Striking workers want more from employers, unions amid string of failed deals: experts – National | 24CA News
A current string of rejected tentative agreements throughout the nation is an indication that employees expect extra from their employers, and their unions, specialists mentioned.
“Pre-pandemic, union members were content with wage increases that more or less kept pace with inflation,” mentioned Larry Savage, a professor within the labour research division at Brock University. But the pandemic, inflation and low unemployment have mixed to create a heightened atmosphere for union militancy, he mentioned.
Last week, employees at 27 Metro grocery shops throughout the Greater Toronto Area rejected a tentative settlement that had been reached simply after a strike deadline.
The employees had gone into bargaining with a 100 per cent strike vote, and selected to stroll off the job Saturday to struggle for extra as an alternative of accepting the deal.
Kim Coughlin and Samantha Henry, two Metro staff and members of the bargaining committee, mentioned the tentative deal they reached was the most effective the group has ever achieved — however it wasn’t sufficient for the three,700 employees who’re coping with the skyrocketing price of dwelling, and who nonetheless keep in mind working by way of the COVID-19 pandemic and having their $2-an-hour `hero pay’ taken away.
For many members, that hero pay is what they’re making an attempt to get again with this settlement, mentioned Coughlin.
Metro has mentioned it’s “extremely disappointed” that Metro employees determined to strike as an alternative of voting for the settlement, which the corporate mentioned supplied “significant increases,” in addition to improved pension and advantages.
Meanwhile on the opposite aspect of the nation, B.C. port employees additionally lately rejected a proposed settlement from a federal mediator — however one other tentative settlement was reached shortly after and will probably be dropped at employees for an additional vote by Friday.
These are maybe essentially the most high-profile examples, however they’re not the one ones. For instance, Unifor employees at Windsor Salt lately rejected a tentative settlement after months of putting.
Savage mentioned whereas employees rejecting tentative agreements isn’t exceptional, it’s unusual.
“What it tells me is that workers are very unhappy, that they’re fed up, and that they have increased expectations about what their labour is worth, and that they’re demanding more from both their unions and their employers,” he mentioned.
Pre-pandemic, the tentative settlement achieved by Metro employees would have been thought-about nice and would have been ratified with out a hitch, mentioned Savage.
“But it’s very clear now that those Unifor members have much higher expectations in the face of record-breaking profits, and given the cost of living crisis,” he mentioned.
“They’re saying it doesn’t matter that we have the best contract in the sector. Because if I can’t pay my bills, if I can’t pay the rent, then it doesn’t matter.”
Every spherical of bargaining is exclusive, mentioned Unifor nationwide president Lana Payne, and this spherical for Metro employees has been difficult for these on the bargaining desk, with excessive expectations from employees.
The tentative settlement reached by the committee with Metro was a “milestone agreement,” mentioned Payne, and the committee made the best determination to deliver it to members — who don’t take the choice to strike calmly, she added.
“This is not to be romanticized,” mentioned Payne. “This is a very, very difficult decision made by folks who struggle with it, and with a bargaining committee that is working really hard to meet expectations.”
Unions are democratic organizations, and the bargaining committee’s job is to deliver members the most effective settlement they consider they’ll get with out a strike, mentioned Peggy Nash, chair of the Centre for Labour Management Relations’ advisory committee at Toronto Metropolitan University and former union negotiator.
“Obviously, you don’t get everything that your members are asking for, but you’re trying to get enough that it will meet the test of a ratification meeting.”
Usually, it does, she mentioned, however generally distinctive circumstances imply employees are keen to struggle for extra.
While the conditions at Metro, B.C. ports and at Windsor Salt are very completely different, typically talking employees proper now really feel a heightened sense of worth, mixed with a sense of falling behind financially, mentioned Payne.
This spherical of bargaining for Metro employees feels very completely different than the final, which was in 2019, mentioned Coughlin. She mentioned it looks like Metro staff are preventing not only for themselves, however for all retail employees.
Unifor is gearing up for a two-year string of bargaining rounds for contracts with the massive grocers in a number of provinces, and has mentioned it hopes to ascertain a sample with the Metro deal.
“All retail workers deserve a large raise for what we put up through, put up with during COVID,” mentioned Coughlin.
Workers have extra energy in a tighter labour market proper now, mentioned Nash, and there’s “huge pent-up demand” to catch as much as inflation. She mentioned she has spoken to among the putting Metro employees and was struck by listening to that some couldn’t afford to buy on the grocery retailer the place they work.
“It is a moment when labour has an opportunity to make progress,” she mentioned.
