Right in the centre - Canada needs an overhaul

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Published on Thursday, August 29, 2024

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Canada has been dragged through yet another threatened railway strike. As usual, the unions picked grain harvesting season to pull the pin. With millions of tonnes of grain needing to be taken to storage and to export to terminals and to processing plants, the railway unions have always known that August is strike month. The postal workers always aim for Christmas for their regularly scheduled strikes and other unions are tuned to hit the most sensitive times for strikes.

I don’t think railway workers should have the right to strike, neither should postal workers. It’s not as if today’s workers are working in sweat house conditions or breaking their backs and clogging their lungs chopping coal out of the ground. 

Very few industries need unions to get better working conditions and higher wages. If people don’t like their wages or working conditions, then change jobs. It’s not as if we have an over abundance of workers in Canada. Most industries are begging for employees and that’s even with some very high immigration rates.

Railways and postal work are essential services and should not be plagued with strikes. The unions are so well organized in Canada that they can make any trivial excuse for turning a grievance into a “life-threatening” crisis. I think that for the most part, that is nonsense.

But, the cause of strikes doesn’t always fall to the workers. To put in bluntly, some employers are nasty people and I don’t hesitate to say so. Some companies demand that employees basically sleep with their phones and answer texts, calls or emails at any hour of the day or night. That is simply not right and Australia is working on making it illegal. Good for them.

The bigger problem is that board directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other exec positions are paid way too much. The head of Boeing aircraft says he is paid $43 million a year. That is obscene and the directors and shareholders of that company allowing that are obscene and quite frankly stupid. They are playing us all for fools.

Government workers should not be allowed to strike but by the same token, many government execs are highly overpaid.

Workers should change jobs if they don’t like where they are. I may be wrong but if a person leaves a company, they may lose benefits and pensions. Pensions should be portable and I have always said that private pension plans should be portable or would be better off in a pool with the Canada Pension Plan. That way a person could switch jobs when the stress gets too much or when better wages bid for their services,

I can only think of a few industries where unions are actually needed. Underground mining, especially those with bad safety records, or high risk work that is dangerous by it’s very nature. I think the meat packing industry needs a union to protect workers. 

I welcome feedback, but I can’t see any other instances where unions are needed. I could likely use some more information on this topic but I think when railway unions go out on strike, auto industry workers, teachers, health care workers and many others, they need to look in the mirror and ask if life is really that bad.

If we cleaned up corporate greed and did away with the whole idea of confrontational wage negotiation, Canada might run a lot smoother. Most of us go to work every day, do our jobs and carry on thankful for what God and Canada have done for us. It seems we need an attitude adjustment in terms of what we think being hard done by is. Compared to 50 years ago, we have it pretty good and trust me, I know, I was working 50 years ago and I still am.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the newspaper staff.