tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/labour-movement-35161/articlesLabour movement – The Conversation2023-11-26T20:36:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2155872023-11-26T20:36:17Z2023-11-26T20:36:17ZHere’s why union support is so high right now<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/heres-why-union-support-is-so-high-right-now" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Over 65,000 teachers in Québec <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-teachers-strike-staff-may-be-on-strike-until-christmas-says-union-vice-president-1.6661466">could remain on strike until Christmas</a> if a deal isn’t reached, their union said on Sunday. The warning comes amid widespread labour unrest in the province, including nearly <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/nearly-570000-of-quebecs-public-sector-workers-are-on-strike-thursday">570,000 workers on strike at the same time</a> last week.</p>
<p>These collective actions are on the heels of the recent “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/union-labour-summer-of-strikes-1.6970861">summer of strikes</a>,” that saw a number of labour actions take place, including the <a href="https://theconversation.com/actors-are-demanding-that-hollywood-catch-up-with-technological-changes-in-a-sequel-to-a-1960-strike-209829">Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-uaw-unions-tough-bargaining-strategy-is-working-214679">United Auto Workers’ strike</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/starbucks-workers-over-150-stores-strike-over-pride-decor-row-2023-06-23/">a number of Starbucks strikes</a>. In Canada, <a href="https://theconversation.com/b-c-labour-dispute-its-time-for-an-industrial-inquiry-commission-into-ports-and-automation-210779">port workers in British Columbia</a>, <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/workers-at-ontario-s-public-broadcaster-walk-off-the-job-1.6527764">workers from Ontario’s public broadcaster,</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/sj-inside-workers-agreement-1.6990304">city workers in Saint John</a> also held strikes.</p>
<p>One of the reasons strikes seem to have increased in popularity and publicity is the record high support for workers’ unions. According to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/398303/approval-labor-unions-highest-point-1965.aspx">recent Gallup poll</a>, 71 per cent of Americans are supportive of labour unions — the highest rate since 1965. A recent <a href="https://angusreid.org/unions-strike-labour-canada-ndp-conservatives-liberals/">Angus Reid survey</a> found three-in-five Canadians believe unions have had a positive impact for workers.</p>
<p>Why is this support so high now? <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/technologies-helping-shape-surge-worker-strikes-us/story?id=102994468">Some have argued</a> that worsening working conditions, wages falling out of step with inflation and the increasing use of artificial intelligence across industries are contributing to workers’ collective action. </p>
<p>However, this is only part of the picture. More important than these conditions are the workers’ <em>perceptions</em> of these conditions. The rise in union support may be better explained by the general rise in people’s acknowledgement of their own disadvantages, and their negative emotional reactions to that disadvantage.</p>
<h2>Importance of perception</h2>
<p>Research shows that recognizing one’s disadvantage, coupled with experiencing an emotional reaction to it — usually anger — is an important predictor of taking part in collective actions like protesting, striking or joining a union. This is true <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1088868311430825">even when accounting for objective measures of disadvantage</a>, like social class, income and education. </p>
<p>When it comes to support for unions specifically, a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27767155">1991 study found</a> people’s feelings about their perceived social status were more important in predicting union support than their objective social standing, which is determined by factors like income, education and class. In other words, people’s perceptions determined union support.</p>
<p>This perspective also explains why union support hasn’t risen in times when working conditions have worsened. The years following the 2008 recession, for example, brought about many labour issues, including <a href="https://www.kansascityfed.org/Jackson%20Hole/documents/4547/2014vonWachter.pdf">widespread unemployment</a>, <a href="https://u.demog.berkeley.edu/%7Ejrw/Biblio/Eprints/PRB/files/65.1unitedstates.pdf">declining household wages</a> and <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/great-recession-american-dream/">increased levels of temporary and precarious work</a>. </p>
<p>Despite this, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/398303/approval-labor-unions-highest-point-1965.aspx">union support among Americans was at a historical low</a> around that time. While no statistics exist for the Canadian context, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.18740/S4M887">evidence suggests</a> unions were equally unpopular in Canada after the Great Recession. </p>
<h2>The COVID-19 pandemic’s role</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted how we view our lives. Recent studies suggest people are now <a href="https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/pandemics-make-us-more-averse-inequality">more aware of the inequalities present in our societies</a> and are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jesp.2022.104400">more willing to do something about it</a>, compared to the pre-COVID era. </p>
<p>An awareness of the unjust systems that influence our behaviours has been shown to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1088868311430825">be a prerequisite for the anger</a> that drives collective action. Essentially, the more we recognize injustice, the <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1987.9713692">more likely we are to engage in collective action</a>.</p>
<p>The height of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with several union strikes that reveal this pattern. For instance, the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/the-pandemic-has-caused-a-surprising-rebound-for-the-unions-participation-is-now-higher-than/article_04de56b9-3a88-539c-94ef-c1b1f68793d6.html">2020 Dominion grocery store workers’ strikes in Newfoundland</a> were driven by a growing awareness of the disparities between top executives, who earned millions during the pandemic, and front-line workers who saw little to no wage increases. </p>
<p>Although this divide <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2022/01/Another%20year%20in%20paradise.pdf">had been widening for years</a>, the pandemic accentuated it. <a href="https://nursesunions.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/a_time_of_fear_possamai_final_book_digital.pdf">Union statements during the strikes</a> emphasized that the issues faced by workers were exposed by the pandemic, rather than being created by it. </p>
<p>The pandemic has helped create an environment where workers are more likely to feel disadvantaged and angry. Until public perception and awareness of inequality changes, we will likely continue to see an increased number of strikes and other forms of collective action. </p>
<h2>What should employers do?</h2>
<p>Employers have a crucial role to play in all this. If they wish to avoid their workers taking collective action against them, they should demonstrate their support of their employees by attending to their needs. Issues like <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-businesses-can-best-help-employees-disconnect-from-work-174522">work-life balance</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/employers-need-to-prioritize-employee-mental-health-if-they-want-to-attract-new-talent-205738">mental health support</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/diversity-in-the-workplace-isnt-enough-businesses-need-to-work-toward-inclusion-194136">diversity and inclusion</a> are top of mind for employees.</p>
<p>When employees’ needs are met, they are less likely to perceive disadvantages in the workplace and harbour resentment. A <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S321689">recent study found</a> that employees who believed they were being fairly paid for positive workplace behaviours — like co-operating with others and coming in to work early — felt less resentment towards those they considered more advantaged. </p>
<p>Effective communication with workers, fostering participative leadership and encouraging co-operation between workers have also been shown to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/08863680122098298">reduce angry feelings</a> stemming from an employee’s negative workplace comparisons. </p>
<p>These approaches work because they encourage constructive solutions to employee issues. In the end, the link between people’s perceptions of their own lives and their support for unions highlights just how important it is for employers to take their employees’ needs into account.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nabhan Refaie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise in union support can be explained by the growing recognition people are having of their own disadvantages, and the anger they feel about it.Nabhan Refaie, PhD Candidate in Management (Organizational Behaviour), University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140642023-10-15T19:09:56Z2023-10-15T19:09:56ZThe human factor: why Australia’s net zero transition risks failing unless it is fair<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553575/original/file-20231012-15-gcgsi3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=113%2C276%2C4937%2C3335&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/C7B-ExXpOIE">Javier Allegue Barros/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For those people focused on meeting the profound challenge of shifting our economies from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, recent headlines from Europe have made alarming reading.</p>
<p>In September, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/robert-lambrou-alternative-for-germany-heat-pump-election-climate-change/">after five months of fierce controversy</a>, Germany’s ruling coalition managed to pass a law banning new gas boilers in homes and beginning a phase-out of existing ones. Yet public protests and likely electoral setbacks in some parts of the country have forced the government to soften the new law. </p>
<p>That same month, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/20/uk-net-zero-policies-scrapped-what-do-changes-mean">delayed bans</a> on gas boilers, along with new petrol and diesel cars. Climate activists like Al Gore were dismayed, but Sunak said: “If we continue down this path, we risk losing the consent of the British people” (for net zero policies).</p>
<p>And in 2018 the French government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/05/france-wealth-tax-changes-gilets-jaunes-protests-president-macron">scrapped a proposed fuel tax increase</a> after fierce protests from the <em>gilets jaunes</em> (yellow vests) demonstrators. </p>
<p>These conflicts all show that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 requires not only technology and policy changes but an understanding of the <a href="https://www.traceydodd.com/pdfs/Electricity-markets-in-flux-The-importance-of-a-just-transition.pdf">human element</a> – the individuals, workers and communities whose lives will be profoundly affected by these changes.</p>
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<h2>The concept of a just transition</h2>
<p>To transform our energy system, all of us will need to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0312896219874096?casa_token=9s4CwT8FHCUAAAAA:w12piwTc-p40uN0kpXPoQJOMqI2BD8q1yEKMxZg0wh0dfUZrT7GPg4tdbRbA2d0wUoSosU_Vbv72GA">join forces</a> to make fundamental changes in our lifestyles. But these changes cannot fall on everyone in the same way; they must be in line with what is called a “just transition”. </p>
<p>The notion of a “<a href="https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/what-just-transition-and-why-it-important">just transition</a>” emerged from the US labour movement in the 1980s as a means to shield workers from the impact of new pollution regulations that potentially threatened their jobs. Today, it has gained prominence as a fundamental <a href="https://www.oecd.org/publications/unpacking-public-and-private-efforts-on-just-transition-cbd31b13-en.htm">principle for achieving climate goals</a>. </p>
<p>The concept proposes a comprehensive approach that ensures a fair distribution of both the benefits and burdens of any significant economic transition. Properly implemented, it enables governments and other stakeholders to avoid a backlash from the wider population as they seek to enact sweeping and necessary change. </p>
<p>The risk of such a backlash is real. Uncomfortable realities about the fairness of proposed solutions to climate change are emerging. London’s recent expansion of its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-66592199">ultra-low emissions zone</a> to encompass all the city’s boroughs provoked strong protests. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/made-in-america-how-bidens-climate-package-is-fuelling-the-global-drive-to-net-zero-214709">Made in America: how Biden's climate package is fuelling the global drive to net zero</a>
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<p>Media coverage pitted supporters of the initiative against drivers from low socio-economic backgrounds who struggle to afford low-emissions vehicles and face paying penalties for older, high-emitting cars.</p>
<p>Public discourse concerning the energy transition typically centres around the energy trilemma: ensuring a secure energy supply, reducing carbon emissions, and keeping prices affordable for consumers. Yet vital <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521005395">distributional and equity aspects</a> both <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2021/09/climate-change-and-inequality-guivarch-mejean-taconet">between and within nations</a> are far less often addressed. </p>
<h2>The potential inequality of climate policies</h2>
<p>The problem is made worse by the rising cost of living, which falls harder on low-income households. In Australia, large- and small-scale energy policies have driven up network costs associated with renewable investments. Low-income households now spend <a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/system/files/Annual%20Retail%20Market%20Report%202021-22%20-%2030%20November%202022_3.pdf">twice the amount of their disposable income</a> on energy than average-income households do. An increasing number of households are falling into energy debt as they are unable to pay their energy bills. </p>
<p>What’s more, <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0301-4215(23)00414-7">research shows</a> that households without access to solar power, many of whom are on low incomes, largely fund government-backed renewable energy programs, since the costs of funding these programs are distributed through energy bills. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-hard-basket-why-climate-change-is-defeating-our-political-system-214382">Too hard basket: why climate change is defeating our political system</a>
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<p>In these programs, governments assure renewable energy developers a fixed energy price to secure their support to provide renewable energy. Consumers who can afford to install solar get cheap power; those who cannot are left paying the difference in their bills. </p>
<p>These pressures help to explain why <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/stunning-collapse-in-confidence-consumer-lose-trust-in-energy-markets/">trust in the energy sector has eroded</a>. The sector needs to put people and communities first in the delivery of products and services.</p>
<h2>Australia’s fairness challenge</h2>
<p>Australia’s task in ensuring a just transition is not easy, when policymakers already have much to do to deliver an integrated climate and energy policy. While our effort on climate change compared to other countries has improved on last year, it <a href="https://ccpi.org/">still ranks 55th</a> in the Climate Change Performance Index, below the USA and China, and its performance is categorised as “very low”.</p>
<p>One risk is that as Australia <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/P1096-Back-of-the-Pack-110821.pdf">falls behind other countries</a> in its energy transition, if it were to suddenly accelerate its net zero ambitions to keep up with the pace of change elsewhere, it could lose sight of the transition costs imposed on different groups.</p>
<p>For example, to-date mining workers have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-8489.12289">borne the brunt</a> of costs associated with the transition to renewable energy. Areas with recently closed coal-fired power stations have experienced an average increase in their unemployment rate of around 0.7%, holding other factors constant. Hardest hit have been regions heavily reliant on coal mining and coal-based power generation, such as Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, and Queensland’s Mackay and Fitzroy regions. </p>
<p>People <a href="https://ecology.iww.org/PDF/misc/RuhrorAppalachia_Report_final.pdf">in these areas</a> around the world need plans that help them to learn new skills and find new jobs, and encourage new ways to start businesses and make money. Without such alternatives, people often struggle not only to find jobs and pay bills but to sustain their physical and mental health. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-road-is-long-and-time-is-short-but-australias-pace-towards-net-zero-is-quickening-214570">The road is long and time is short, but Australia's pace towards net zero is quickening</a>
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<p>Governments can reduce the risk climate change poses to their <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/46070">security and reputation</a> by conducting an honest accounting of how green policies affect people’s wallets. They need to be brave and release information on the less visible aspects of the transition, such as rising unemployment in areas traditionally reliant on coal, and higher energy prices for those who rely on grid energy. </p>
<p>The race against time to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 makes the concept of a “just transition” not a far-fetched dream but a dire necessity. Only by addressing the financial and fairness concerns of hard-pressed individuals, workers, and communities is Australia’s journey to a net-zero future assured.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracey Dodd is affiliated with the University of Adelaide and University of Exeter. She is also a Board Member of Green Industries SA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Harvey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The transition to net zero emissions is under grave threat if governments do not do more to address the potential unfairness of some climate policies.Tracey Dodd, Director, Research Development, Adelaide Business School, University of AdelaideWill Harvey, Professor of Leadership and Inaugural Director of the Social Purpose Centre, Melbourne Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145092023-10-01T09:57:46Z2023-10-01T09:57:46ZTrade unions and the new economy: 3 African case studies show how workers are recasting their power in the digital age<p>From US <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-trump-woo-union-workers-michigan-auto-strikes-grow-2023-09-26/">car factories</a> to public sector workers <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/5/nigerian-unions-strike-again-to-protest-soaring-costs-after-subsidy-removal">in Nigeria</a> and <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2023/09/08/city-of-tshwane-samwu-strike-a-deliberate-effort-to-turn-the-city-into-a-dumpsite">South Africa</a>, strikes by trade unions continue unabated among the established sectors of the working class. In Detroit in the US, workers are resisting contract employment. In Nigeria they are angry over the rising cost of living and in South Africa, municipal workers are striking for better wages.</p>
<p>But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build sustainable worker organisations as companies employ more people on a casual basis in the digital age. Work has become more precarious and workers are easily replaceable. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://witspress.co.za/page/detail/Recasting-Workers%EF%BF%BD-Power/?k=9781776148820">new book</a>, Recasting Workers’ Power: Work and Inequality in the Shadow of the Digital Age, we focus on workers’ power. The classic example of workers’ power is the strike: the collective withdrawal of labour to force an employer to do what they would otherwise not have done. </p>
<p>In this book we challenge the dominant narrative that new technology has destroyed workers’ power. We focus on the new jobs that are being created – food couriers, e-hailing drivers, street traders and the growing numbers of casual workers at the core of the economy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/zambias-copper-mines-hard-baked-racism-into-the-workplace-by-labelling-whites-expats-188751">Zambia's copper mines hard-baked racism into the workplace by labelling whites 'expats'</a>
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<p>We show how these precarious workers are organising in new ways that go beyond the traditional methods of union formation. For example, they are forming coalitions with other organisations, such as NGOs. In some cases they are combining these new approaches with traditional ways of bringing workers’ collective power to bear, for example by making use of laws that support workers’ rights.</p>
<h2>Three case studies</h2>
<p>We focus on three sectors: factory workers in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg in South Africa; food couriers in Johannesburg; and transport workers in Kampala, Uganda. </p>
<p>We examined their ways of organising by applying, in addition to the strike weapon, the lens of three other ways of exercising power: associational power (collective organisation), coalitions (societal power) and institutional power (laws that entrench labour rights). </p>
<p>We found the factory workers were using a range of tools – old and new – to organise. Factory committees were formed at some workplaces. This involved working with a labour supportive NGO. But they also drew on old practices (institutional power) by taking up cases through the <a href="https://www.ccma.org.za/">Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration</a> and the amended <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/labour-relations-act">Labour Relations Act</a>. Both offer the possibility of workers being able to get permanent jobs in the company at which they work.</p>
<p>The food carriers were using different tactics. In Johannesburg they had created worker-driven messaging apps and chat groups where they shared information, developed a shared identity and announced local direct action. </p>
<p>Being self-employed weakens their organising power. But the potential for collective power was increased when they met face-to-face at work zones and began to form a collective identity. Some have engaged in collective action, but with limited impact to date. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/has-south-africas-labour-movement-become-a-middle-class-movement-82629">Has South Africa’s labour movement become a middle class movement?</a>
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<p>They achieved some success when they worked with a supportive NGO (an international organisation) to put forward demands to regulate their work.</p>
<p>In Kampala, we found that the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union was also using new approaches to organise workers. In the 1980s the union faced a near collapse of membership when privatisation undermined the public transport sector. This eliminated the position of the traditional public transport bus driver. Informal mini-taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi riders (known locally as boda boda) became the dominant mode of transport.</p>
<p>By classifying the growing number of boda boda riders as workers and therefore potential union members, the union expanded from a declining 5,000 members to over 100,000. In spite of the fragmented and isolated nature of their work these new workers were already organised – not into a trade union but into informal associations. </p>
<p>These associations formed an alliance with the established union. By doing this they gained concrete support from the International Transport Federation, a global union of transport workers. This led to the dramatic growth of the union, a decline in police harassment and growing recognition as a collective bargaining partner.</p>
<p>Importantly, where trade unions have taken up the issues of informal workers, unions have also undergone fundamental changes. They often become “hybrid” organisations, blurring the distinction between traditional unionism, informal workers’ associations and cooperatives.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/recasting-labours-power">research</a> clearly articulates the challenges workers face. But it also suggests some grounds for optimism in the new and hybrid forms of organisation and the coalitions that are emerging. </p>
<p>The question raised by these findings is whether these embryonic forms of worker organisation are sustainable. Could they become the foundations for a new cycle of worker solidarity and union growth?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-formal-employment-is-not-a-guaranteed-path-to-social-equality-177251">Why formal employment is not a guaranteed path to social equality</a>
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<p>We conclude that this is possible if they innovate and experiment with new forms of association, use digital tools, and broaden unions’ reach through coalition-building with other civil society organisations. In sum, we are suggesting that workers’ power is being recast as precarious workers in Africa experiment with new ways of organising in the digital age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Webster receives funding from organisation.Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. I am a Distinguished Research Professor at the Southern Centre of Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand </span></em></p>Workers’ power is being recast as precarious workers in Africa experiment with new ways of organising in the digital ageEdward Webster, Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2014762023-03-23T19:06:08Z2023-03-23T19:06:08Z4-day work week trials have been labelled a ‘resounding success’. But 4 big questions need answers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515066/original/file-20230314-2882-t7f1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C183%2C3145%2C1584&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A little more than a century ago, most people in industrialised countries worked 60 hours a week – six ten-hour days. A 40-hour work week of five eight-hour days became the norm, along with increased paid holidays, in the 1950s. </p>
<p>These changes were made possible by massive increases in productivity and hard-fought struggles by workers with bosses for a fair share of the expanding economic pie. </p>
<p>In the 1960s and ‘70s it was expected that this pattern would continue. It was even anticipated that, by the year 2000, there would be a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02614367.2022.2094997">leisure society</a>”. Instead, the trend towards reduced working hours ground to a halt. </p>
<p>But now there are suggestions we are on the cusp of another great leap forward – a 32-hour, four-day week for the same pay as working five days. This is sometimes referred to as the “100-80-100” model. You will continue to be paid 100% of your wages in return for working 80% of the hours but maintaining 100% production.</p>
<p>In Spain and Scotland, political parties have won elections with the promise of trialling a four-day week, although a similar move in the 2019 UK general election was unsuccessful. In Australia, a Senate committee inquiry <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Work_and_Care/workandcare/Report">has recommended</a> a national trial of the four-day week. </p>
<p>Hopes of the four-day week becoming reality have been buoyed by glowing reports about the success of four-day week trials, in which employers have reported cutting hours but maintaining productivity.</p>
<p>However, impressive as the trial results may appear, it’s still not clear whether the model would work across the economy. </p>
<h2>An employer-led movement</h2>
<p>Unlike previous campaigns for a shorter work week, the four-day workweek movement is being led by employers in a few, mainly English-speaking, countries. Notable is Andrew Barnes, owner of a New Zealand financial services company, who founded the “<a href="https://www.4dayweek.com/">4-Day Week Global</a>” organisation. </p>
<p>It has coordinated a program of four-day week trials in six countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States). Almost 100 companies and more than 3,000 employees have been involved. (A highly publicised <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-success-of-icelands-four-day-week-trial-has-been-greatly-overstated-164083">trial in Iceland</a> was not coordinated by it.)</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-success-of-icelands-four-day-week-trial-has-been-greatly-overstated-164083">The success of Iceland's 'four-day week' trial has been greatly overstated</a>
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<p>These trials are being monitored by an “international collaboration” of research teams at three universities: Boston College, Cambridge University, and University College Dublin. The Boston College team is led by work-time/leisure-time guru Juliet Schor, author of the 1991 bestseller <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/juliet-b-schor/the-overworked-american/9780465054343/">The Overworked American</a>. </p>
<p>A number of reports have been published, including <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60b956cbe7bf6f2efd86b04e/t/6387a0e53881be1284cb046e/1669832945858/The+Four+Day+Week-+Assessing+Global+Trials+of+Reduced+Work+Time+with+No+Reduction+in+Pay+%E2%80%93+A+%E2%80%93+30112022.pdf">one “global” report</a> covering all six countries, and separate reports for <a href="https://autonomy.work/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-results-are-in-The-UKs-four-day-week-pilot.pdf">the UK</a> and <a href="https://www.forsa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/4DayWeekAssessingGlobalTrials-1.pdf">Ireland</a>. A report on the Australian trial is promised for April. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The latest report from the 4 Day Week Global organisation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517086/original/file-20230323-20-6x0q6p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The latest report from the 4 Day Week Global organisation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.4dayweek.com/">4 Day Week Global</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, these reports have declared the trials a “resounding success” – both for employers and employees.</p>
<p>Employees, unsurprisingly, were overwhelmingly positive. They reported less stress, burnout, fatigue and work-family conflict, and better physical and mental health. </p>
<p>More significant were the employers’ responses. They have generally reported improved employee morale and no loss of revenue. Nearly all have committed to, or are considering, continuing with the four-day-week model.</p>
<h2>Four big questions</h2>
<p>The trials do not, however, answer all the questions about the viability of the four-day week. The four main ones are as follows.</p>
<p>First, are the research results reliable? </p>
<p>Employers and employees were surveyed at the start, halfway through and at the end of the six-month trials. But only about half of the employees and two-thirds of employers completed the vital final round. So there’s some uncertainty about their representativeness.</p>
<p>Second, did the participating firms demonstrate the key productivity proposition: an increase of almost 20% in output per employee per hour worked? </p>
<p>The firms involved were not asked to provide “output” data, just revenue. This may be a reasonable substitute. But it may also have been affected by price movements (inflation was on the march in 2022). </p>
<p>Third, for those firms that achieved the claimed productivity increase, how did it come about? And is it sustainable? </p>
<p>Proponents of the four-day week argue that employees are more productive because they work in a more concentrated way, ignoring distractions. A much longer period than six months will be needed to establish whether this more intense work pattern is sustainable. </p>
<p>Fourth, is the four-day model likely to be applicable across the whole economy? </p>
<p>This is the key question, the answer to which will only emerge over time. The organisations involved in the trials were self-selected and unrepresentative of the economy as a whole. They employed mostly office-based workers. Almost four-fifths were in managerial, professional, IT and clerical occupations. Organisations in other sectors, with different occupational profiles, may find increased productivity through more intensive working difficult to emulate. </p>
<p>Take manufacturing: only three firms from this sector were included in the large UK trial. Since manufacturing has been subject to efficiency studies and labour-saving investment for a century or more, an overall 20% “efficiency gain” to be had across the board seems unlikely. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The productivity gains achieved in office environments may harder to replicate in other settings such as manufacturing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517089/original/file-20230323-28-c76ppm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The productivity gains achieved in office environments may harder to replicate in other settings such as manufacturing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there are sectors that provide face-to-face services to the public, often seven days a week. They cannot close for a day, and their work intensity is often governed by health and safety concerns. Reduced hours are unlikely to be covered by individual productivity increases. To maintain operating hours, either staff will have to work overtime or more staff would need to be employed. </p>
<p>As for the public sector, in Australia and other countries “efficiency savings” involving budget cuts of about 2% a year have been common for decades. Any “slack” is likely to have been already squeezed out of the system. Again, reducing standard hours would result in the need to pay overtime rates or recruit extra staff, at extra cost.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-life-of-long-weekends-is-alluring-but-the-shorter-working-day-may-be-more-practical-127817">A life of long weekends is alluring, but the shorter working day may be more practical</a>
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<h2>So what now?</h2>
<p>This does not mean the four-day week could not spread through the economy. </p>
<p>One scenario is that it could spread in those workplaces and sectors where productivity gains are achievable. </p>
<p>Those employers and sectors not offering reduced hours would find it harder to recruit staff. They would need to reduce hours, perhaps by stages, to compete. In the absence of productivity gains, they would be forced to absorb the extra costs or pass them on in increased prices. </p>
<p>The pace at which such change takes place would depend, as it always has, on the level of economic growth, productivity trends and labour market conditions.</p>
<p>But it is unlikely to happen overnight. And, as always, it will be accompanied by many employers and their representatives claiming the sky is about to fall in.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201476/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Veal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Impressive as results from four-day work-week trials may appear, it’s still not clear if they would apply across the economy.Anthony Veal, Adjunct Professor, Business School, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2015472023-03-15T14:15:56Z2023-03-15T14:15:56ZPierre Poilievre is popular among union members. What’s it really all about?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515160/original/file-20230314-3604-obbknl.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C153%2C6016%2C3845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to the crowd gathered at a meet-and-greet in Stoney Creek, Ont., in March 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Lupul</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/pierre-poilievre-is-popular-among-union-members--what-s-it-really-all-about" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>According to a recent poll by Abacus Data, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives <a href="https://springmag.ca/combatting-poilievres-appeal-to-union-members">are now the top choice of union members in Canada.</a></p>
<p>Overall support for the Conservatives among union members is only slightly lower than the support the party enjoys with the general population. Meanwhile, support for the New Democrats is actually lower among private sector union members than it is among the overall population.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1630651955491078144"}"></div></p>
<p>All of this represents a significant swing from <a href="https://www.ipolitics.ca/news/polls-theres-a-lot-of-tory-blue-on-union-workers-collars-siekierski">polling data collected in 2015</a>, during the last year of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. </p>
<p>It suggests today’s NDP has failed to offer a credible alternative to the status quo of the governing Liberals. The <a href="https://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/5874/6734">increasingly transactional approach to party politics</a> across much of the labour movement is also a factor.</p>
<h2>Union members attracted to populists?</h2>
<p>The development is even more startling when read in the context of <a href="https://www.cgai.ca/northern_populism_causes_and_consequences_of_the_new_ordered_outlook">recent research</a> showing that working-class Canadians appear to be particularly susceptible to far-right populist overtures. </p>
<p>This is despite the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2016-0025">well-documented anti-worker and anti-union animus</a> of right-wing populists.</p>
<p>Unions across Canada are formulating strategies for tackling right-wing populism in society and among their own members. </p>
<p>The United Steelworkers have made confronting populism <a href="https://usw.ca/steelworkers-talk-politics-engaging-hearts-and-minds-voter-engagement-and-our-union/">an explicit part of their electoral interventions</a>. It also appears as a central objective in <a href="https://www.unifor.org/sites/default/files/documents/Unifor_Action_Plan-2022%E2%80%932025%20web.pdf">Unifor’s 2022-25 Action Plan</a>.</p>
<p>But the trend also demands self-reflection on the part of the labour movement. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2022.2061866">Nativism, xenophobia and mistrust of global institutions are hallmarks of far-right populism</a>. The labour movement also has a long history of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/031148ar">trading on nationalist sentiments</a> to build broad support among their own members and in the wider community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman with dark blonde hair and glasses laughs as people surround her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515181/original/file-20230314-3883-pgw6hr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lana Payne celebrates with supporters after being elected as the new president of Unifor — the first woman to hold the position — in Toronto in August 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Labour movement nationalism</h2>
<p>In practice, this nationalism has taken many forms, including <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/union-launches-i-shop-canada-campaign-to-counter-u-s-trade-moves-1.3992855">Buy Canadian campaigns</a>, <a href="https://canadianlabour.ca/news-news-archive-canadas-unions-unite-protest-over-tpp-trade-deal-announcement/">opposition to free trade</a> and suspicion of <a href="https://doi.org/10.15173/glj.v4i3.1139">U.S.-based international unions in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Nationalism in the labour movement offered a justification for the heroic takeovers of many plants that were shutting down, including <a href="https://ourtimes.ca/article/everything-is-made-somewhere">Houdaille Bumper in Oshawa</a> in 1980 and <a href="https://www.canplastics.com/canplastics/ontario-auto-trim-plant-to-close/1000023759/#:%7E:text=which%20employ...-,Johnson%20Controls%20Inc.%20has%20announced%20plans%20to%20close%20its%20Stratford,not%20competitive%20with%20similar%20operations.">Johnson Controls</a> in Stratford, Ont., in 1999. However, nationalism in the labour movement has always been more complicated than these accomplishments.</p>
<p>The appearance of Japanese automakers in Ontario’s auto manufacturing industry in the 1980s fuelled <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/24714607-bja10040">racist rhetoric among some local union leaders</a> who characterized it as an “<a href="https://archive.org/details/oshaworker-1986-06-19/page/6/mode/2up">invasion</a>” that threatened to “<a href="https://archive.org/details/oshaworker-1986-05-15/page/8/mode/2up">rape us of our Canadian standards</a>.” Today, those same manufacturers now emphasize their “made-in-Canada” status in their marketing. </p>
<p>In more recent fights with multinational employers, workers have used <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/wusa.12489">nativist language similar to that used by right-wing politicians</a> to characterize their employers’ treatment of the union, emphasizing concerns about “foreigners” exploiting Canadian resources and making off with the profits.</p>
<p>The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07078552.2019.1612163">unearthed concerning similarities</a> between the protectionism advanced by unions and the protectionism of white nationalists and other right-wing populists, especially regarding the threat of competition with Mexico.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1092821503660433408"}"></div></p>
<p>These Canada First politics have meant unions have struggled to establish solidarity with migrant workers. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1025028ar">Their support is often precarious</a>, waning when one crisis or another puts the leadership under pressure to deliver for their members. </p>
<p>Canadian labour nationalism has also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/030981689104300111">divided workers and their organizations in Québec and the rest of Canada</a>, especially with respect to the question of Québec sovereignty.</p>
<h2>Populism takes hold</h2>
<p>Part of the appeal of labour nationalism is that it cuts across party lines and turns the union’s message into something everyone can get behind. But doing so opens the door to strange bedfellows and provides fertile ground for the nativism of right-wing populism to take hold and spread. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Black man tends to dozens of pints of strawberries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515184/original/file-20230314-599-xg2cm2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A migrant worker arranges strawberries at a market in Barrie, Ont., in July 2022. Labour nationalism can cause populism to take root and spread.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Canada First mentality that characterizes so much of the populist movement here also runs deep in some of the very unions that are the most concerned about the rise of far-right politics.</p>
<p>If unions are serious about understanding the appeal of Poilievre’s Conservatives and confronting the rise of right-wing populism within their own memberships, they also need to reckon with their long and ongoing history of reinforcing nationalism among their members.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadian-populism-got-shut-out-this-election-but-its-still-a-growing-movement-168133">Canadian populism got shut out this election — but it's still a growing movement</a>
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<p>After all, how can unions frame their work as being primarily about defending Canadian interests without leaving their members vulnerable to appeals by populists about what those interests look like and how to advance them? </p>
<p>The goal of the labour movement is to advance the interests of workers everywhere. Simplistic narratives about defending Canada may be expedient in the short run, but in the long run they have likely done more harm than good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201547/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Fairweather does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The goal of the labour movement is to advance the interests of workers everywhere. Nativist narratives about defending Canada could explain Pierre Poilievre’s popularity among some union members.Chris Fairweather, PhD Candidate, School of Labour Studies, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868082022-08-08T17:50:10Z2022-08-08T17:50:10ZA summer of discontent? Why public sector workers are preparing to strike in B.C.<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477740/original/file-20220804-24-1nsyqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C5739%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">British Columbian workers in the public sector, transit and transportation have voted to take job action in recent weeks to fight for their right to earn livable wages.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Successful unionization drives targeting corporate employers like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-amazon-workers-win-the-fight-to-form-a-union-in-staten-island-but-not-in-alberta-181042">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/starbucks-union-labour-movement-1.6506307">Starbucks</a> have been big news in 2022. But much larger scale collective action in the Canadian public sector may also be on the cards. </p>
<p>In May, the Public Service Alliance of Canada — the country’s largest federal union — <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/05/18/Largest-Federal-Union-Canada-Talking-Strike/">walked away from contract negotiations</a>. In British Columbia, almost 95 per cent of the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bcgeu-strike-vote-1.6499549">voted, in July, to strike after negotiations broke down</a> over cost of living adjustments and wage protection from inflation.</p>
<p>It is not only workers in B.C.’s public sector who voted to take job action in recent weeks — the transit and transportation sectors face strikes by <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/07/05/port-of-vancouver-truckers-warn-of-strike-over-changes-to-upcoming-ban-on-older-rigs.html">truck drivers at the Port of Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9011141/west-vancouver-blue-bus-workers-strike/">bus drivers in West Vancouver</a>.</p>
<p>And in addition to the approximately 33,000 BCGEU members covered by the recent strike vote, more than 350,000 public sector workers have agreements that expired or will expire in coming months. The <a href="https://bcpsea.bc.ca/teachers/teacher-collective-bargaining/collective-bargaining-2022/">B.C. Teachers’ Federation contract expired June 30</a> and B.C. Nurses’ Union members have been working <a href="https://www.bcnu.org/contracts-and-bargaining/bargaining">without a contract since March</a>, with <a href="https://www.bcnu.org/news-and-events/news/2022/provincial-bargaining-conference-postponed">bargaining delayed to the fall</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cargo containers and ships at the Port of Metro Vancouver are seen in an aerial view in Vancouver" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477741/original/file-20220804-21-k07exg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The United Truckers Association says its members have voted unanimously in favour of job action at the Port of Vancouver to protest a program that would force the phaseout of older trucks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In other words, B.C. could be on the cusp of a major period of labour unrest, similar to what we are seeing in other parts of the world <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62134314">like the United Kingdom</a>. If the labour movement in Canada can mobilize working people, who are seeing and feeling <a href="https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/some-of-canadas-biggest-companies-saw-record-profits-during-the-pandemic">how corporations have profited from the pandemic</a> while ordinary people have paid the price, the change could be significant.</p>
<h2>Why are workers striking?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220720/dq220720a-eng.htm">Statistics Canada announced a rise in consumer inflation to 8.1 per cent</a> in June 2022. Skyrocketing inflation is the major cause behind worker unrest and collective action. </p>
<p>The main driver of inflation is the price of gasoline, but even excluding gas the consumer price index rose 6.5 per cent in June. Hourly wages, on the other hand, only increased 5.2 per cent. </p>
<p>The below-inflation increase in wages comes despite a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220708/dq220708a-eng.htm">record low unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent</a>. A tight labour market is not resulting in above-inflation wage increases for most workers. Nor is there <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/07/20/got-a-raise-this-year-it-probably-didnt-match-inflation-or-cause-it.html">evidence of a wage-price spiral</a>, which is when wage growth drives price increases, which in turn drives wage growth in the economy. </p>
<p>Instead, corporate profits, global price increases, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-fragile-global-supply-chains-stronger-and-more-sustainable-169310">supply chain issues</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-recap-russian-threats-europe-frets-and-china-rises-187112">global conflicts</a> are making consumer goods more expensive, <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/workers%E2%80%99-wages-haven%E2%80%99t-kept-rising-inflation-report">while wages fail to keep pace</a>.</p>
<p>But average wages and prices also mask variations in sector-specific pay increases, and its impacts on different groups of workers. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220720/cg-a004-eng.htm">The June Labour Force Survey showed differences</a> between the wage growth of unionized versus non-unionized employees nationally: the hourly wages of all workers with union coverage were up 3.7 per cent, compared with 6.1 per cent among non-unionized workers. </p>
<h2>Why are unionized workers falling behind?</h2>
<p>Recent research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2022/04/Pressure%20cooker.pdf">analyzed trends in wages and inflation in Canada from 2020-22</a> and found that three of the four industries with the lowest wage gains were public administration, education and health care. </p>
<p>The report found that several provincial governments, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador, were actively working to freeze those wages prior to, and even during, the pandemic. In B.C., despite a two per cent average annual increase in public sector wage settlements, the average public sector worker will take a 1.5 per cent pay cut this year.</p>
<p>This means that workers in some of the sectors most impacted by the pandemic, like health care, have gained the least from the recent economic recovery. Lower paid workers, such as care aides or educational assistants, also feel the impacts of inflation more acutely because they have to spend more of their income on necessities, like food and shelter.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in scrubs standing in front of the entrance to a hospital" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477739/original/file-20220804-7849-n21evt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workers in sectors most impacted by the pandemic, like health care, have gained the least from the recent economic recovery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As <a href="https://www.policynote.ca/shortchanging/">economist Alex Hemingway has argued in his analysis of B.C.’s public finances</a>, the province can afford to pay its essential public sector workers much more. </p>
<p>Nor are wages the only issue. </p>
<p>Stephanie Smith, President of the BCGEU, told me the union wants the government to address issues made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic: occupational health and safety, especially mental health and stress; short staffing and excessive workloads; and workforce planning to recruit and retain workers in key services.</p>
<p>Clearly, there is a strong appetite among union members to act collectively to demand better wages and working conditions. </p>
<h2>Changing politics of labour</h2>
<p><a href="https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-122-what-drives-inflation">Economic historian Adam Tooze, who has analyzed</a> normal (1979-2019) and recent (2020-21) drivers of inflation in the U.S. and Europe, notes that the historical role of wages and corporate profits in driving inflation has been reversed. He found that wages have accounted for less than eight per cent of U.S. price increases since 2020, compared to corporate profits which accounted for almost 54 per cent.</p>
<p>A similar trend is seen in Canada. Workers understand that the cost of living is going up while their wages are going down. Moreover, when central banks raise interest rates to quell inflation, <a href="https://cupe.ca/how-do-rising-interest-rates-affect-workers">it hurts employment and wages</a> and makes life even more expensive for those with debt. </p>
<p>After <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015005-eng.htm">years of declining union density</a> and subdued labour unrest, are we seeing a change in the politics of labour in B.C. and Canada? It’s too early to tell. </p>
<p>Tooze argues that the low-inflation environment of the last several decades is both a driver and a result of unequal class power. Governments and corporations have been promoting monetary policy that hurts workers and unions <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/2021-work-stoppages/">with little risk of retaliation</a>.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://centreforfuturework.ca/2022/07/08/snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory/">balance of social power has not shifted dramatically</a>, the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/02/12/after-years-of-decline-the-percentage-of-unionized-workers-is-increasing-again-and-the-pandemic-is-likely-the-reason.html">upsurge in worker organizing</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/21/woodside-and-santos-reap-bumper-profits-as-ukraine-war-drives-energy-prices-higher">policy proposals for corporate taxes</a> could signal a change. In the meantime, the BCGEU members appear committed to strike action to get a fair contract that stops their wages falling farther behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Strauss receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is Research Associate of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) - BC Office </span></em></p>If the labour movement can organize and mobilize working people in B.C. and Canada, the change could be significant.Kendra Strauss, Director and Associate Professor, The Labour Studies Program, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1832052022-06-06T20:03:43Z2022-06-06T20:03:43ZCollectivism — not individualism — is the path to reducing social and economic inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466675/original/file-20220601-49293-4dat9n.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6309%2C4200&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ontario Federation of Labour rallies in May called for improving workers’ rights and repairing deep inequalities that have been highlighted and deepened by the pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/collectivism-—-not-individualism-—-is-the-path-to-reducing-social-and-economic-inequality" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Last month, two large demonstrations took place in Ontario: the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rolling-thunder-day-2-1.6436591">Rolling Thunder biker rally in Ottawa</a> and a series of rallies across Ontario <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8801583/may-day-rally-queens-park-toronto/">organized by the Ontario Federation of Labour</a>.</p>
<p>While both aimed to appeal to the frustration and anxiety of the average working person during this period of turbulence and uncertainty, the demonstrations couldn’t have been more different.</p>
<p>The bike rally <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PzRJfBQGhU">emphasized individual freedom over all else</a>, arguing that social obligations, like wearing masks to protect vulnerable people from disease, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDk1v5stVmg">restricted freedom to an unreasonable extent</a>. The labour rallies, in contrast, <a href="https://ofl.ca/event/may-1/">called for collective action and better government standards</a>.</p>
<h2>The appeal of individualism</h2>
<p>The Rolling Thunder biker rally took up where the so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/whose-freedom-is-the-freedom-convoy-fighting-for-not-everyones-176336">freedom convoy left off</a>. It appealed to people’s rage and frustration and directed these emotions toward pandemic protections, and the experts and politicians who put them in place. Catharsis and disparagement were the dominant tone and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-rolling-thunder-motorcycle-convoy-ottawa-live-updates/">few coherent goals for change were expressed</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holding a protest sign in a crowd of people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466679/original/file-20220601-49499-7sneb7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A People’s Party of Canada supporter holds a sign during the convoy-style protest that participants called ‘Rolling Thunder,’ in Ottawa on April 30, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>There is much to be <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/03/sustaining-hope-in-uncertain-times">genuinely angry and scared about</a>. Pandemic lockdowns, and the economic and social disruption they bring, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00113921211050116">are frustrating</a>. There is still <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">ongoing colonialism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-an-indigenous-doctor-i-see-the-legacy-of-residential-schools-and-ongoing-racism-in-todays-health-care-162048">systemic racism</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/overturning-roe-v-wade-would-have-wide-reaching-implications-beyond-u-s-borders-183192">sexism</a>. Climate change is <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/">widespread and only getting worse</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-fiscal-update-falls-short-in-facing-climate-change-and-income-inequality-150995">Wealth inequality is ever-growing</a>. Young people <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-sweet-home-is-a-dying-dream-federal-election-promises-wont-solve-affordable-housing-crisis-166300">can’t afford homes</a>. Jobs provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202100600004-eng">less stability</a>.</p>
<p>These challenges feel truly daunting. It’s not surprising that some have turned to individualistic solutions for broader social problems. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot">Over 40 years of government policy</a> has explicitly undermined the generosity and effectiveness of public services and our <a href="https://socialeurope.eu/public-services-and-the-common-good">collective commitment to the common good</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve been hammered with the message that <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-nonsense_n_5b1ed024e4b0bbb7a0e037d4">there is no alternative to individual striving</a>, and many have lost hope that something better is possible. But another way is possible, and we can look to the labour rallies as inspiration.</p>
<h2>Collectivism is the way forward</h2>
<p>Instead of succumbing to toxic individualism in the face of profound anger and grief, the labour protesters rallied around a clear, hopeful set of goals — a plan to improve workers’ rights and repair the deep inequalities both highlighted and deepened by the pandemic. </p>
<p>Among other things, <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/05/01/2433079/0/en/Ontario-Federation-of-Labour-demands-a-workers-first-agenda-ahead-of-June-2-provincial-election.html">the labour federation’s Workers First Agenda</a> calls for a $20 minimum wage, affordable housing and permanent paid sick days.</p>
<p>This alternate path of solidarity means joining with others to provide mutual support on the premise that small individual sacrifices result in <a href="https://equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/the-spirit-level">bigger collective gains that make everyone better off</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1520819164964954113"}"></div></p>
<p>Collectivism means engaging in the difficult work of negotiating for our <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/here-is-what-everyone-in-canada-needs-to-know-about-how-collective-bargaining-really-works/">collective needs</a>, which is a more complex task than simply tearing things down. It means providing people with hope, even if the answers aren’t simple.</p>
<h2>Signs of hope in new organizing</h2>
<p>For decades, unions in Canada have been in a holding pattern. As Statistics Canada reported recently, while the overall percentage of workers in unions has remained fairly stable <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-28-0001/2020001/article/00015-eng.htm">at about 30 per cent since the 1990s</a>, private sector union membership has declined significantly and now stands at 15.3 per cent. </p>
<p>Despite some <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/01/16/unions-say-more-workers-looking-to-organize-during-the-pandemic.html">important</a> <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8386793/nb-public-sector-ratify-contract/">exceptions</a>, most unions have not had great success with new organizing. Many have struggled to make <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/collective-bargaining-data/wages/wages-year-sector.html">significant progress in collective bargaining</a>. Part of what’s needed to increase union bargaining success is building more critical mass in the private sector.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-advantages-of-unionization-are-obvious-so-why-dont-more-workers-join-unions-164475">The advantages of unionization are obvious, so why don't more workers join unions?</a>
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<p>Our neighbour to the south shows us what an economy with few unions looks like. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/02/23/385843576/50-years-of-shrinking-union-membership-in-one-map">the percentage of workers in unions has collapsed since the 1960s</a>, while the gap between rich and poor and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/09/26/income-inequality-highest-over-50-years-census-bureau-shows/3772919002/">a host of related social, political and economic ills</a> have expanded. </p>
<p>However, there is renewed interest in union organizing. Major efforts are underway at notoriously anti-union companies like <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/02/amazon-workers-just-voted-to-join-a-union-heres-what-happens-next-.html">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22993509/starbucks-successful-union-drive">Starbucks</a> and now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/technology/apple-store-union.html">Apple</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people standing with their hands in the air and smiles on their faces" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466678/original/file-20220601-70867-x5hnjw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amazon workers in Staten Island, N.Y., voted to unionize in April 2022, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the company’s history.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As of this writing, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/29/organizers-herald-100th-win-starbucks-unionization-wave-continues">100 Starbucks locations have won certification</a> and many more are in the middle of union drives. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-amazon-workers-win-the-fight-to-form-a-union-in-staten-island-but-not-in-alberta-181042">historic victory of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island</a> in early April has inspired many, although workers at a second nearby Amazon location voted against unionizing on April 25. </p>
<p>Union efforts are also underway at Amazon locations in Alberta, Ontario and Québec, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/amazon-hamilton-teamsters-union-effort-1.6449036">but none have succeeded yet</a>. A Starbucks <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/10/08/workers-are-looking-to-unions-for-pandemic-protections.html">successfully unionized in Victoria, B.C., in August 2020</a>. More breakthroughs could reignite hope for many private sector workers in Canada.</p>
<h2>The new face of labour</h2>
<p>Amid all this, a new generation of labour leaders are coming to the forefront in Canada. The <a href="https://canadianlabour.ca/who-we-are/officers/bea-bruske/">Canadian Labour Congress</a>, the <a href="https://ofl.ca/about/staff/">Ontario Federation of Labour</a> and the <a href="https://www.labourcouncil.ca/staff">Toronto and York Region Labour Council</a> are all headed by women, reflecting the fact that <a href="https://cupe.ca/union-membership-trends-and-challenges">53 per cent of union members are now women</a>.</p>
<p>More women and racialized people now lead central labour bodies’ executives: large unions like the <a href="https://www.cupw.ca/en/about-us/president%E2%80%99s-blog">Canadian Union of Postal Workers</a> and the <a href="https://www.etfo.ca/about-us/who-we-are/provincial-executive">Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario</a> are headed by Black women. For the first time, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/04/12/unifor-secretary-treasurer-lana-payne-running-for-national-president-to-replace-dias.html">a woman is running for president of UNIFOR</a>, the country’s largest private sector union.</p>
<p>Research shows that, when union leadership reflects the demographics of its workers, <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/75931">membership engagement and organizing success</a> improve. Workers believe their interests will be better met <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/27/amazon-union-drive-us-labor-future">by leaders who understand and relate to their experiences</a>. These lessons are important if Canadian unions are to connect with workers seeking better lives.</p>
<p>Beyond this, workers are aware that union leaders must be able to meet the urgent calls to address the ongoing systemic racism and discrimination in schools, workplaces, unions and beyond. As <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/what-role-do-unions-have-in-addressing-systemic-racism/">community and labour researcher Maya Bhullar notes</a>, structural injustices are often normalized in collective bargaining agreements, grievance-handling and other union processes. </p>
<p>In order to address these issues, union directives must reflect the needs of the racially and gender diverse communities they serve, and leaders who understand and relate to these experiences are the best ones for the job.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183205/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peggy Nash is a member of the New Democratic Party and is a board member of the Broadbent Institute and Canadians for Tax Fairness. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Ross receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is a member of the Board of the Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre.</span></em></p>In this time of unrest, insecurity and fear, unions and their new, more diverse leadership offer a path to improving workers’ rights and repairing deep social and economic inequalities.Peggy Nash, Senior Advisor to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts + Labour Management Relations, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityStephanie Ross, Associate Professor and Director, School of Labour Studies, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1810422022-04-12T17:22:43Z2022-04-12T17:22:43ZWhy did Amazon workers win the fight to form a union in Staten Island but not in Alberta?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457507/original/file-20220411-24-jbdsay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3500%2C2263&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Staten Island's Amazon distribution centre union organizer Chris Smalls celebrates with union members after getting the voting results to unionize their warehouse on April 1, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-did-amazon-workers-win-the-fight-to-form-a-union-in-staten-island-but-not-in-alberta" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Amazon workers in Staten Island have achieved something the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/technology/amazon-unions-virginia.html">company has been fighting for years</a> to prevent: a union.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2022/04/amazon-labor-union-alu-staten-island-organizing">breakthrough at Amazon’s JFK8 facility is being hailed</a> as the “most important labour victory in the United States since the 1930s.” That it was won by the independent <a href="https://www.amazonlaborunion.org">Amazon Labor Union</a> (ALU) is all the more significant, in light of the failures of larger and better-resourced unions like the <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/3846/how-amazon-beat-the-union-in-alberta">International Brotherhood of Teamsters</a> in Alberta, and the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/07/amazon-illegally-interfered-in-alabama-warehouse-vote-union-alleges.html">Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)</a> in Alabama.</p>
<p>Union organizing drives are context-specific, and the ALU still has significant challenges ahead, including Amazon’s attempts to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/09/amazon-new-york-warehouse-union-victory-nlrb">overturn the result</a> and the difficulty of <a href="https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Turning-the-Tables.pdf">achieving a first contract</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the victory in Staten Island and the defeats in Alberta and Alabama provide some key insights into the state of union organizing efforts at Amazon and beyond. </p>
<h2>Amazon working conditions</h2>
<p>Amazon is designed to have massive worker turnover. A 2021 <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2021/06/18/amazon-workforce-turnover-dominance-investigation/"><em>New York Times</em> investigation</a> found the turnover rate for warehousing and storage employees was 150 per cent. Whether or not this was the original intention, such a high rate of turnover is a <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amazon-worker-turnover-anti-union_n_60ca1b3ee4b0d2b86a818d1b">major obstacle to organizing</a>.</p>
<p>Amazon workers are required to meet demanding quotas, which are enforced by intrusive <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy8n3j/amazon-delivery-drivers-forced-to-sign-biometric-consent-form-or-lose-job">digital tracking technology</a> and suffocating managerial oversight. Workers, unable to sustain the pace and strain, are fired or quit.</p>
<p>Amazon workers frequently skip washroom breaks in order to meet their quotas, resorting to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warehouse-workers-have-to-pee-into-bottles-2018-4">urinating in bottles</a>. Despite the flippant denials of Amazon spokespersons, they later had to apologize when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/25/amazon-delivery-workers-bathrooms-memo">leaked internal documents</a> proved they were aware of this issue.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man speaks into microphones while people holding protest signs that say 'Amazon Recognize the Union Now' stand behind him" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457505/original/file-20220411-11-6kdvsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amazon JFK8 distribution centre union organizer Jason Anthony speaks to media on April 1, 2022 in Brooklyn, N.Y.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/11/amazon-warehouse-reports-show-worker-injuries/602530/">internal injury records</a> found that the rate of serious injuries in Amazon fulfilment centres was more than double the national average for the American warehousing industry. </p>
<p>These unsafe working conditions were <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/03/19/as-online-orders-surge-what-about-the-amazon-workers.html">exacerbated by the pandemic</a>. Crowded workspaces and limited paid sick days have caused outbreaks in warehouses, though the extent is difficult to determine, because, unlike Wal-Mart and various grocery chains, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-business-is-booming-at-amazon-canada-but-workers-say-the-pandemic-is/">Amazon refuses to release its numbers</a> on worker infections.</p>
<h2>Amazon’s anti-unionism</h2>
<p>When workers try to address these issues, Amazon uses <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-advantages-of-unionization-are-obvious-so-why-dont-more-workers-join-unions-164475">union substitution techniques</a> — such as paying comparatively higher wages — to dissuade workers from unionizing, as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-labor-busting-law-firms-and-consultants-that-keep-google-amazon-and-other-workplaces-union-free-144254">union suppression</a> to beat back any serious unionization effort.</p>
<p>Amazon <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/amazon-workers-delivery-drivers-unionize-1.6215475">retaliates against workers</a> trying to unionize. In a well-known case, an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/05/amazon-protests-union-organizing-cracking-down-workers">Amazon vice-president resigned in protest</a> against the firing of workers who blew the whistle on the rising COVID-19 infections in warehouses.</p>
<p>Amazon also <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkpkxm/amazon-hires-trump-hotel-union-buster">spends millions on union-avoidance companies</a> who specialize in assessing which workplaces are most vulnerable to union efforts, providing anti-union media — such as posters, videos and websites — and <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/3/25/22996803/leaked-audio-amazon-workers-staten-island-captive-audience-meeting">conducting captive audience meetings</a>. </p>
<p>Employers and union-avoidance consultants use captive audience meetings to enforce anti-union talking points. These meetings are usually scheduled during working hours and worker attendance is mandatory. While legal, some <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1010463">labour scholars have questioned</a> whether this type of “forced listening” infringes on workers’ basic rights.</p>
<h2>“We literally work there”</h2>
<p>One of the reasons why Amazon workers in Staten Island were so successful is because they formed an independent, grassroots organization to unionize their particular workplace. Other efforts have been led by already established unions, like the <a href="https://rwdsu.sk.ca/">RWDSU</a> in Bessemer, Ala., or the <a href="https://teamsters.ca/local-unions/">Teamsters</a> in Nisku, Alta.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man handing flier to the driver of a car. In the background stands a massive building with the Amazon logo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457503/original/file-20220411-22029-kc151n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A member of the Teamsters Local Union 362 hands out flyers to Amazon employees, outside an Amazon facility, to get support and distribute information in Nisku, Alta., on Sept. 14, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Union organizing is ultimately about relationships and trust. Organizers from within a workplace don’t have to develop relationships from scratch the same way organizers from outside an organization do. <a href="https://jacobinmag.com/2022/04/amazon-labor-union-alu-staten-island-organizing">ALU organizers emphasized</a> that they “didn’t come from somewhere else to organize JFK8; we literally work there.” </p>
<p>This stands in stark contrast to the campaigns in <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/bessemer-alabama-amazon-union/">Alabama</a> and <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/3846/how-amazon-beat-the-union-in-alberta">Alberta</a>. In the latter case, the secretary treasurer of the Teamsters Local 362 acknowledged that “we didn’t have anybody on the inside” in the Nisku facility.</p>
<p>Independent, grassroots unions are able to avoid some of the baggage of more established unions. While the ALU faced specific criticisms by Amazon and its union-avoidance consultants, these largely revolved around the ALU’s upstart status. As Amazon’s <a href="https://www.unpackjfk8.com/unionfacts/#block-caa75241ac139189ca53">anti-ALU website</a> states, “the ALU has no track record that you can use to judge whether their representation would be worth it to you or not.” </p>
<p>The ALU also developed tactics that are much more effective when workers on the inside are organizing. For example, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-amazon-workers-beat-the-union-busters-at-their-own-game_n_624b0385e4b0e44de9c52704">ALU worker-organizers researched Amazon’s union-avoidance consultants</a> by scouring Labor Department reports and warehouse lists of third-party vendors. Then, in one-on-one conversations with their co-workers, they shared their research on how these consultants, whose typical rate is US$3,200 per day, “get rich ‘convincing poor people to stay poor.’” </p>
<p>The stark contrast between what Amazon was willing to pay these consultants and worker salaries persuaded many to support the ALU. These workers also organized their co-workers to fearlessly challenge anti-union talking points at the captive audience meetings, which inspired other, more cautious co-workers to do the same.</p>
<p>Despite the odds, the ALU succeeded where some of North America’s largest and established private sector unions have failed. The ALU has proven that one of the most powerful anti-union companies in North America can be unionized. This doesn’t mean that the already established unions can’t beat Amazon, but as the ALU has made clear, inside workers have to take the lead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Staten Island’s Amazon union has proven that one of the most powerful anti-union companies in North America can be unionized.Jordan House, Assistant Professor, Labour Studies, Brock UniversityPaul Christopher Gray, Assistant Professor, Labour Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1619642021-06-27T12:35:41Z2021-06-27T12:35:41ZThe NDP turns 60: It’s never truly been the political arm of organized labour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407440/original/file-20210621-35190-1oli1ne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C80%2C1934%2C1378&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">T.C. (Tommy) Douglas, shown in this 1961 photo being held up by supporters, after being chosen leader of the newly form New Democratic Party. He is held by trade unionist Claude Jodoin (left), national CCF president David Lewis and British Labour leader Hugh Gaitshell.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CP PHOTO) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The New Democratic Party <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Democratic-Party-political-party">turns 60 this summer</a>. Throughout its entire history, <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/union-made/">media pundits</a> and <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/how-kathleen-wynne-became-one-of-ontarios-most-cynical-politicians">political opponents</a> have lambasted the party <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2017/05/04/Clark-Attacks-NDP-Steelworkers-Fake-News">as the puppet</a> of organized labour. This characterization, however, no longer holds water — if it ever did.</p>
<p>The widely held yet deeply flawed assumption that the NDP is the political arm of Canada’s labour movement has been held up by voices <a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2019/10/04/ontario-federation-of-labour-endorses-ndp-and-jagmeet-singh.html">on both the left</a> <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/05/30/ndp-relationship-with-cornerstone/">and right</a> of the political spectrum. The history and reality of the party-union relationship, however, is <a href="https://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/291/328">much more complex</a>. </p>
<p>The Canadian Labour Congress played a <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-democratic-party">key role</a> in officially launching the NDP in August 1961 as a new progressive electoral vehicle for working-class voters. </p>
<p>The party’s pro-union architects anticipated that the creation of the NDP would squeeze out the Liberals and establish the party as the primary alternative to the Conservatives. However, that much-hoped-for electoral realignment has never really materialized at the federal level. </p>
<p>From the start, union leaders struggled to convince their members to support the NDP. That created a dynamic characterized by close relations between union and party leaders without an equivalent relationship at the rank-and-file level.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is applauded" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407445/original/file-20210621-30-onlaax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is applauded as he is introduced at the Canadian Union of Public Employees convention in Montreal in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Formal union affiliation to the party <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=Ga0cxkeeYQEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Political_Choices_and_Electoral_Consequences&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipwtnbhpzvAhUUCM0KHcO1D2kQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=Political_Choices_and_Electoral_Consequences&f=false">peaked in 1963</a> at just 14.6 per cent of union members, before facing a steady decline over the next few decades. </p>
<p>And union members, despite the best efforts of some labour leaders, have never formed a reliable and consistent NDP voting bloc. </p>
<h2>Why aren’t unions loyal to the NDP?</h2>
<p>Although important segments of the union movement continue to hold <a href="https://twitter.com/Prof_Savage/status/1381759850825277452">special status</a> as key party stakeholders, and even though unions continue to be an important source of NDP candidates, organized labour’s formal ties and influence over the party have diminished considerably in recent decades.</p>
<p>How do we account for this? There are several contributing factors.</p>
<p>First, the labour movement has undergone <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11878-eng.htm">significant changes</a> since the 1960s. The NDP was really the creation of private sector industrial unions that dominated the labour movement in the immediate post-Second World War period. However, the rise of public sector unionism has significantly altered the composition of the labour movement and, by extension, its political priorities. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bob Rae gestures in the Ontario legislature." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407459/original/file-20210621-21-r74esf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bob Rae, Ontario premier at the time, is seen in the provincial legislature in 1991.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Becker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the NDP does maintain some ties with specific public sector unions, the uneven track record of provincial NDP governments as employers has generally undermined the development of reliable electoral alliances. The ghost of Ontario NDP Premier <a href="https://www.tvo.org/video/revisiting-raes-days">Bob Rae’s infamous anti-union wage restraint legislation</a> still looms large.</p>
<p>Second, the federal NDP’s lack of electoral success has undermined its union ties. Like most groups that try to influence the outcome of election campaigns, unions must concern themselves with the benefits, but also the drawbacks, of supporting a party that may share their values but can’t get voted into power.</p>
<p>The third factor is financial. Historically, unions were an important source of funding for the party until their donations were severely curbed and then altogether banned by federal <a href="https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/faa-lfi/fs-fi/16/01fs-fi-eng.asp">campaign finance legislation between 2004 and 2006</a>. This severing of financial ties undermined the party-union relationship by limiting the direct ways unions could fund the party’s activities and, by extension, influence its priorities.</p>
<p>All of these factors have led to weaker ties between organized labour and the NDP.</p>
<p>While the Canadian Labour Congress is still officially on record as <a href="https://twitter.com/Prof_Savage/status/1405959107249590273">supporting the NDP</a>, the views of its affiliates and other unions are decidedly mixed. Some continue to work closely with the party, while most have sought alternative political strategies, including issue-based <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2020/third-parties-strive-to-become-a-driving-force-in-elections/">third-party campaigns</a> and tactical endorsements of rival party candidates, usually as part of union-led, anti-Conservative <a href="http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/5874">strategic voting campaigns</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Justin Trudeau and Jerry Dias walk together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407472/original/file-20210621-35190-4bzu0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Unifor’s Jerry Dias make their way to a meeting on Parliament Hill in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>The changing dynamic between the NDP and unions has shifted the landscape of labour politics in Canada, but in unanticipated ways. </p>
<p>At the turn of the 21st century, loosening ties to the NDP was promoted by some unions as the <a href="http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/44/134.html">key to developing a more independent and left-wing brand of working-class politics</a>. However, it appears the opposite has occurred, evident in the widespread support among unions for anti-Conservative strategic voting — a tactic that has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-labour-movement-election-support-1.5315676">primarily benefited the federal Liberals</a>.</p>
<p>The NDP’s perceived grip on union voters seems more tenuous than ever as parties jockey for the votes of union members with <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-erin-otooles-strategy-to-win-over-union-voters-could-work-146259">populist cultural and economic appeals</a> and <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2016/08/24/standing-ovations-for-trudeau-at-unifor-convention/">targeted commitments to pursue pro-union initiatives</a>. </p>
<p>The implications of a weakened NDP-union relationship for the future of labour and working-class politics in Canada are significant. If unions are more likely to pursue independent political strategies, will the NDP show less interest in championing labour movement priorities in the House of Commons? </p>
<p>NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s recent push to <a href="https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-ndp-must-be-a-party-of-workers-not-small-business">woo small business owners</a> may provide a clue to the party’s evolving priorities.</p>
<p>Whether the labour movement’s ties to the NDP will continue to weaken remains to be seen, but there can be no doubt that the political muscle of unions that helped to launch the NDP in 1961 was never that strong in the first place. Even worse for the party, it’s atrophied considerably over the course of the last 60 years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161964/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Larry Savage receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>The political muscle of unions that helped to launch the NDP in was never that strong in the first place. Even worse for the party, it’s atrophied considerably over the course of the last 60 years.Larry Savage, Professor, Labour Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1439862020-08-26T16:25:39Z2020-08-26T16:25:39ZHow women are changing the face of Canada’s union leadership<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354427/original/file-20200824-24-1queuc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3305&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 150 nursing union members show support for long-term care workers at the Orchard Villa Long-Term Care in Pickering, Ont., in June 2020. The facility was hit hard by COVID-19 infections.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Labour Day approaches, close your eyes and picture the typical union member in Canada. If you conjured an image of a man wearing a hard hat or working in a factory, you missed the mark. </p>
<p>The typical union member in Canada is actually a woman who works in the public sector. She may be a teacher, a nurse, an office clerk at city hall or a mail carrier. All of these jobs are more likely to be unionized than those in the majority-male manufacturing, warehousing or construction sectors. In fact, Statistics Canada’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/1410007001-eng">Labour Force Survey data</a> reveals that, as of 2019, women made up 53.1 per cent of union members. That’s up from 45.8 per cent in 1998 and <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11878-eng.htm">29 per cent in 1978.</a> </p>
<p>There’s no question that <a href="https://www.unifor.org/sites/default/files/documents/document/workingwomenworkingpoor_letter_web.pdf">women benefit from unionization</a>. Being unionized boosts women’s wages more than it does men’s, when both are compared to their non-union counterparts. </p>
<p>Unionized women also experience a much smaller gender pay gap when compared to unionized men. In other words, unions help women overcome the effects of gender discrimination in the workplace. This “union advantage” is even greater for women who are affected by other forms of systemic discrimination.</p>
<p>Despite becoming numerically dominant within unions, women are still under-represented in positions of union leadership. The number of women leading national unions in Canada today can be counted on one hand. And women currently lead only three of the country’s provincial and territorial federations of labour. </p>
<h2>Glass ceiling persists</h2>
<p>The under-representation of women in positions of leadership is not unique to the labour movement. We see similar imbalances in corporate and political spheres. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chrystia Freeland speaks at a news conference with Justin Trudeau behind her, wearing a mask." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354438/original/file-20200824-18-1mn8z4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chrystia Freeland recently broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to hold the position of finance minister in Canadian history.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although unions are doing better than Canada’s <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2019/11/19/only-62-comfortable-with-female-ceos.html">corporate sector</a>, organized labour still has a long way to go when it comes to fully shattering the glass ceiling for women.</p>
<p>The glass ceiling is an often-used metaphor that refers to an invisible barrier that prevents women and other equity-seeking groups, regardless of their skills or qualifications, from advancing into leadership positions within organizations. While in theory, nothing prevents a woman from being elected to a top leadership position, the glass ceiling represents the subtle ways that organizations devalue and doubt women’s leadership skills based on gender stereotypes.</p>
<p>Despite these barriers, women have periodically risen to top leadership positions within individual public sector unions or labour federations over the years. But securing positions of leadership within unions has been a long, hard-fought struggle for women workers. </p>
<p>And even while being severely under-represented in positions of leadership, union women have undeniably had an impact. Their activism paved the way for the labour movement to <a href="http://www.yorku.ca/lbriskin/pdf/bargainingpaperFINAL3secure.pdf">campaign for and secure</a> pay equity, employer-paid daycare, paid maternity leave and rules banning gender-based discrimination in the workplace. </p>
<p>Unions could do much more to fight gender discrimination by having more women in senior leadership positions.</p>
<h2>Public sector unions are trail-blazers</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, public sector unions, where women have always been most concentrated, were the first to see women elected to significant leadership roles. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wearing glasses speaks into a microphone in a black-and-white photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354429/original/file-20200824-14-1xw6dva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grace Hartman, right, then the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, speaks at a news conference in July 1983.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Chuck Stoody</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) elected <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grace-hartman">Grace Hartman</a> as its national president in 1975. She was the first woman to lead a national union in North America. In 1986, CUPE’s <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/shirley-carr">Shirley Carr</a> was the first woman elected to the presidency of the Canadian Labour Congress, Canada’s largest labour umbrella organization.</p>
<p>Public sector unions continue to be trail-blazers. In November 2014, <a href="https://bcfed.ca/governance/officers/irene-lanzinger">Irene Lazinger</a> of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation was the first woman elected to the presidency of the B.C. Federation of Labour. </p>
<p>In May 2019, <a href="https://www.cupw.ca/en/historic-election-cupw-postal-workers-elect-first-female-black-president">Jan Simpson</a> became the first Black woman to lead a national union in Canada when she was elected president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. And in November 2019, <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/11/26/1952887/0/en/Patty-Coates-first-woman-to-be-elected-President-of-the-Ontario-Federation-of-Labour.html">Patty Coates</a> of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation became the first woman to lead the Ontario Federation of Labour. </p>
<h2>Private sector unions lag</h2>
<p>In contrast, a woman has yet to be elected to the presidency of any major private sector union in Canada. However, there are signs that a long overdue breakthrough may be in the works.</p>
<p>Some private sector unions have redesigned their leadership structures to help women break the glass ceiling within their own ranks. In 2013, Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, adopted an <a href="https://www.unifor.org/sites/default/files/documents/document/unifor_constitution_eng_2017_ltr_size.pdf">executive structure</a> that guarantees the number of women on the union’s executive board be at least equal the proportion of women in the union overall. </p>
<p>In 2017, the Canadian section of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union achieved equal representation of women and men on its national executive board for the first time after delegates to the union’s convention adopted <a href="http://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46:women&catid=8:women&Itemid=142&lang=en">a resolution</a> mandating the expansion of women’s representation. </p>
<h2>Two women vying for top union job</h2>
<p>Later this year, two women — <a href="http://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32543:ufcw-832-activist-bea-bruske-announces-candidacy-for-clc-president&catid=10134&Itemid=6&lang=en">Bea Bruske</a> of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and <a href="https://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alberta-diary/2020/01/linda-silas-announces-bid-lead-canadian-labour-congress">Linda Silas</a> of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions — are expected to compete for the presidency of the Canadian Labour Congress. It will be the first election in the history of the congress where both major contenders are women.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with dark shoulder-length hair speaks into a microphone behind a podium that reads Premiers Ministres." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354430/original/file-20200824-22-40bj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, talks with reporters in St. Andrews, N.B., in July 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why does gender representation matter now, more than ever? </p>
<p>So many of the issues we now face because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruptions in work, home and school are <a href="https://www.gendereconomy.org/primer-on-the-gendered-impacts-of-covid-19/">borne by women</a>. Racialized and poor women are even more at risk of COVID-19 exposure because of the service and care work they do and the lack of choices they have to engage in social distancing. </p>
<p>More than ever, we need a gendered and equity lens in leadership to understand how the pandemic is being experienced differently, and how union responses can protect those who are most vulnerable. </p>
<p>Unions must continue to enhance efforts to recruit and sustain a critical mass of women, particularly visible minority and LBGTQ women, into leadership roles in the years to come. These efforts cannot be mere tokenism. Rather, they must reflect a commitment to ensuring that the changing face of Canada’s unionized workers is reflected in the leadership of the union movement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Unions must continue to try to recruit and sustain a critical mass of women, particularly visible minority and LBGTQ women, into leadership roles in the years to come.Stephanie Ross, Associate Professor and Director, School of Labour Studies, McMaster UniversityLarry Savage, Professor, Labour Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1202362019-07-11T11:32:28Z2019-07-11T11:32:28ZSpat over toll roads in South Africa shows poor people don’t count<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283666/original/file-20190711-173338-1vzbhx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An electronic toll gantry on a Johannesburg highway.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Beate Wolte</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most South Africans are poor. But this does not prevent politicians treating them as though they don’t exist.</p>
<p>The invisibility of poor people in the country, who are estimated to make up <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-official-poverty-numbers/">55,5% of the population</a> was on display recently as David Makhura, Premier of Gauteng Province, the country’s economic heartland, and the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/mboweni-vs-makhura-heated-twitter-war-over-e-tolls-saga-28756404">aired their differences on Twitter</a>. The topic was the electronic tolling (known locally as e-tolls) of freeways in Gauteng.</p>
<p>The Gauteng African National Congress (ANC), which Makhura leads, has responded to a backlash against the tolls by urging that they be <a href="https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/2030791/anc-gauteng-peoples-march-against-e-tolls-another-election-ploy-da/">removed </a>. The national government in which Mboweni serves, and is also led by the ANC, imposed the tolls and continues to support them, at least in principle. So, while the spat transfixed people who believe that interesting human activity happens only on Twitter, the fact they were arguing was of no great moment: both were expressing the position of their sphere of government.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the exchange was revealing – but not for the reasons which fascinated the Twitter-struck media. It showed once again how invisible poor people are in South Africa’s politics.</p>
<h2>Opposition to e-tolls</h2>
<p>The battle against electronic tolls in Gauteng is usually portrayed as the fight of “the people” against an unjust government. In reality, it is a revolt by car owners who don’t want to pay for the freeways on which they drive. Buses and minibus taxis, the transport used by the poor, are exempt from the tolls. So, people who can afford to own a vehicle pay to use the freeways on which everyone drives. </p>
<p>This is a textbook example of progressive taxation -– those who have more pay for services so that they are available to the poor too.</p>
<p>Owners rebel against paying for public goods around the world and so it is not surprising that car owners have mobilised against the tolls. Nor is the fact that Makhura and the Gauteng ANC want the tolls gone -– people who can afford cars are plentiful in Gauteng, and so the tolls have dented the ANC’s <a href="http://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/gauteng-anc-to-discuss-e-tolls-at-provincial-conference/">voter support in the province</a>. It’s also not surprising that the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which is in a governing alliance with the ANC, is a strong opponent of tolls: many union members own cars.</p>
<p>What is surprising is that opposition to e-tolls is an article of faith among organisations and people who claim to want a fairer distribution of society’s wealth: it is odd when people who claim to be fighting for the poor condemn anyone who suggests that car owners should be tolled so that poor people can use freeways without paying. If they take the side of the car owners, who speaks for the poor?</p>
<p>The obvious answer would surely be the government which has introduced the tolls. We should expect to hear national government explaining that e-tolls are a boon to the poor and so help to build a fairer economy. We might also expect that, when car owners are campaigning for the tolls to be scrapped, government politicians would be mobilising support among the poor, explaining that their right to ride on the highways for free is under threat.</p>
<p>But, as Mboweni’s response to Makhura shows, government representatives never defend the tolls as a pro-poor tax. The minister’s argument is an energetic defence of the “user pay” principle – the idea that public infrastructure should be paid for by those who use it. This is not necessarily pro-poor because it could mean that poor people who use it should pay the same as well-off users. Not once during the exchange does Mboweni suggest that e-tolls are a good idea because they help the poor.</p>
<h2>Pro-poor by default</h2>
<p>Mboweni’s lack of interest in pointing out that the tolls help the poor is standard – there is no record of any government politician defending tolls because they help poor people. And so, it comes as no great surprise that the decision to exempt buses and minibus taxis was taken some time after the government decided to introduce the tolls. It was a response to lobbying and was not the government’s idea. Nor is it surprising to hear complaints that minibus taxi drivers have difficulties in receiving exemptions to which they are entitled.</p>
<p>E-tolls help the poor not because the government wanted this but because this deflected pressure. They are pro-poor not because of the government but despite it.</p>
<p>So, the poor are ignored by those who claim to speak for them and by the government which seemed to care about them but doesn’t.</p>
<p>This reality is not restricted to the e-toll debate. It is common for debates about poverty to exclude poor people. The only group who have been ignored in the debate over land expropriation are landless people. A few were taken to <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2018/08/04/parly-concludes-public-hearings-on-land-expropriation">public hearings</a> on the issue because the people who arranged for them to attend knew they would support their position. But no-one made a serious attempt to listen to what the landless had to say about land.</p>
<p>It is also common for measures which would hurt the poor – like scrapping e-tolls – to be portrayed as pro-poor. A well-known example is free higher education which would allow the rich to study for free. Another is the revival of the demand a couple of decades ago that <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/publication/the-economics-of-south-african-townships-special-focus-on-diepsloot">township</a> residents – who are mostly poor – pay a <a href="https://city-press.news24.com/News/Soweto-residents-want-flat-electricity-rate-but-use-energy-hungry-appliances-20150510">flat rate</a> for services. This means that those who have more pay the same as those who have almost nothing.</p>
<p>Why is it so common for activists and politicians to pass off measures which help the better off as boons for the poor? One possibility is that this is a legacy of the fight against apartheid.</p>
<h2>Apartheid legacy</h2>
<p>A key apartheid strategy was to divide people – and black people in particular. And so, it became a key goal of the movements trying to free people from white minority rule to stress the unity of black people. They knew that some had more than others, but mentioning this would undermine the unity which the movements prized. Those who worried out loud that important differences were being ignored were told that they would be addressed after the system was defeated. </p>
<p>But old ways of thinking and acting become ingrained and so, ignoring the difference between the well-off and the poor survives, whatever slogans people use.</p>
<p>As long as this continues, poor people will remain unheard - and will be forced to endure plans to better their lives which do nothing for them and a great deal for those who don’t need help.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120236/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Friedman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Politicians oppose toll roads on Johannesburg’s highways, yet they are textbook example of progressive taxation that favours the poor.Steven Friedman, Professor of Political Studies, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1170822019-05-19T06:19:35Z2019-05-19T06:19:35ZLabor’s election defeat reveals its continued inability to convince people it can make their lives better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275271/original/file-20190519-69204-1ff7f0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bill Shorten with wife Chloe the day after his party's electoral defeat.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/James Ross</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The election result was a triumph for the Coalition and a defeat for pundits. The result is even more striking when the drift to the left of public opinion is considered – over the past decade, <a href="https://australianelectionstudy.org/publications">surveys have found</a> that voters have become more supportive of income redistribution, gay and lesbian rights and climate change action.</p>
<p>There were many causes of Labor’s failure, but central was the failure of the broader labour movement to win the debate on living standards. The election campaign was an old-fashioned one. Many on the left had with gloomy pleasure <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/10/the-government-wants-another-fight-on-lgbt-rights-and-im-sick-with-panic">anticipated</a> a culturally based homophobic campaign by the devout Christian, Scott Morrison. But the campaign themes rhetoric of taxation, government services and economic management revived that of the pre-Tampa era. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-has-led-the-coalition-to-a-miracle-win-but-how-do-they-govern-from-here-117184">Morrison has led the Coalition to a 'miracle' win, but how do they govern from here?</a>
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<p>Labor’s failure lay in its inability to convince enough voters that its policies could actually improve their material conditions. Labor state governments can provide material things like schools, hospitals and solar panels, and voters delight in these.</p>
<p>Federal Labor claimed that the election was a <a href="https://2600.skynews.com.au/federal-election-a-referendum-on-wages-shorten">referendum on wages</a>. This mobilised the left’s mass support base: the unions, public-sector heartland and its remaining private sector outposts. The left created the simulacrum of a social movement: rallies, rallies and rallies, and electoral door-knocking. Outside of the left’s world, this appeal struck little chord.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, Labor had laid waste to the institutions of centralised wage-fixation and economic regulation that established for many otherwise conservative voters a plausible linkage <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-17/the_death_of_labourism/43044">between politics and material conditions</a>.</p>
<p>The focus of unions too much reflected their institutional interests – their desire to become again legislative interlocutors with government or revive the doomed project of enterprise bargaining. In honest moments, some union campaigners admitted that however unhappy many voters were with their conditions, they were profoundly sceptical about the ability of Labor and the unions to do anything to improve them. </p>
<p>Labor’s broader campaign was reluctant to engage with material issues – the living wage was a vague idea – and an increase to Newstart was never promised, despite the aspirations of Labor voters.</p>
<p>Rhetoric about bankers and the “top end of town” substituted for a clear appeal. The British conservative <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8781695?q&versionId=45270777">Maurice Cowling</a> once commented that there was a class war and it had to be fought with subtlety and skill. Labor forgot this lesson.</p>
<p>These omissions rendered Labor especially vulnerable to the Coalition’s campaign. Since election night, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/19/its-not-you-bill-its-the-country-is-this-election-australias-trump-or-brexit-moment">many on the left</a> have complained that voters prioritised an anti-social individualism over the welfare of the community.</p>
<p>In recent years, the favoured response to this individualism <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10361140701319994">by many on the left</a> such as Shorten advisor Nick Dyrenfurth, has been to exalt values of egalitarianism presumed inherent to the national character.</p>
<p>Yet the “interests” of voters are not their choices alone. Rather, they are largely shaped by institutions. Since the 1990s there has emerged in Australia new political settlement, which <a href="https://andrewnorton.info/2007/01/13/the-political-case-against-big-government-conservatism">Andrew Norton</a> calls “big government conservatism”, akin to what <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020430.html">George W Bush</a> designated “compassionate conservatism”. In John Howard’s version this rejected older conservative dreams of the replacement of public services by the private sector. Instead the public sector was retained, but voters were <a href="http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/print-version.chtml?filename_num=0090">offered the option </a>to access heavily subsidised private sector provision in addition.</p>
<p>Apart from superannuation, this is the terrain of the Coalition: “private” education; health insurance subsidies, tax subsidies for property investment, franking credits that subsidise inheritances. Household debt substitutes for government borrowing as an economic stimulus.</p>
<p>Here, Australian conservatives have heeded <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/191452016">Roger Scruton’s advice</a> to be innovative in defence of tradition. Labor’s (relative) scepticism about subsidised private provision echoes the conventional wisdom of “policy wonks” such as the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/commonwealth-orange-book-2019">Grattan Institute</a>.</p>
<p>Many voters disagree. In an economy of stagnant living standards, changes to these programs seem a threat to many. I predicted in 2013 that tax resistance <a href="https://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15778">would be a problem for the left</a> in a slow growth Australian economy. It took time for this problem to kick in, but a <a href="https://percapita.org.au/our_work/per-capita-tax-survey-2019">2019 survey</a> found a sharp fall in the portion of respondents willing to pay more tax in support of social services. Labor’s challenges to the public subsidy of private gain were seen by many voters to threaten their interests, while those who might have benefitted could not be convinced to change their vote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coalition-wins-election-but-abbott-loses-warringah-plus-how-the-polls-got-it-so-wrong-116804">Coalition wins election but Abbott loses Warringah, plus how the polls got it so wrong</a>
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<p>Bill Shorten is a “true believer”, one who grounded his politics in Labor traditions and history, rather than an explicit ideology. The left often flees to history, even if for most of its members the history of labour is passé compared to the more exciting fields of culture and identity. </p>
<p>Yet the history of Australia is, as <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/13534351">Peter Coleman</a> noted in 1962, a history of the right, not the left; from the perspective of 2019, this history appears as the suppression, co-option and ultimately destruction of working-class resistance.</p>
<p>It is not a tale of solidarity forever but division eternal. Shorten’s failure is a familiar chapter in labour history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Robinson campaigned for the Labor MP for Bruce at the 2019 federal election.</span></em></p>Labor’s defeat revives a familiar problem in Australian political history: the left’s inability to show how its policies can improve people’s material conditions.Geoffrey Robinson, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1006202018-08-06T15:10:49Z2018-08-06T15:10:49ZPoverty in modern Britain: despite the march of history, much remains the same<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230773/original/file-20180806-191038-15na5rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cash machine doesn't work for everyone.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/301238456">Elena Rostunova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Having studied the social, political and economic history of 20th-century Britain it’s clear that much has changed, for example technology, political reform, and social and cultural movements. But I’ve also learned how much remains the same even after a century of progress, and how easily changes for the better can be reversed.</p>
<p>The turn of the century in 1900 is a good point to start because it was when major social inequalities became the prominent, urgent political issues they have remained ever since. The trade union movement was increasingly militant, challenging inequalities of income. The Labour party was founded, with a central mission to eliminate the disadvantages of working class people. And women demanded, with increasing determination, the vote and other legal rights and opportunities, partially gaining the vote in 1918.</p>
<h2>Racism</h2>
<p>Racism and anti-racism were prominent, particularly antisemitism directed at the thousands of Jewish refugees who fled persecution in Russia. They congregated in cities, especially in east London, and soon made substantial contributions to the economy. But then, as now, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1905-as-eastern-european-jews-pour-in-u-k-enacts-aliens-act-1.5423217">immigrants were accused</a> of taking jobs and homes from British people, disrupting communities and culture, and reducing living standards. </p>
<p>This led to the first restrictions on immigration to the UK under the <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/aliens-act">Aliens Act 1905</a>. To remain, immigrants would have to show that they could support themselves and their dependants “decently”, and could “speak, read and write English reasonably well”. The Conservative prime minister, Arthur Balfour, told parliament at the time: “We have the right to keep out everybody who does not add to … the industrial, social and intellectual strength of the community” - which sounds familiar.</p>
<p>The Aliens Act did not apply to immigrants from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcnmtfr#zqrf34j">vast and still expanding British Empire</a>, including those from the Caribbean, Africa and South or East Asia. People born within the empire had always been defined as citizens of the United Kingdom with full legal resident rights. This remained the case until 1962, although until the recent Windrush Scandal <a href="https://theconversation.com/windrush-scandal-a-historian-on-why-destroying-archives-is-never-a-good-idea-95481">this had been generally forgotten</a> including, evidently, by the Home Office. </p>
<p>But it is not novel for migrants from empire and the Commonwealth to suffer discrimination, including for lacking documentation when required. Even in the early 20th century between the wars, if they came to official notice, for example by claiming unemployment benefit, they could be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jun/08/immigration.immigrationandpublicservices">expelled from the country</a> if they could not prove their place of birth. This was often difficult for poor people who did not routinely have, and could not could easily afford, birth certificates.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?num=20&q=anti+semitism&tbm=nws">accusations of antisemitism</a> suggest that racism has not diminished in the past century. Indeed <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/united-kingdom-reluctant-country-immigration">restrictions on immigrants have increased</a> since the 1960s and expressions and incidents of racist intolerance continue despite a succession of anti-discrimination laws since 1968.</p>
<h2>The working poor</h2>
<p>Awareness of the abject conditions in which the urban poor lived around 1900 was brought to light in pioneering works of fact and fiction: Arthur Morrison’s novel A Child of the Jago (1896), set in London’s East End, Jack London’s record of his time living in the same districts, <a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/slumfiction/jacklondon.html">People of the Abyss</a> (1903), and the painstaking street-by-street surveys of Charles Booth in <a href="https://booth.lse.ac.uk/">London</a> and Seebohm Rowntree in <a href="http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/history/articles/4702608.Seebohm_Rowntree___s_pioneering_work_on_poverty_in_York/">York</a> (1889–1903). These revealed alarming poverty, even among people in full-time work – not just the “idle layabouts” or “undeserving poor” of right-wing mythology. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230297/original/file-20180801-136667-4kdohx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Extract of Charles Booth’s poverty maps showing the Old Nichol slum (darkest shaded areas), the setting for the novel A Child of the Jago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poverty_map_old_nichol_1889.jpg">Charles Booth's Labour and Life of the People/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>Leo Chiozza Money, an Italian immigrant economist and Liberal politician, revealed in <a href="https://archive.org/details/richesandpovert00monegoog">Riches and Poverty</a> (1905) that income and wealth was concentrated in very few hands: two thirds of private wealth rested with 17,000 property holders out of a population of 44.4m, of whom 90% left no recorded property at death.</p>
<p>Demands for reform grew: the first steps of the modern welfare state, including the introduction of free school meals in 1906, old age pensions in 1908, and National Insurance in 1911.</p>
<h2>What has really changed?</h2>
<p>Gathering these findings into my new book, <a href="http://admin.cambridge.org/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-british-history/divided-kingdom-history-britain-1900-present?format=PB">Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present</a>, I was shocked by the similarity between the level and causes of poverty at that time and now. Rowntree had found a quarter of people in the fairly typical city of York living in poverty, 52% of them in families with at least one full-time worker on inadequate pay. He defined poverty as having sufficient income for essentials of food, clothing, fuel, but no more. </p>
<p>The Rowntree Foundation (created in his honour) has published <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/uk-poverty-causes-costs-and-solutions">surveys</a> showing that in 2015-16, about 20% of the UK population lived in poverty, 60% in households including an inadequately paid full-time worker. The Resolution Foundation <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-living-standards-audit-2018/">recently published</a> similar figures for 2017-18, which showed that around 23% of the British population (excluding Northern Ireland) and 33% of children live in poverty.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230755/original/file-20180806-191022-9qidfd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Poverty in the UK has remained relatively unchanged over 25 years, and persistent poverty has proven persistently hard to dislodge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/incomes_in_uk">IFS</a></span>
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<p>Our society is much wealthier now than in 1900. The definition of poverty is less stringent, defined by the <a href="http://www.poverty.ac.uk/definitions-poverty/income-threshold-approach">internationally agreed standard</a> of income below 60% of national median income, since the life chances of those living so far below the average standards of modern society are severely restricted. </p>
<p>But these official figures exclude the large and growing numbers of homeless people living rough on the streets or in hostels – tens of thousands certainly, though exact figures are uncertain. And the <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-bank-use-is-at-a-record-high-heres-what-we-know-about-the-people-using-them-57683">growing use of food banks</a> – unheard of in Britain until recently – should prompt us to ask how many people truly are living in absolute poverty comparable with the 1900s. </p>
<p>The welfare state led to improved living standards and the gradual reduction of wealth and income inequality, reaching its narrowest point in the 1970s when (in contrast to the denigration the decade so often receives) welfare services and benefits were also at their peak, and affordable council housing was still being built. But in part due to the erosion of the welfare state and the sale of council housing without being replaced, poverty and inequality have grown since 1979, although the <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/6738">shifts were more gradual</a> under the New Labour governments of 1997-2010 than before or since. Today we see a return of the stigmatisation of supposed “shirkers” on benefits, despite many of them being in underpaid work.</p>
<p>Surveys that revealed poverty and inequality in the early 20th century brought the welfare state into being. A century later, similar levels of poverty with similar causes now follow its decline. After all the change and hope, and all the wealth generated in the 20th century, too often it was short-lived, and century-old problems remain or have now returned.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100620/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pat Thane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lots of things have happened in a century, but poverty has proven persistently hard to treat.Pat Thane, Research Professor in Contemporary British History, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/972022018-06-01T09:04:17Z2018-06-01T09:04:17ZYoung people are leading a growing movement against low pay and precarious work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220979/original/file-20180530-120514-150lfi0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">TGI Friday's employees are joined by McStrikers during a demo in Covent Garden</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wil Chivers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Strikes have taken place at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/01/mcstrike-mcdonalds-workers-walk-out-over-zero-hours-contracts">McDonald’s</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/18/tgi-fridays-staff-go-on-strike-in-uk-in-dispute-over-tipping">TGI Friday’s</a> restaurants across the UK in recent months. These strikes are the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/04/mcdonalds-workers-strike-cambridge-crayford">first of their kind</a> in the UK, instigated by a new generation of trade union members fighting for better pay and fairer working conditions. </p>
<p>At the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (<a href="https://wiserd.ac.uk/">WISERD</a> for short), we’ve been following these strikes on social media and at the picket lines, to discover what’s driving this fledgling movement, and how it differs to those that went before. </p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/april2018">young people in the workforce</a> have experience with low pay and zero hours contracts. At TGI Friday’s, table staff were told earlier this year, with two days’ notice, that <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigning/fair-tips-for-waiting-staff/tgi-fridays-fair-tips-hero-to-zero/">40% of their tips</a> from card gratuities would be taken and redistributed among kitchen staff, as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employee-gets-tips-gratuities-or-service-charges-through-a-tronc">part of the move</a> towards a central pool of tips called a “tronc”. We heard from workers in London that this amounts to wage losses of around £60 a week – or £3,000 a year. </p>
<p>McDonald’s has also drawn criticism previously, for its use of zero hours contracts. Last year the company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/25/mcdonalds-contracts-uk-zero-hours-workers">reported it would offer 115,000 of its workers employed in this way</a> the chance to switch to minimum hours contracts – though 80% of those asked chose to remain on flexible contracts. Nevertheless, critics have attacked these arrangements as exploitative, and workers have responded with sustained collective action to fight for better wages and more secure employment around the world – most notably with the <a href="https://fightfor15.org/">Fight for $15</a> in the US.</p>
<h2>Building a movement</h2>
<p>Although staff at both chains vary in age, it is the younger generations who are represented the most on the picket lines. This may just be a product of the low average age of service sector employees. But it may also signal that young people are becoming more inclined to organise and campaign for their rights.</p>
<p>Trade unions are capitalising on the appetite among this generation of workers for change – as well as the potential for young, savvy social media users to extend the reach of their campaigns. McStrike is organised by the Bakers’ Union (<a href="https://www.bfawu.org/">BFAWU</a>) while the TGI strike has the support of <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/">Unite</a>. This is a strategic decision: both unions offer each other mutual support – and together they hope to build a broader movement across the service sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220958/original/file-20180530-120518-4b7hnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">McDonald’s workers from five restaurants gather at a demonstration in Watford on May 1.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wil Chivers</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Far from the stereotype of the apathetic youth, the young workers involved on the picket lines are passionate and well informed. They are tuned into party politics, appreciate the wider labour movement they are becoming a part of and give confident speeches to the public to that effect. There is a clear ethos of collective action: as Shen Batmaz – former McStriker, now BFAWU organiser – told us: “This has been about working together, helping each other, to make things better.”</p>
<p>We’ve also witnessed a carefully crafted continuity between the two strikes. McStrikers stand side-by-side with TGI employees on the picket line. Solidarity is forthcoming from other quarters, too. <a href="https://www.bectu.org.uk/home">BECTU</a> members from <a href="https://www.bectu.org.uk/news/2801">Picturehouse cinemas</a> and <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/holiday-inn-owner-accused-of-cheating-workers-out-of-a-years-wages/">workers from the Intercontinental Hotels Group</a> have both been fighting for the <a href="https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/issues/work/london-living-wage/">London living wage</a>, and both had representatives at the TGI strike. All are determined to build on the momentum that is emerging. </p>
<h2>A new frontier</h2>
<p>Digital tools including social media are often heralded as the key to <a href="http://davidjhoughton.co.uk/djh/Publications_&_Conferences_files/Hodder%20%26%20Houghton%20%20%282015%29%20-%20Union%20use%20of%20social%20media.pdf">revitalising trade unions</a>. Inevitably, young people have also been getting involved with trade unions and protests online. We collected 90,000 tweets during the first McStrike, and witnessed how <a href="https://twitter.com/The_TUC/status/904586096864096256">McStrikers’ images and stories</a> were used to personalise the strike and generate support from the wider public. Protesters’ tweets were retweeted thousands of times, creating an online network that spread far beyond those directly involved.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220957/original/file-20180530-120496-1qrqrcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A retweet network in the week preceding the first McStrike. Politicians and news media were vital for spreading the message.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wil Chivers/WISERD</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This online presence has continued to accompany the strikes, spreading the message that this is not just a McDonald’s or TGI’s issue, it applies to anyone – young or old – working for low pay on precarious contracts. So far, these strikes have maintained their own online identities: “<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mcstrike&src=typd">#McStrike</a>” (adopted from a <a href="https://twitter.com/mcstrike1?lang=en">New Zealand-based campaign</a>) and “<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23alleyesontgis&src=typd">#AllEyesOnTGIs</a>” are instantly catchy, while “<a href="https://twitter.com/fightfor15">#FightFor15</a>” has gained international recognition.</p>
<p>There is already a strong sense that these strikes, and the movement they are building, can be successful. After the first McStrike in September last year, McDonald’s <a href="https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/january-2018/mcdonalds-recommends-pay-increase-for-115000-uk-staff/">recommended pay increases</a> for its 115,000 staff, across all ages. But whether these will be passed on to staff in franchises is yet to be seen, as franchises set their own pay rates. Although these strikes are small scale for now, they show that young workers on precarious contracts are not impossible to organise. </p>
<p>It began in the US with Fight for $15, but the determined cooperation between unions representing workers in similar positions has brought that fight to the UK. Online and offline, workers and trade unions are developing a model that can be replicated and expanded across different industries and in different countries. And while it’s important to celebrate the small victories, the lasting success of these campaigns may be the fact that a new generation of young people are joining unions and throwing themselves into campaigning for their rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wil Chivers receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Blakely receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Davies receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Steve is a member of the Labour party</span></em></p>A new generation of workers are joining trade unions and using social media to hold big employers to account.Wil Chivers, WISERD Social Media Research Associate, Cardiff UniversityHelen Blakely, WISERD Research Associate, Cardiff UniversitySteve Davies, WISERD Research Associate, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950322018-04-18T12:04:34Z2018-04-18T12:04:34ZCan Grab and Gojek drivers in Indonesia build a solid union?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214846/original/file-20180414-105522-8qyqzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C995%2C663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Online drivers work independently. But to improve their working conditions, drivers need to organise collectively.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">findracadabra/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Motorcycle taxi drivers for online ride-hailing services recently rallied in Jakarta demanding that the government protect the interests of workers engaging in precarious work in the growing sector. </p>
<p>The protest was held a day after <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/03/27/grabs-acquisition-of-uber-how-it-will-affect-indonesian-users.html">Malaysia-based ride-hailing firm Grab announced it’s taking over Uber’s Southeast Asian operation</a>. The acquisition makes Grab and Indonesian-based Gojek the leading players in the Indonesian market. </p>
<p>The drivers <a href="https://tirto.id/ribuan-pengemudi-ojek-online-demo-di-depan-istana-negara-cGN7">want</a> the government to regulate ride charges, insurance and other matters related to their work. They also demanded the government push companies to set a higher basic tariff and increase drivers’ income.</p>
<p>But their efforts to build an organised movement to advocate for their interests might run into formidable challenges, as the labour force in the sharing economy is fragmented. Workers work independently and are physically separated from each other. Furthermore, the drivers’ protests occur in a context where labour and civil society organisations are struggling with the legacies of decades of demobilisation under authoritarianism.</p>
<p>Currently, apps-facilitated ride-hailing services run by well-funded start-ups are regulated under a 2017 decree released by the Transportation Ministry. This regulation enables the government to set a price cap on these services. Vehicles are now subject to minimum engine capacity and roadworthiness standards. </p>
<p>Under law no. 22/2009, however, <a href="https://tirto.id/tuntutan-pengemudi-ojek-daring-terganjal-uu-lalu-lintas-cAzv">motorcycles cannot be classified as public transportation</a>. Therefore, the operation of these ride-hailing motorcycle taxis and their drivers’ interests remains unregulated.</p>
<h2>Gig workers collective action</h2>
<p>The rise of ride-hailing services in big cities in Indonesia is part of a global growth trend of so-called <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-the-gig-economy-meaning-definition-why-is-it-called-gig-economy">“gig”, “sharing” and “on-demand” economy</a>. The companies that are creating digital applications to bring various services – from transportation and cleaning to running errands – to customers rely on a temporary and flexible workforce. </p>
<p>In big cities around the world, the rise of the on-demand companies, such as Uber, has prompted <a href="http://prospect.org/article/demand-and-demanding-their-rights">drivers to take collective action</a>. </p>
<p>In the US, protests against Uber have been mostly small and sporadic. These have <a href="http://irle.berkeley.edu/labor-platforms-and-gig-work/">yet to lead to the sustained pressures needed to evoke a successful response to drivers’ demands</a>. Drivers have thus been represented by both traditional unions and alternative labor organizations in courts, legislative arena, and in private consultation with Uber</p>
<p>In Indonesia, ride-hailing drivers have also formed associations to represent their interests as a collective. They have taken to the streets to voice their concerns over <a href="https://www.techinasia.com/gojek-lowers-prices-spur-demand-drivers-protest">low pay</a> and companies’ <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/03/hundreds-of-go-jek-drivers-protest-unfair-policy.html">unfair policies</a>. </p>
<h2>Challenges in building a solid union</h2>
<p>The drivers work independently. Yet, collective grievances associated with payment and working conditions create the need for collective organisation. The recent drivers protests might indicate a move towards <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fDdhoFaPhUwJ:www.isrsf.org/files/download/442+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au">collective resistance against exploitative working condition</a> and towards <a href="http://www.insideindonesia.org/the-go-jek-effect">collective bargaining on wages and working conditions</a>.</p>
<p>Whether the collective action can be transformed into a solid union, with a strategy and agenda able to influence progressive labour reform, remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Several social conditions that may challenge the drivers’ efforts to transform collective action into a solid union. </p>
<p><strong>1. Majority of online drivers do not feel exploited</strong> </p>
<p>Under the flexible employment system, the drivers are hired under short-term or one-off contracts. Furthermore, the advanced use of digital apps allows automated online control over work processes. This maximises workers’ productivity. </p>
<p>Many of the drivers enjoy the flexibility and freedom and willingly consent to following the logic of capital. Although thousands of online motorcycle taxi drivers join rallies to protest, studies on <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1gQfkoFPIosTzNiS01vX3J5UnM/view">Gojek</a> and <a href="https://www.grab.com/id/en/press/consumers-drivers/studi-menunjukkan-grab-mendorong-dampak-positif-para-penumpang-dan-mitra-pengemudinya/">Grab</a> drivers show that the majority of them are satisfied with their income and working condition. </p>
<p>The work process in the gig economy lures drivers to be self-reliant in maximising their productivity and earning more income. For many of them, consolidating a solid union with a clear strategy and agenda might consume too much of the time and energy they allocate to work. While drivers may unite with each other to address short-term problems, it would be more challenging for them to establish a solid union.</p>
<p><strong>2. Driving for additional income</strong> </p>
<p>Studies on <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1gQfkoFPIosTzNiS01vX3J5UnM/view">Gojek</a> drivers show that many of them are not entirely dependent on incomes from the online ride-hailing service. With the <a href="https://kevinhewison.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/kalleberg-and-hewison-2015.pdf">pervasiveness of the informal sector</a> and the <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/07/social-security-all-workers.html">unreliability of the social security schemes</a>, it is not unusual for Indonesians to engage in multiple income-earning activities. </p>
<p>One of the requirements to establish a strong union is a sense of social solidarity. This may be challenged by the fact that online ride-hailing drivers are fragmented across different means of survival. Most Gojek drivers have other jobs. They join the online platform to earn extra income.</p>
<p><strong>3. Traditional labour unions ineffective in representing gig workers</strong> </p>
<p>Support from broader organised labour and social movements may leverage the impact of the drivers’ protest and support their transformation into a solid union. The Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union <a href="https://fspmi.or.id/setelah-gojek-grab-dan-uber-bergabung-dengan-fspmi.html">has recruited</a> online ride-hailing drivers as members. Yet unions have had limited infrastructures to organise outside their traditional base, the industrial workers.</p>
<p>This is partly due to <a href="http://www.insideindonesia.org/labour-takes-a-citizenship-approach">decades of demobilisation of the organised labour movement and broader civil society organisations</a> under the authoritarian regime. It has become even more challenging to organise workers now that the employment system has become increasingly flexible.</p>
<p>Even in the US, where unions and alternative labour groups have represented the atomised ride-hailing drivers in the legislative and judicial arenas and in negotiation with the companies, <a href="http://irle.berkeley.edu/labor-platforms-and-gig-work/">little has been accomplished</a>.</p>
<p><strong>4. Limited engagement by civil society organisations</strong> </p>
<p>Society-based organisations appear to be detached from the drivers’ protests. They seem to be absent from workers’ collective action.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, workers in the informal sector, from which the online taxi services recruit most of their drivers, have been the target of mobilisation by different actors for various ends, including <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00472336.2016.1197959">violent groups voicing reactionary agendas</a>. This could further hinder the consolidation of a solid union.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Online ride-hailing drivers’ protests represent the seed of collective organisation. Yet, as work is increasingly fragmented and atomised, and labour and civil society organisations are struggling with the legacies of authoritarianism.
it will not be easy to transform the sporadic protests into a solid union.</p>
<p>We need to think of ways for the organised labour and broader civil society movement to strategically connect themselves with the drivers’ protests, while acknowledging the formidable challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95032/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Drivers for online ride-hailing services face several social conditions that may challenge their efforts to transform collective action into a solid union.Diatyka Widya Permata Yasih, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Universitas IndonesiaAndi Rahman Alamsyah, Lecturer in Sociology, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/898442018-01-12T13:48:59Z2018-01-12T13:48:59ZWhy labour movements in the UK and US need to build their own ‘special relationship’<p>Most people see the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States as a compact of states and armies, of presidents and prime ministers. They leave out another “special” relationship between the two countries – between their workers, and their unions.</p>
<p>That relationship has a long history. British emigrants in the 19th century formed many early American unions. For 200 years, British and American workers have collaborated in the creation of labour parties, in the struggles of the low paid, of women, of people of all races and of trade unionists persecuted for heeding the call to organise and strike. They have exchanged fraternal delegates to their conventions. They have swapped warm words about solidarity and justice. They have also failed to live up to those words – more than once.</p>
<p>The history of labour’s special relationship has never been more relevant. British and American workers need allies to reverse the long decline of their unions and living standards. They need help to take advantage of <a href="https://theconversation.com/modern-capitalism-has-opened-a-major-new-front-for-strike-action-logistics-89616">new opportunities in logistics</a> and other industries. They both face populist, anti-union governments – and, to resist them, the new forces associated with Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders
need to work closely together. </p>
<p>Three individuals and campaigns, from the 19th century to the present, could help British and American trade unionists to think about solving those problems today.</p>
<h2>The Morgan plan</h2>
<p>Admirers of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders might not know of the Morgan Plan, a document drawn up in 1893 by a British-born machinist, Thomas Morgan. That plan was an 11-point programme directly inspired by the recent moves in Britain towards the <a href="https://www.wcml.org.uk/our-collections/protest-politics-and-campaigning-for-change/independent-labour-party-ilp/">Independent Labour Party</a>, a forerunner of today’s Labour Party. It called for the American Federation of Labor (AFL) to demand the nationalisation of key industries, much like British Labour’s old <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/09/clause-iv-of-labour-party-constitution-what-is-all-the-fuss-about-reinstating-it">Clause IV</a>. It also demanded that the AFL set up an American Labor Party. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201409/original/file-20180109-36009-84wl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Samuel Gompers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21394509">Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If we haven’t heard of the Morgan plan, we probably recognise the means used to defeat it. Before the AFL’s 1893 convention, most affiliated unions endorsed it. Yet the federation’s president, Samuel Gompers, and his allies managed to defeat the plan and the socialists who advocated it. They did so through shrewd handling – a cosy word for manipulation – of the convention. </p>
<p>Gompers tried to dilute Morgan’s 11 planks by having the convention vote on them one by one. He then convinced enough delegates that Morgan’s programme would make enemies of the Democratic and Republican parties and mean ruin for American labour. The delegates who came pledged to support Morgan voted him down.</p>
<p>Corbynistas and Sanders supporters should not dwell on the fact that the process was rigged. They should emphasise the fact that British-American cooperation (nearly) led to an American Labor Party – in 1893! Americans who want to try that route again should learn from the Morgan plan – and its failure. Like their predecessors, they can learn from and work with their British friends.</p>
<h2>Emma Paterson</h2>
<p>Few people better sum up the potential of labour’s special relationship than Emma Paterson. Born in 1848, she became an active trade unionist before the age of 20 and served from 1872 and 1873 as secretary of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage. A trip to the United States in 1873 changed her life. While there, she saw women organising their own unions, especially in female-dominated industries.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201416/original/file-20180109-36043-5b8sut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Logo of the American National Women’s Trade Union.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikipedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Paterson’s feminism and trade unionism came together on her return to Britain. She called for special efforts to organise women in largely female trades, and to promote that cause, helped to set up what became the <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/Wtu.htm">Women’s Protective and Provident League</a>, later renamed the Women’s Trade Union League. Paterson edited the Women’s Union Journal, spoke at countless meetings and picket lines, and was a tireless advocate of women as voters and as trade unionists until she died in 1886.</p>
<p>Transatlantic cooperation did not stop with her death. Activists in the British and American Women’s Trade Union Leagues maintained close ties well into the 20th century. Thanks to them, and to pioneers such as Emma Paterson, British women in the workforce are now more likely to be unionised than men, and American women nearly as likely. They show us what can be done when feminism combines with trade unionism -– and when British and American trade unionists learn from each other.</p>
<h2>Fight for $15</h2>
<p>They still do. In the past decade, in the same kinds of industries that Paterson singled out for special attention – low-paid, usually (but not only) made up mainly of women and people of colour – organising has begun in places where unions seldom existed before.</p>
<p>The most conspicuous example has been the American <a href="https://fightfor15.org/">Fight for $15</a>, a campaign that grew out of strikes by fast food workers in 2012. It now encompasses a range of service workers, from home carers to hotel cleaners and even casual university teachers. It has won political victories around its central claim: a US$15 minimum wage that workers could live on. New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, among other cities, have agreed to raise their minimum wage to $15 by the end of the decade.</p>
<p>Their example has spread elsewhere in the world. In the UK, the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers’ Union has taken up the cause of fast food workers – and in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-striking-mcdonalds-workers-are-taking-on-the-fast-food-giant-83260">September 2017</a>, McDonald’s workers went on strike for the first time since the company opened its first British store in 1974. Their action and their demands – union recognition, an end to zero hours contracts, and a £10 hourly wage – drew on earlier American struggles.</p>
<p>This is a perfect moment to revive labour’s special relationship. Against Donald Trump and Theresa May, we have the legacy of Thomas Morgan and Emma Paterson. I know which alternative I would rather choose.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author is opening a public exhibition about the shared history of the British and American labour movements with the Trades Union Congress Library. It will tour the US and UK in 2018, beginning with Manchester's Working-Class Movement Library in February.</span></em></p>Labour movements on both sides of the Atlantic have a rich history that’s worth rereading now.Steven Parfitt, University Teacher in History, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/769032017-05-04T14:59:21Z2017-05-04T14:59:21ZThe new labour struggle: less work, same pay, and basic income for all<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167791/original/file-20170503-27085-1hug6qe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Haymarket affair saw workers protesting for a 40-hour working week.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper's Weekly [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 19th century <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/01/may-day-history-international-workers-day">May 1</a> has been International Worker’s Day, chosen by organised labour to celebrate the contribution of workers around the world. But it’s frequently forgotten that the day actually celebrates a particular achievement of the labour movement: being able to do <em>less</em> work. Not better paid or decent work, but shorter working hours.</p>
<p>May 1 initially commemorated the 1886 <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/571.html">Haymarket affair</a>, where Chicago workers were striking for a radical and dangerous proposal: the eight-hour work day. This idea was so incendiary that the protests turned violent; both police and protesters died in the conflict.</p>
<p>Today more and more people around the world are facing <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/precariat-global-class-rise-of-populism/">precarity</a>, casualisation, inequality and unemployment. It’s time to pursue a new agenda for a new global labour movement – or rather, to update the old agenda of the 19th century: less working time and more money for all, in the form of shorter work days and a universal basic income.</p>
<h2>What happened to the struggle?</h2>
<p>An eight-hour work day and weekends off were far from the norm for most full-time workers before the early 20th century. They usually <a href="http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/activism/n289.xml">worked</a> 12 to 16 hours a day, six days a week. It took a protracted, often <a href="https://iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday">violent</a> organised labour <a href="http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315778426">struggle</a> in the face of strenuous <a href="http://tems.umn.edu/pdf/EPThompson-PastPresent.pdf">opposition</a> to change that.</p>
<p>Forty-hour work weeks were finally legislated around the world less than a century ago. This seemed like just the beginning. The economist John Maynard Keynes <a href="http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf">predicted</a> in 1930 that thanks to technology, within a century we’d all stop worrying about subsistence. We’d work 15 hours a week, just enough to keep us from getting bored. </p>
<p>In some ways he was right. Technological advancement has exceeded his wildest dreams; productivity and output per worker has <a href="http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/">soared</a>. But this has proven to be our problem rather than a source of liberation.</p>
<p>As productivity grew and each worker could produce ever more output, we consumed more and more stuff so that full time, 40-hour-a-week employment could stay stable. Now we’ve reached our limits, with climate change, pollution, deforestation and extinction spiralling out of control. We <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-degrowth-to-save-the-planet-we-must-shrink-the-economy-64195">can’t afford</a> to keep consuming ever more. </p>
<p>We’ve also moved into a different phase of automation, a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/fourth-industrial-revolution-set-to-benefit-richest-ubs-report-says">fourth industrial revolution</a>” where artificial intelligence and machine learning can do the work of <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/02/robots-will-soon-taxes-bye-bye-accounting-jobs/">accountants</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/10/robots-will-replace-doctors-lawyers-and-other-professionals">lawyers</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/the-robots-are-coming-for-wall-street.html">other</a> professionals.</p>
<p>The logical solution would be to enjoy such automation by working less (while the amount of stuff produced remains the same with machines’ help). Instead, those of us lucky enough to be formally employed still work nominally 40-hour weeks (in reality too often working <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-death-of-moritz-erhardt-and-keyness-mistake">far</a> <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/young-doctors-dangerously-overworked-2034705">more</a>) while ever more people can’t find any <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2015-changing-nature-of-jobs/lang--en/index.htm">steady</a> employment. </p>
<p>The fruits of soaring productivity growth and the wealth generated by automation are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/will-robots-take-our-jobs-this-is-what-economists-think/">not being redistributed</a> via rising salaries or shorter working hours. Instead they are captured by a tiny global elite. <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/economy-1">The richest 1%</a> now has more wealth than the rest of the world put together. Yet there isn’t a mass organised struggle explicitly calling for a redistribution of wealth and work.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167789/original/file-20170503-5995-enjpyc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s time to revive a very old labour ideal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Industrial Workers of the World/www.iww.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Instead, in places as varied as <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/xenophobic-violence-democratic-south-africa">South Africa</a>, the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/02/anti-immigration-history-repeats-itself-100-years-later/97347642/">US</a> and <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/6/25/12029786/brexit-uk-eu-immigration-xenophobia">Europe</a> increasingly frustrated, alienated populations faced with the rise of precarious work and wage stagnation point their finger at foreigners and immigrants. Their calls are not for redistribution, but for isolation and xenophobic exclusion.</p>
<p>South Africa is a prime example of this contradiction. It’s the most <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI">unequal</a> major country in the world, with staggering <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-04-00-figures-suggest-sa-has-the-highest-concentration-of-wealth-in-the-hands-of-a-few">wealth</a> <em>and</em> unemployment rates. It has experienced years of deindustrialisation and jobless growth. </p>
<p>South Africa is experiencing the sorts of contradictions that follow in <a href="http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2016-01-28-look-away-ethiopia-south-africa-and-nigeria-the-robots-are-coming-for-your-jobs">automation’s wake</a>. Factory and even <a href="http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156262">service jobs</a> are being <a href="https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/business/automation-will-wipe-out-jobs-in-africa-others-w-bank/194364.html">automated</a>, and CEOs earn <a href="https://qz.com/841172/the-bloomberg-ranking-of-ceo-salaries-shows-that-south-african-executives-earn-the-most-relative-to-the-average-income/">541 times</a> the average income. Meanwhile, people desperate for a wage resort to what anthropologist David Graeber terms “<a href="http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/">bullshit jobs</a>” like pumping other people’s petrol or watching their parked cars. </p>
<p>South Africa’s inequality isn’t just a matter of income or wealth. It’s also a matter of working hours – some people have too many, some none at all.</p>
<h2>From labour to leisure</h2>
<p>An obvious solution would be to cut back on the standard work week so that demand for labour goes up. </p>
<p>Education institutions would have to scramble to fill some of the demand for skilled workers. But the pressure might be a good thing. It would push the school system to produce well-equipped graduates, and provide new solutions to problems such as the <a href="https://mg.co.za/tag/fees-must-fall">university fee crisis</a>, spurring greater urgency for the state or private sector to underwrite higher education programmes.</p>
<p>This would also decrease inequality. The only way to keep wages the same while hiring more people is for wealth to get spread out: for the highest earners and others who capture the fruits of corporate profits (i.e., <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/rich-universal-basic-income-piketty-passive-income-capital-income/">shareholders</a>) to get less so workers get more. </p>
<p><a href="http://neweconomics.org/2010/02/21-hours/">Shortening working hours</a> has also been linked with a host of other social goods like better health outcomes, less impact on the environment, higher gender equity, and increased happiness and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/business/international/in-sweden-an-experiment-turns-shorter-workdays-into-bigger-gains.html">productivity</a>.</p>
<p>Labour must also be decommodified more broadly. Then even those unable to sell their labour in a rapidly automating world would reap some of automation’s fruits.</p>
<p>The simplest proposal to achieve this is the <a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/less-work-more-time-universal-basic-income-feminist-utopia">universal basic income guarantee</a>: the idea that everyone gets enough cash every month to cover essential living costs, no matter what. It’s <a href="http://www.scottsantens.com/negative-income-tax-nit-and-unconditional-basic-income-ubi-what-makes-them-the-same-and-what-makes-them-different">a redistributory measure</a>. If you earn enough to not need it, you <a href="https://medium.com/basic-income/if-we-can-afford-our-current-welfare-system-we-can-afford-basic-income-9ae9b5f186af#.15umt34yl">give it back</a> to the communal pot when paying your taxes. </p>
<p>If that aspect is taken into account, the proposal is surprisingly <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2014.991889">affordable</a>. It could also end <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=poverty">poverty</a>, stem <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=inequality">inequality</a>, enable work that isn’t valued by capitalist markets (such as <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=care+work">care work</a> or the <a href="https://composerjude.com/2015/03/04/vanishing-scarcity-at-nabig-2015/">arts</a>), and empower workers to bargain for better conditions without the fear of starvation or homelessness.</p>
<p>What we need are shorter working hours and a universal basic income. In other words, a leisure movement – not a labour movement.</p>
<h2>Radical, and attainable</h2>
<p>Such a call is both radical and attainable. It’s attainable because it simply spreads out the gains from productivity growth. It’s radical because we live with the <a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/1095/The%20Protestant%20Ethic%20and%20the%20Spirit%20of%20Capitalism.pdf">cultural ramifications</a> of centuries of labour scarcity, when everyone had to work as much as possible to produce enough goods to go around. That’s not the case anymore, yet <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/The-Problem-with-Work/">the old mentality remains</a>: hard workers are morally superior, and laziness is unquestioningly a character flaw, a moral failing.</p>
<p>This is a default assumption not only among the middle and upper classes, but as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvZGrCeU9k">my own</a> and <a href="http://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/idsbo/article/view/362">others’</a> recent <a href="https://www.academia.edu/7798249/How_social_security_becomes_social_insecurity_unsettled_households_crisis_talk_and_the_value_of_grants_in_a_Kwazulu-Natal_village">research</a> in South Africa and Namibia shows, among the unemployed poor as well.</p>
<p>This proposal is also radical because it challenges the unopposed accumulation of wealth amongst a small elite. It will certainly be opposed by the very wealthy. But then, so were calls for a 40-hour work week.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizaveta Fouksman has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Rhodes Trust and the Oxford Department of International Development, and will shortly be funded by the Berggruen Institute.
Liz is part of civil society advocacy committee in South Africa working on expanding social protection, together with representatives of several civil society organisations, among them the Black Sash and the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute.</span></em></p>It’s time to update the old agenda of the 19th century: less working time and more money for all, in the form of shorter work days and a universal basic income.Liz Fouksman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/715632017-01-23T04:50:14Z2017-01-23T04:50:14ZTomorrow’s ‘new collar’ jobs will be quite old-fashioned, our response should be too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153787/original/image-20170123-2459-dozxh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Technology will make things easier, but likely won't replace the human touch.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Artificial Intelligence (AI), inequality and globalisation were central themes of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. Fearing that AI will <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-be-human-when-technology-is-driving-the-new-industrial-revolution-71230">destroy</a> jobs, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty called for a future where jobs are not white collar or blue collar, but <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/17/ibm-ceo-says-ai-will-be-a-partnership-between-man-and-machine.html">“new collar”</a>. </p>
<p>While change is coming, these “new collar” will actually be quite old-fashioned. Teachers, nurses and waiters will all still be important as our economy continues to shift towards services. </p>
<p>Regardless of the jobs, technology will also continue to widen inequality if left unchecked. We must learn the lessons of the industrial revolution and see the world’s labour movements return to their roots: sharing the proceeds of progress with all.</p>
<h2>Technology destroys low-skilled jobs</h2>
<p>Thomas Mortimer <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=cCAPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=%E2%80%9Cexclude+the+labour+of+thousands+of+the+human+race.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=pOrCSH_zDq&sig=4Gi3roMy2PdxE2LS5rfRTx2y5UQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVxIrlp9fRAhVDmZQKHc_pAcYQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Cexclude%20the%20labour%20of%20thousands%20of%20the%20human%20race.%E2%80%9D&f=false">once feared</a> that saw mills would “exclude the labour of thousands of the human race”. That was in 1772 as the industrial revolution gained steam. </p>
<p>Historically, technology has replaced low-skilled jobs and complemented high-skilled ones. The invention of tractors replaced workers with pitchforks, but increased the need for engineers. </p>
<p>Trade has had a similar effect. When <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp9900/2000RP07">we cut tariffs on textiles</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/pac-brands-exits-australian-manufacturing-20090225-8hei.html">some factories closed</a> but Australian clothing designers <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/pacific-brands-pays-first-dividend-in-two-years-after-profits-rebound-20160215-gmupu4.html">still flourish</a>. </p>
<p>So far this sounds like an excerpt from a Trump rally. But the story doesn’t end there.</p>
<h2>Replacing old jobs with new</h2>
<p>When one job disappears, a new one is created in its place. During the industrial revolution, farm workers found jobs in factories. Centuries later, they found them in call centres. We call this <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/category/tags/structural-transformation">“structural transformation”</a>, as economies transition from agriculture to manufacturing and then on to services.</p>
<p>The Australian economy is now about <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/5206.0Sep%202016?OpenDocument">75% services</a>. It isn’t just digging up things (mining: 7%), making things (manufacturing: 6%) or riding on the sheep’s back (agriculture: 2%). It is about doing things for other people.</p>
<p>What this means is these “new collar jobs” might actually be quite old-fashioned. While we will obviously need more programmers, computer scientists and engineers, we will also need plenty of teachers, nurses and policemen. </p>
<p>Services are not easily replaced. As William Baumol <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=eyXQbYAXCBQC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=William+Baumol,+beethoven+string+quartet&source=bl&ots=80bqUAgs2J&sig=vQGr32MOk4nQGNarFWVGkBVjYCA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMiLioitfRAhWBjJQKHeoaBvkQ6AEIQTAG#v=onepage&q=William%20Baumol%2C%20beethoven%20string%20quartet&f=false">pointed out in the 1960s</a>, it still takes just as many people to perform a Beethoven string quartet as it did in the 1800s. It’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-06/pesce-baristas-beware-robots-are-out-for-your-jobs/5431654">easy to automate an espresso</a>, but people <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/cafes-and-coffee-shops.html">still seem to prefer the personal touch</a>. AI will be hard pressed to replace the caring touch of a nurse on a sick patient’s cheek.</p>
<h2>Inequality</h2>
<p>However, new technologies still pose a problem: inequality. In Australia, the average individual real wage of the richest 10% grew <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/income-distribution-trends/income-distribution-trends.pdf">seven times faster</a> than for the poorest 10% in the 20 years from 1988. While technology increases the size of the economic pie, the slices aren’t shared equally.</p>
<p>When someone’s job is automated they could be unemployed for months while they search and retrain. Older workers may never find another job. If they do, they could be competing with a host of people in the same situation. The costs of progress are borne at the bottom of the income ladder, while the proceeds are reaped at the top.</p>
<p>New technology may change this. While nurses and police officers may be safe, artificial intelligence has already made large gains in <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ibms-watson-cracks-medical-mystery-life-saving-diagnosis-patient-who-baffled-doctors-1574963">diagnosing illnesses</a>, <a href="http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/how_artificial_intelligence_is_transforming_the_legal_profession">writing legal documents</a> and <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/where-machines-could-replace-humans-and-where-they-cant-yet">designing machine components</a>. </p>
<p>Doctors, lawyers and engineers are all now at risk.</p>
<h2>The response</h2>
<p>Regardless of which jobs are affected, we need to make sure the benefits of technology are shared equitably. It won’t happen naturally. The owners of businesses and machines – capital – are in a better bargaining position than ever. Something must be done.</p>
<p>We must learn the lessons of the past. The industrial revolution gave birth to the labour movement, which argued for better working conditions, minimum wages and shorter hours. All of these helped share the proceeds of progress. They also spurred growth.</p>
<p>Around the world modern labour movements have lost their way. While making important gains on social issues, the left in the UK and US has flirted with protectionism and strayed from its core business. That business is ensuring workers share in the proceeds of progress.</p>
<p>We must open our borders and our minds to the great benefits of globalisation and technology. We must also ensure the proceeds are shared.</p>
<p>A start would be a proper tax framework. Forcing tech companies to pay <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-09/tax-data-transparency-ato/8106178">at least a dollar</a> of taxes doesn’t seem like too much. Basing taxes on global profits, prorated by local revenues, could help.</p>
<p>These taxes can then be redistributed. This could be through more retraining support, higher minimum wages or shorter work weeks. John Maynard Keynes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/sep/01/economics">predicted</a> that we would be working 15 hours a week by now. A <a href="https://theconversation.com/universal-basic-income-the-dangerous-idea-of-2016-70395">universal basic income</a> is also a possibility, and we should watch <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/the-basic-income-experiment-that-could-revolutionise-welfare/news-story/44d7a5f1076cc2262a6b44e200374055">Finland’s experiment</a> with interest.</p>
<p>Unions must help. In an age of self-driving cars, bus drivers might make good aged-care workers. This may hurt unions, whose membership is industry-based, but they will need to help ease the transition.</p>
<p>Artificial intelligence and globalisation offer an exciting future, but if we are all to enjoy it we must look to the past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Wills is a member of the Australian Labor Party. </span></em></p>The talk at the World Economic Forum was about technology killing white and blue collar jobs. What’s to come will be decidedly old-fashioned. Our labour movements should be too.Samuel Wills, Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Economics, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.