What are the differences between the different types of Unionism?
Your answers will be in the form of an essay. That means you should have an introduction that includes a thesis statement, a body of text that includes your arguments, and a conclusion. You should formally cite your information, but you don’t need to do any additional research. You can cite course readings. You should have a minimum of 2-3 sources per answer. You don’t need to cite lectures or seminar discussions. While basic writing skills and grammar are important, the most important part of your answer is the content. You should not only demonstrate a general knowledge of the essential themes and debates we have discussed in our course. You should also apply course concepts we’ve learned in the course and offer critical analysis. Give your opinionof these themes, debates, and theorists, supported by evidence and reasoned argument. Your answers should be between 1,000 – 2,000 words combined.
Each of the potential questions below have a number of sub-questions. You don’t have to answer all of the sub-questions. The sub-questions are there to help you think through and frame your answers.
Potential Questions:
1. We have discussed different forms of unionism, including business unionism, social unionism, and some proposals to go beyond social unionism with activities like ‘deep organizing.’ What are the major differences between these forms of unionism? Which do you think is the most prevalent in the Canadian labour movement? Which is the least prevalent? Which form or forms of unionism are detrimental to the labour movement and why? Which form of unionism do you think the labour movement should pursue and why? What examples in Canadian history demonstrate the strengths of your preferred form of unionism? What have been some limits of the way in which your preferred form of unionism has been practiced and how could these limits be addressed in the future? Do changes in the current Canadian context mean changes in the forms of unionism that the labour movement should pursue, why or why not?
Different Types of Unionism
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
Canada is considered to be one of the most reliable and stable destinations for the global workforce. The road to economic stability and the freedom for the laborers (skilled or unskilled) was not an easy one as for the most of Canadian legislative structures discouraged the formation of the labor or any sort of unions. However, the successful Canadian Labor movement of the 1960s and 1970s earned the basic rights for the workforce of the country. In this research essay, the different types of unionism and their implications on the working class is discussed in detail.
Different Types of Unionism
a. Background
The last decade has seen a significant decline in the bargaining power of unions at both the public and private sectors of the country. The unions are the organizations composed of workers, laborers, and employees which are responsible for negotiations aimed at improving salary, working conditions, and associated employment benefits with the employers. These organizations are also responsible for the political representation of the working class of the country. According to a survey in the year 1999, almost 11.6 million people or working communities were represented by these organizations and supervised by the major political stakeholders of the country, for instance, National Democratic Party (NDP) (Dundon & Gall, 2016). The same survey revealed that almost 30% of the paid Canadian population was represented by one sort of union or another (Dundon & Gall, 2016). This essay is aimed at analyzing the different types of unions and their impacts on the working class of Canadian society.
Almost every working class of Canadian society has its representation in the form of a union and includes employees ranging from farmers and laborers to professionally skilled personals like engineers and doctors. However, the employees belonging to the private sector are less like to be unionized owing to certain political and economic limitations (Keenan, 2015). The traditional divide between the unions has been identified as the differences between the Craft Unions and Industrial Unions. The craft unions include highly skilled professionals like carpenters, printing employees, graphic designers, and exclude the individuals having less or no experience from their regimes. The industrial union is a complete contrast of the craft unions as they include all workers and include heavy industries like vehicle manufacturing (Keenan, 2015).
In the late 20th century, some other types of the unions also surfaced on the political landscape of the Canadian working class (MacDowell, 2004). Public-sector unions were developed in the late 1960s empowering the government employees to advocate for their rights and improve the wages and working conditions in the public sectors of the country. The government allowed the public employees to unite and collectively bargain on the economic and social aspects of their jobs (MacDowell, 2004). Several unions identified as general unions included the workers from almost every sector of the working community and also included the workers who were not originally working for the industries represented by such unions. For instance, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union expanded itself in the fishing and airline industries of the country (MacDowell, 2004).
The general role of the unions is to provide a platform for the workers to negotiate their payment and other employment with the authorities, employers, and administrations overseeing the process. Before the establishment of the unions, the employees were forced to work for long hours and low wages (Shantz, 2009). Moreover, the working conditions of the organizations both at public and private levels were unsafe or unhealthy for the employees. Moreover, any employee could be fired by the managerial staff regardless of the performance and quality work provided by the employee (Shantz, 2009). The introduction of the unions provided a breathing space and a collective bargaining power to such workers. The initially established unions were able to reach agreements with their employees on the minimum pay rates, working conditions, and working day length. Moreover, as the planet became aware of the environmental...