What did Unions Ever do for me?

With Brad and the boys getting ready to set labour policy direction by what Saskatchewan Party supporters told them in the doorstep during the last campaign I got thinking how things hard won, can disappear in the blink of an eye.

I noticed a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Unions – The people who brought you the weekend" It made me laugh but, it also got me thinking. What else aside from negotiating contracts, representing members, fighting grievances and keeping an eye out for health and safety, did the union do for you and me lately. 
So, I started to make a list of things we tend to, take for granted.

I thought let’s see;

• Vacations and vacation pay 
• Minimum wage laws 
• overtime pay
• a five day work week
• Unemployment insurance
• Old aged pension benefits
• Long term disability
• Stat holiday pay
• Human rights legislation
• Workers Compensation
• Maternity/paternity leave
• Health and safety rules 

If you ask me, that is pretty good, for a quick, short list. The Aussies did a very funny video about all this.

So, if in the future someone says to you, “What did unions ever do for me?” You can answer, “A hell of a lot buddy. A hell of a lot.”

I know some readers will say “Don’t be nuts. The government gave us those things.”  Don’t be too quick.

You might have noticed lately. Governments don’t generally just hand stuff out to working people. Let me tell you. In each and every case, for each and every one of those benefits. There was a tough, tough fight.

Those benefits were won through collective action – lobbying politicians, in bargaining and on picket lines. Everything we have and now sometimes take for granted,was hard fought for.

The danger today, is that we forget how bloody hard those benefits were to get – and how easily they can be taken away.

Wisconsin Union Busting

A Curious Blend of Protests

Sorry for my lack of posts on this blog lately. I have been working on  a couple of my other eight blogs. That is right, I have nine in total. Excessive? Probably.

A couple of things caught my eye in the paper this morning however.

There was a great letter to the editor in the G & M this morning from a B.R. Cook. He wrote:

 "John Ibbitson asks why Canadians should fear a Conservative majority government under Stephen Harper.
Five word answer? Wisconsin under Governor Scott Walker."

There hasn't been much about the Wisconsin protests outside the CBC these last couple of weeks. On the "Q" media panel Margaret Wente did agree with Judy Rebbick that it was a big and important story that got very little ink here in Canada. I was surprised therefore that she seems to have missed the point in todays opinion piece.

 I find it odd that the public servants are being blamed for the Wisconsin State  bankruptcy. Once again legislators and commentators are trying to make it out to be a private sector vs public sector battle - big fat cat government workers vs the poor downtrodden masses working in private industry.

The American economy is collapsing as a result of private sector greed and corruption and very shoddy banking practices, not because of public servants.

Notwithstanding that. it is the public sector that now has to cough up and save the economic asses of the government leaders who were the regulatory overseers during the private sector excesses.

The interesting thing is that they are willing to do just that. They have already accepted wage rollbacks and  have taken on much of the burden of paying for health benefits. They still want to get back to the bargaining table to see what else can be worked out.

What few, including Wente, seem to grasp is that what really has the American trade union movement steamed, is the attack on the union's themselves.  It is the legislation which would;

• suspend collective bargaining rights, 
• deny the right to strike
• force trade unions to have each and every member re-join the union anew every year, 
• stop automatic dues checkoff so union dues would have to be collected from each and every member each month this in an effort to bankrupt the union administration.

This is all about good old right-wing union busting.

Should Canadians be interested? Of course we should. You have to believe that Chambers of Commerce, Independent Business lobby groups and Conservative governments here north of the border are watching events unfold very closely. Union busting is their favorite sport.