The Working Class

As someone who spent my formative years growing up during the collapse of communism and the rise of neoliberal economic ideals, I’ve had a front row seat in watching the subsequent effects this ideological battle has had on working class folks.

Ideas have legs and impacts, and those impacts affect our everyday lives. What we believe, and what we are told to believe, can have slow incremental influences on ourselves and our communities. There has been a clear divorce between productivity in our workplaces and the wages we receive for our work. 

In the midseventies, before automation and globalization had begun, the connection between increased production and increased wages changed course. Productivity continued its steep upward climb, while wages stagnated and leveled off for the next three decades. The threat of communism had subsided in that time and the ideals of the neoliberal economic movement were touted as the reason for the level of prosperity found in the West.

As working people are slowly finding out now, however, those promises haven’t held true. Statistics show that most Canadian households are barely scraping by on two incomes, let alone one. The middle class in North America is no longer a true middle class, as most people need to use credit cards or a line of credit to finance their lives.

It’s at this point where unions still prove their worth—not only to the folks who enjoy the benefits of being members, but also the communities where these people live. Being a collective front and incrementally pushing for pensions, benefits, and fair living wages are things that benefit entire communities.

People who are not part of a union are quick to denounce them as leading to reductions in productivity and increased costs. That is an inaccurate statement. There has been a long and focussed smear campaign to undermine and limit what unions do for our society, and it has unfortunately been very effective.

If we want any hope of raising the standard of living to allow for a prosperous and healthy society, we need to move past the lies that unionism is a bad thing and recognize its value in a capitalist economic system.

At CLAC, we take an even more forward-looking and progressive approach to these matters. We recognize the nuances between a need for productivity and ensuring a fair wage and benefits for our members.

It is this type of approach that bridges the gap between upholding individual rights and ensuring a healthy economy for all, not just some.