A New Kind of Union: Unifor and the Birth of the Modern Canadian Union PDF
Preview A New Kind of Union: Unifor and the Birth of the Modern Canadian Union
“A powerful new force in Canada’s labour, social and political movements.“ —Maude Barlow A New Kind of Union Unifor and the birth of the modern Canadian Union Fred Wilson Forewords by Jerry Dias and Peter Kennedy Afterword by Jim Stanford James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers Toronto Advanced Praise for A New Kind of Union “The emergence of Unifor has been a key catalyst in the revitalization of the Canadian labour movement after decades of stepped-up aggression from the corporate world. In this inspiring and well-told account, long-time progressive activist Fred Wilson tells the inside story of the hopes and dreams and battles that led to Unifor’s creation.” — Linda McQuaig, Toronto Star columnist “Unifor is a powerful new force in the Canada’s labour, social and political movements, and this is a riveting insider’s account of the unique process that created the union and motivated its actions. A New Kind of Union explains the challenges facing the labour movement and Unifor’s crucial role in opposing the Conservative assaults on democracy and worker rights. It is important also for its timely and urgent call for a wider social solidarity to counter the demagogic appeal of right wing populists seeking to exploit the frustrations of working people and to impose their intolerant and regressive agenda on us all.” — Maude Barlow, Honorary Chairperson, Council of Canadians “In this fascinating account of the creation of UNIFOR, Fred Wilson skillfully weaves three perspectives into this tale of union renewal: that of a lifelong activist drawing on a wealth of experience and practical insight; that of an insider who was a key figure in the creation of this new kind of union; that of a visionary who understood the role that UNIFOR could play in meeting the larger challenge of labour renewal at a critical time for working women and men in Canada.” — Gregor Murray, Canada Research Chair on Globalization and Work, School of Industrial Relations “A very readable, enjoyable and instructive history of how two unions came together, put aside their egos, and built a new larger organization dedicated to ‘class unionism’ for Canadian workers in the twenty-first Century. It was no small feat — in five short years Unifor has shaken up the twentieth Century labour establishment and breathed new life into worker organization and the fight for equality. This story of union renewal in Canada should be read and debated not only in Canada, but south of the border as well. The workers’ movement will be better off for it.” — Peter Knowlton, National President, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) To the next generation of organizers and activists who will define working class solidarity in this century. Foreword Jerry Dias This is a book about the extraordinary accomplishment that changed the labour movement, changed Canada and changed the lives of thousands of people, including me. Unifor was a brilliant idea, and it came just in time. Right-to- work (for less) laws had marched north from the United States to our border, and our presumed future was staring at us from Michigan and Wisconsin. Emboldened corporations such as Caterpillar were ripping up social contracts that had governed relationships for a half- century. The labour movement seemed to be paralyzed and incapable of confronting the challenge in front of it. We were written off as yesterday’s news by journalists, politicians, businesses and a growing number of working class people trapped in the low-wage world of precarious work, where unions are largely irrelevant. Five years after Unifor’s founding, we continue to face huge economic and social challenges. But we have also stepped back from the edge and re-established credibility and influence. Trade union freedoms have been restored in our federal jurisdiction, and our Supreme Court has affirmed the right to strike and organize as protected by the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Conservative politicians have been forced to have second thoughts about political campaigns to single out and attack workers and their unions. We continue to watch our back against another assault on our rights, but as of 2019 we are looking forward and have our sights set on economic and social progress. Unifor does not claim all the credit for our fight back to where we are in 2019. We were among millions and many social movements in the defeat of Tim Hudak, Stephen Harper, Jim Prentice and Christy Clark. But from the crucial turnaround campaign against Hudak in Ontario in our first year as a union, Unifor unquestionably has been a new and powerful force that has changed politics and the labour movement. If Unifor has changed how unions are seen in Canada, I am most proud of our union’s commitment to ending violence against women and the achievement of legislation to provide paid leave for victims of domestic violence. I think of the platform that Unifor’s Canadian and regional councils provided for truth and reconciliation, the demand to establish the inquiry into murdered and missing Aboriginal women and support for the heroic work of Cindy Blackstock to win justice for First Nations children. I am immensely satisfied that Unifor took these issues to the bargaining table with major employers and negotiated the Canadian Community Fund to fund social justice. Unifor is the first trade union in Canada to wield the bargaining power of hundreds of thousands of workers in twenty separate industries and sectors. Employers are well aware of the strength we bring to every negotiating table, large and small. Our longest labour disputes have been in defence of the smallest groups of workers, who have, in almost every case, lasted one day longer to win fairness. Our bargaining power when tens of thousands linked arms across industries was intended to be a force for progress, and it has been. Negotiating $1.5 billion of investments in our auto sector and raising the floor for retail workers by improving minimum wages and standards of work are only two examples. Collective bargaining can and must be more than protection and fairness: unions must use their power to be a force for social and economic advancements. There is no question that Unifor was created to act differently. And we have. When you decide to break with past failures and make change, you can expect that not everyone will like it. Unifor has been labelled as opportunists, empire builders, thugs, Liberals and even Nazis. This book describes what Unifor is and what it was created to do. Unifor’s structure and its rank-and-file democracy, its decision to be a union for everyone and its fiercely independent politics were debated in detail and then affirmed by thousands of union activists. Our principles and our strategic goals are not mysterious — they were set out in detail in the New Union Project. To know the history of the project and its vision is to understand Unifor and the decisions we have made. This is essential reading for anyone who seeks to know what Unifor represents. Of course, Unifor’s principles did not send us on an explicit mission to create controversy or become embroiled in disputes within the labour movement or social democracy. We certainly did not set out with the intention of changing the leadership of the labour movement and then withdrawing from the Canadian Labour Congress. We did not expect that twice within one year US-based unions would put Canadian local unions under trusteeships and that these workers would turn to us for support. But as this book explains well, rank-and-file democracy and an independent Canadian trade
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