A new Liberal leader probably means an imminent election – or at least that’s the plan that was announced when Trudeau prorogued parliament in January. That brings an end to the session of Parliament. What have the Trudeau years been like for workers and unions, and what is their legacy?
NDP Leverage
Much of what has been positive for Labour has come from the Supply and Confidence Arrangement with the federal NDP. Holding the balance of power, the NDP had the federal anti-scab legislation extended to cover both strike and lockout situations. It also enabled a push for faster action on national Pharmacare and Dental Care. Anti-scab legislation in the federal sector was something that Canadian Labour long advocated for. Drug and Dental Benefits will be good for working-class families, covering many workers who didn’t have them, and taking some pressure off of workers who need to negotiate extended health benefits.
Labour rights
This government was vocal about supporting collective bargaining rights including the right to strike, but violated that right when it came to railway workers, postal workers, and ports. In some cases, instead of back-to-work Legislation, this Government has used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which is a concern. Ultimately, we can’t count on any government we’ve seen so far to side with workers when employers claim that the economy is being harmed. Still, it’s a matter of public record that the Bloc, NDP, and Greens have opposed back-to-work legislation in the past, while Conservatives have consistently supported it.
The Liberal government was also responsible for renegotiating NAFTA, and added a Labor Chapter to the agreement, but it is not clear whether the new chapter is significantly stronger than the existing Labor Side Agreement.
CERB and CEWS
While many like to criticize the Trudeau government’s handling of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have to be honest – none of the critics have ever dealt with a public-health crisis that was anything like it.
Measures to improve vaccine adoption may actually have had their intended effect, but also provoked fierce resistance. At the same time, when it was clearly called for to pay people to stay home, and mitigate the economic effects of pandemic job losses, the federal government created programs that worked. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy kept many individuals and businesses afloat who would have had no other option.
Workers Need Better Democracy
We remember that one of Trudeau’s highest-profile election promises in 2015 was to reform our first-past-the-post electoral system for a more representative Parliament. And it was one of the first promises they discarded early in the term. The prospects for this federal election, and perhaps the quality of the discussion, would be quite different had they kept that promise.
There’s so much more to the Government’s record. No one Government and no one platform is all good or all bad. We urge members to be critical about what the parties and the candidates have to offer.
Go to all-candidate meetings and ask questions about what they propose for workers like us, for community supports, and for public services. There’s always more to the story than just a candidate’s party or background. Let them know that worker rights matter to their electorate, and that whoever forms the next government, we’ll be keeping an eye on how they treat our rights and our dignity as workers.
