated a rigorous wave of labor movements in 1965-1966. Over time, the class forces turned against the Canadian working class marking the instigation of the labor union crises with the 1970s global recession. The post-World War II era was known for overproduction and decline in the profit rates, thus, the high wages the labor union organizations were compromised for the peaceful co-existence of class. 劳动经济学essay代写
The global slump precipitated with the increasing dependence of Canada on the international trade in 1973-1975 which instantly caused the financial crises within the states. The labor per unit cost started rising with Canada’s capacity to compete in the manufacturing sector slipping away. This also marked the decline in the demand for Canadian natural resources. As a result, the trade balance surplus of $3 billion turned into $450 million waging war on the working class, targeting the government sector’s employees. Capitalist exploitation became the reason for the decline in the labor union in Canada. In major cities like Ontario, restructuring of the work environment turned the labor process vehement leading to the concentration of the workplace power in the hand of hostile, anti-union managers who focused on cost reduction and tried to debilitate the labor unions (Goldfield & Palmer, 2007). These uneven developments featured the labor union crises from the beginning.
The decline of unionization began in 1980s and 1990s.
The household surveys by statistics Canada depicted that rate of unionization has declined from 37.6% in 1981 to 28.8% in 2014. The rate of decline was predominant among men as the decline was almost 15% points. The largest decrease so far was 8% points which took place in 1990s. One of the reasons for decreasing unionization rate that eventually brought crises was the employment shift from industries and work with high unionization rates such as the construction sector and manufacturing sector to the occupations with a lower rate of unionization or employment such as the financial sector and other services subsectors and retail trade.
In some regions, the unionization rate was shifted from men to women due to their majority in the industries like healthcare, social security, public administration and education services. Likewise, in the year 1999 to 2014, public sector unionization rates increased from 70.4 percent to 71.3 percent whereas the private sector unionization rate declined from 18.1% to 15.2% (Statistics Canada, n.d.). However, a shift in employment was not the sole reason for the unionization crises. 劳动经济学essay代写
Some other factors that caused the decline in Canadian Labor Movement are identified by Ogmunson and Doyle (2002). The foreign influence diminished considerably. The labor movement has become highly decentralized. The transformation of unionization from male dominating to female dominating as explained above. The unionization became more of female, public sector and white-collar. Another partial study has indicated that the ethnic origin of the labor elite has become more French Canadian and less British. The ethno-racial composition changes are prominent in the labor movements during the period of its decline. It has been noted that female representation in labor unionization has increased significantly ( Ogmundson & Doyle, 2002).
At the beginning of 1974, labor-friendly trend by the government had reversed.
International Labor Organization (ILO) contemplated the laws of restrictions in various regions of Canada. The strength of NDP started decreasing at the federal level. This decline in the membership of unions led to the loss of power at the bargaining table. The labor union became weaker as a result they were given concession in their salaries. For instance, in the Ontario auto industry, Unifor fought to save jobs in the General Motors who closed their Ontario plant.
The instant shifting of production facilities in the countries like China, India, and Mexico was another factor as these countries had low labor cost. The major corporations kept on looking for the countries with lower labor cost, expecting a lower overall domestic cost. The employers started using the threat of lower wages and rollback the staff changing the roles and duties. As a result of which the employer-worker relationship changed significantly causing a negative impact on the unions.
Technological change was another primary factor raising the challenges for the labor movements. Advanced technology such as artificial intelligence, increasing use of robots replaced human beings leading to overwhelming layoffs and increased discrimination at the workplace. The induction of new technologies in the industries significantly benefited the highly skilled employees such as programmers, or software engineers. However, lower and medium-skilled workers faced great pressure as their roles were eradicated altogether. Demographic changes also played a key role in debilitating the labor movement in Canada. The employment creation was more in the service sector than the manufacturing sector. Thus, weakened the unionization as the service sector had a high turnover rate.
The decline in the labor movement is evident in the Canadian labor market and multiple factors are responsible for it. 劳动经济学essay代写
Some of these factors have been identified in the literature. However, some key areas can be addressed to rule out these crises such as raiding must be abandoned right away as it draws valuable resources away from the real mission. The unions must focus on bringing their voice to the millions of underrepresented workers. The labor needs to fight for the law reforms that will empower their bargaining. Union democracy is important in this regard. Workers must not be kept captive under a corporation that does not value their voices. Article 4 provides the labor an option to fix their problems.
The workers must have the option to leave the union whenever they want. The most important thing is to create an organizing culture in the labor movement. This requires leadership and other resources such as time and money. The leaders must empower the unrepresented workers of the organization. The Bill 148 has been introduced in Ontario providing a unique opportunity to the workers to take part in the politics and shape their policies and laws. The importance of labor union cannot be undermined in the contemporary world characterized by globalization and capitalist society. Thereby, rigorous reforms are needed to be implemented in the labor market reinforcing the labor movements (Cartwright, 2018).
References 劳动经济学essay代写
Ogmundson, R., & Doyle, M. (2002). The Rise and Decline of Canadian Labour / 1960 to 2000: Elites, Power, Ethnicity and Gender. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 413-454. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3341550?seq=1
Cartwright, J. (2018). Crisis in the Canadian Labour Movement. Retrieved from LABOUR: https://socialistproject.ca/2018/01/crisis-canadian-labour-movement/
Goldfield , M., & Palmer, B. (2007). Canada’s Workers Movement: Uneven Developments. Labour / Le Travail, 59, 149-177. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25149758?seq=1
Lewchuk, W. (2012). Canadian Labour in Crisis: Reinventing the Workers’ Movement (review). Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/481980/pdf
Statistics Canada. (n.d.). Unionization rates falling. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015005-eng.htm
UK Essays . (2020). The Canadian Labour Movement is in Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/international-studies/the-canadian-labour-movement-is-in-crisis-2940.php
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