Cory Morgan: Unions Have No Business Being Anti-Israel Activists

Israeli soldiers carry the body of a victim of an attack by terrorists from Gaza at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, on Oct. 10, 2023. Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Commentary

Canadians were horrified as the carnage and bloodshed were unfolding in Israel during the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas was unfolding. The horror turned to outrage for many when the social media account for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 3906 cheered on the attack, saying “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance!”

CUPE 3906 represents staff and faculty members at McMaster University. The university quickly released a statement distancing itself from its own union.

CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn repeatedly posted and shared comments praising the “resistance” on X. Hahn was roundly condemned for his statements and walked them back somewhat, but it was grudging.  He continues to defiantly poke around the edges of the issue online.

The question that must be asked is why are unions diving into this issue?

The conflict in the Middle East is complicated and sensitive. Many Canadians are divided on the issue. But what does the conflict have to do with organized labour in Canada?

Labour unions have a long and storied history in Canada. Working conditions for many Canadians at the beginning of the 20th century were often terrible as industries took advantage of immigrant labour. Actions such as the Winnipeg general strike of 1919 drew a line in the sand and forced both the government and companies operating in Canada to start treating workers with dignity and fairness.

Have unions outlived most of their purpose, though?

Unions used to have cut-and-dried causes to fight. They knew what needed to be done and they pursued clear goals. However, most of those battles are now finished.

Canada has laws protecting workers from being overworked and underpaid. Workplace safety legislation ensures sites have standards in place for the protection of workers, and there are labour tribunals and legal recourses available to workers if they have been mistreated.

Is it the lack of visible enemies that compels union leaders to overstep their mandates and wade into battles that aren’t their own?

To rise in union ranks to a leadership position, a person has to be inherently scrappy and adversarial. Union leaders are activists by nature who are drawn to fight for causes. Those causes aren’t always related to the workers the leaders were appointed to represent.

The line between labour representation and woke activism becomes blurred when looking at Canadian teachers’ unions. While they like to claim otherwise, teachers in Canada are very well compensated and enjoy generous benefits and pension packages. Those concessions were won by unions, and good on them. With no fights to be fought on the teachers’ front, the unions seem compelled to wade into curriculum and student issues that shouldn’t be the domain of organized labour.

The Saskatchewan Teachers Federation is in a pitched battle with Premier Scott Moe over pronoun policy and parental rights. There are strong feelings and views held by both teachers and parents on this contentious issue. But is it the role of the union to take a side in it? What has the issue to do with organized labour? Is every teacher comfortable with their dues being dedicated to this activism?

Union membership in Canada has been experiencing a steady decline for decades. In 1981, 37.6 percent of Canadian workers were in unions. By 2022, that number had fallen to 28.7 percent and it continues to decline, particularly in the private sector.

Private sector unions tend to be in the trades. Trade union members are usually blue-collar workers, and the social views of those workers often aren’t shared with the woke union leadership. They just want safe workplaces with fair compensation, and they are increasingly discovering they can get that in non-union environments. Private sector union membership has fallen to 15 percent in Canada. Trade unions have lost the ability to grow in the skilled labour markets and have moved on to unionizing coffee shops and Walmart stores.

The United Steelworkers Union declared victory in unionizing a Starbucks in Calgary. One can only assume there are no new steel workers interested in joining the union.

Public sector unions are still growing because the public sector itself continues to grow. Unions like CUPE have easy negotiations with government employers as politicians prefer to cut cheques than deal with labour actions. This leaves union leaders with too much idle time, however, and they are starting to push their limits.

Many Canadians would like to see non-union options in the civil service. If union heads continue to antagonize the public and their membership, we could see the political will building to provide workers with that option. We may be seeing the beginning of the end of the age of public service unions, and they brought it upon themselves.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.