Monday, November 2, 2020

Which Union Would You Want?

Unions that stick to representing workers and protecting them against unfair practices will change how people view them for the better

Blogs

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

What are the first things that come to mind when you think about unions?

Before I heard about CLAC, one of the things that I thought about was overreaching political power. My father was a high school teacher. He had no say in whether he joined a union or not and no choice in which union that would be. He also had no say in how his union spent his dues money. It didn’t matter that his union often spent money on issues that had nothing to do with labour relations or representing him. And the political party that his union gave money to, he never voted for.

I was reminded of this when I read about the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) launching a campaign encouraging Albertans to boycott businesses that support the United Conservative Party (UCP).

The AFL has set up a website that lists businesses that have donated to political action funds and third-party advertisers that support the UCP. In a press release, AFL president Gil McGowan said, “these businesses have made it clear that they don’t support ordinary Albertans, so why should ordinary Albertans support them?”

In reaction to this, Samantha Peck, a communications adviser for the province’s minister of jobs, economy and innovation, called the boycott campaign a “disgusting show of partisanship.” She wrote, “In the middle of a pandemic, when businesses and their workers across the province are struggling, you go out of your way to concoct a cancel culture-esque campaign that harms them further.”

Writing about the same issue, Aaron Wudrick, the federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, wrote that, “Unions have never been big fans of democracy and free speech, both within their own organizations and in the public domain. They have routinely attempted to do away with secret ballots for such things as union certification processes, so that employees who choose to vote against the union can be revealed and subject to intimidation… Unions clearly believe that they have every right to involve themselves in political activities, but that privilege does not extend to anyone that disagrees with them.”

This is a harsh condemnation of unions but based on the AFL’s recent call for boycotts, it doesn’t seem unwarranted. It’s important to note though that not all unions act like the AFL. CLAC doesn’t donate money to any particular political party. It doesn’t tell its members how to vote. It supports anonymous votes and doesn’t force workers to join. Nor does it punish those who choose to leave. CLAC is quick to lobby governments of all types on matters that impact its members but stops short of telling them how to vote. And while CLAC doesn’t agree with some of the UCP’s recent actions, and has real concerns about the direction of parts of some bills, it will never chastise those who supported the party. That’s the whole point of elections: people get to choose who they want to support. That needs to be respected.

It’s significant to note that the UCP won the 2019 provincial election in a landslide. This means that many people, not just the businesses that donated money, supported the UCP. The AFL may not agree with the UCP’s policies but attacking ordinary people and businesses for the political party they support seems wrong-headed and ill-advised.

For anyone who has been represented well by a union, they likely think of unions as a champion for safe, dependable work with fair wages and good benefits. Unions that stick to representing workers and protecting them against unfair practices will change how people view them for the better. Those who continue to intimidate others into how to think and vote and work will continue to build the negative stereotype that they have earned.

Which Union Would You Want?

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