Canada could see more labour strife in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

Will we see a spike in strike activity in the wake of COVID-19?

The last decade saw fewer working days lost to strikes or lockouts than any other decade in the post the Second World War era. In fact, work stoppages have been in decline since the 1970s.

But with workplace tensions on the rise as a result of COVID-19, will unions once again embrace strikes as a preferred method to protect and advance workers’ interests?

The current battle over workplace safety at the Cargill meatpacking plant in Alberta, where one worker has died and nearly 1,000 workers have been infected by the virus, highlights what is at stake for union members. Slaughterhouse workers, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, are currently at loggerheads with management over the latter’s decision to reopen the plant despite overwhelming fears that it is not yet safe to do so. While these workers have not yet organized a walkout in protest, similar actions by Amazon warehouse workers in the United States could spill over into Canada if governments and employers fail to address the immediate concerns of workers.

In the 1970s, Canada experienced the greatest number of strikes in its history with a huge spike in union militancy between 1972 and 1976. In that five year period there were 4,751 strikes or lockouts launched in Canada. These days, work stoppages are much more rare. For example, between 2015 and 2019, there were only 704 strikes or lockouts initiated.

The 1970s strike wave immediately preceded a recession in the early part of that decade. Unemployment had increased along with inflation. Workers looked to the collective bargaining process to ensure they could maintain a decent standard of living amid the economic crisis. But their employers were equally determined to make sure profit margins remained high. It was a recipe for labour unrest.

The strike wave also prompted a shift in the way governments intervened in the labour relations process. The 1970s and 1980s saw dramatic increases in the use of back-to-work legislation to put an end to labour disputes. This kind of interference in the collective bargaining process has typically been welcomed by employers and resisted by unions. In more recent decades, governments have used back-to-work legislation to preempt strikes altogether.

Whether or not a dramatic strike wave will re-emerge in the wake of the economic crisis precipitated by the global coronavirus pandemic remains to be seen.

Unions are not nearly as militant as they were decades ago, but that does not mean workers won’t become more militant in the years to come. This is especially true if workers’ wages stagnate and income inequality increases in the aftermath of the coronavirus.

Controversies over the rich and powerful having privileged access to virus testing, the suitability of income supports, and the appropriateness of bailouts for companies who pay their taxes offshore are already having a polarizing effect.

How governments and business leaders respond to these issues and to the needs of workers in the immediate wake of the pandemic will set the stage for the labour relations struggles to come.

For all the fear and anxiety caused by the pandemic, the fallout from the coronavirus may also stir anger and resentment. If employers and government unjustly press their advantage by using the economic fallout from the pandemic as a pretext for rolling back wages and benefit entitlements, they are likely to face the fury of their unionized employees.

And if after being held up as heroes during the pandemic, tens of thousands of essential workers go back to living pay cheque to pay cheque without access to paid sick days, we are likely see an uptick in union militancy. That’s because when workers have come to know their value, they are far more likely to get up and fight back after being knocked down.

While governments can still use back-to-work legislation to settle labour disputes, their authority to use this power indiscriminately has been somewhat restricted by a landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling that workers’ right to strike is protected by the Charter of Rights.

While the context that helped produce and sustain the strike wave of the 1970s is undoubtedly different than the one we find ourselves in today, we should not be surprised if the economic crisis precipitated by the coronavirus produces a similar dynamic of union militancy.

In more recent decades, governments have used back-to-work legislation to pre-empt strikes altogether