ATLANTIC FISHERIES
FFAW/CAW represents more than 20,000 members throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, including 10,000-11,000 workers in approximately 50 fish plants, a similar number of inshore fish harvesters in about 500 communities, as well as 1,000 deepsea trawlermen. In addition, the CAW represents 1,100 plant workers in Nova Scotia and 600 deepsea trawlermen.
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"We want work, not dole- which is poison to an indepentdent industrious people as ours is." --Newfoundland unemployment committee, 1935 |
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Beneath these figures, however, is a story of stress, anxiety and insecurity, of plant closure and lack of alternatives.
Throughout Atlantic Canada but particularly in Newfoundland, whole communities are in jeopardy as a result of the drastic decline in groundfish (bottom-feeding) stocks, including cod, flounder, redfish and sole.
Fewer than half the 50 fish plants represented by FFAW/CAW will operate in 1996, and many of those that do operate will be at reduced capacity. Of 1,000 trawlermen on company-owned deepsea boats, fewer than 200 will have an opportunity to work this year. Inshore fish harvesters have somewhat greater flexibility, but many of them will be either ashore or fishing with greatly restricted opportunities.
The groundfish collapse, which was well underway by 1990, came to a head with the closure of Canada's largest fish stock, the so-called northern cod stock off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, in July, 1992. It has been closed ever since, and there are now a total of 14 groundfish stocks under moratorium in Atlantic Canada.
For the most part, those who are out of work are entitled to compensation payments ranging from $225 to $382 weekly under the federal Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS). Close to 40,000 Atlantic Canadians qualified for TAGS, about two-thirds of them fish plant workers. But duration of coverage is tied to work history, and the first 2,000-3,000 dropped off the TAGS payroll in May, 1996. The program is scheduled to remain in place until May, 1999.
For some people, increases in shellfish stocks and relatively buoyant shellfish markets have offset lost earnings from the groundfish collapse, but these fisheries have much less labour content, and the markets are highly volatile.
In 1995, the Government of Canada finally took steps to address the heavy overfishing by foreign fleets of stocks that straddle Canada's 200 mile limit. The highly-publicized arrest of the Spanish trawler Estai in March, 1995 and the ensuring international diplomatic crisis led to an enforcement agreement among countries fishing on the edge of Canada's continental shelf that opens the possibility to recovery of the straddling stocks over time. FFAW/CAW leadership participated in the negotiations leading to this enforcement agreement as well as in the development, through the United Nations, of an international convention in dealing with the conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks.
As a seasonal industry by nature, the fishery and the people who work in it are highly vulnerable to the current attack on Canada's unemployment insurance program. FFAW/CAW has been a leader in the fightback campaign against the proposed U.I. cuts.
The difficulties facing displaced fishery workers, many (thousands) of whom have taken retraining, are greatly compounded by the absence of alternative employment opportunities, not only in the Atlantic region, but throughout the Canadian economy.
Recent developments toward a merger between CAW and United Fishermen and Allied Workers in British Columbia opens the door to a greater national coordination of fish worker issues as our national union brings together people who work in the fishery in the Atlantic, the Great Lakes and the Pacific.
MINING AND SMELTING
The CAW represents slightly over 4,000 workers in the mining and smelting. While the CAW is still relatively new to the mining and smelting sector, we are trying to play a significant leadership role in articulating a new approach to the future of the sector. This future would be one which moderates some of the traditional characteristics of the sector that have had negative affects for workers and communities. The sector has been marked by large "boom and bust" fluctuations in output and employment, as the state of the industry has rode the roller-coaster of international price movements for basic commodities. There is a culture of speculative profit-seeking by industry buccaneers who have little regard for workers and communities, exploit resources at the fastest possible rate, and have little regard for employees, communities and the environment when they move on to the next "market play".
A real issue in collective bargaining is the continual attempt made by employers to use the threat of offshore investments as a substitute for Canadian production. Employers use this strategy in an attempt to deflect the union agenda for wage and benefit improvements, and better and safer working conditions, including effective environmental measures to limit negative impacts on the environment. To a large extent, this is hollow posturing in view of the fact that Canadian operations are highly productive, governments have favoured corporations with relatively low tax rates, and Canadian resource deposits have advantages of quality and location. (The latter is illustrated clearly by the recent bidding war between Falconbridge and Inco for Diamond Fields Resources Inc. over the spectacular deposits of nickel and copper at Voisey Bay in Labrador which it's estimated, will account for 10-15 percent of world nickel production by the turn of the century).
The last few years have seen a general upward move in prices for base metals - a favourable development in terms of achieving collective bargaining gains. In terms of specific commodities, the following are the changes in prices in 1995 compared to two years earlier: aluminum, up 63%; copper, up 53%; gold, up 7%; and nickel, up 57%. This has translated into sharply higher corporate profits. For example, Alcan's earnings per share tripled from 34 cents (U.S.) in 1994 to $1.06 in 1995; and Falconbridge's earnings per share doubled from 94 cents in 1994 to $1.89 in 1995.
The above outlook, of course, does not apply across the board in this diverse sector. Our members employed by the Cape Breton Development Corporation, for example, face the continuing insecurity resulting from the clouded future of the mining operations in Cape Breton. The government has withdrawn financial support as part of their deficit mania and without regard to the devastating impact that closure would have on the Cape Breton economy.
Alcan, Similco, and Royal Oak Mines have expiry dates in the second half of 1996. There are traditional priorities in this sector: better safety conditions; improved scheduling; prohibitions against contracting out; and reduced work time. The pension issue is increasingly a priority issue, and significant gains have recently been made. For example, Falconbridge workers won major pension improvements in their last contract, as did Similco.
The biggest upcoming test on the pension issue will occur in Alcan bargaining on behalf of our Kitimat members. This contract expires in July, 1996, and members have placed the early retirement incentive issue at the top of the demands.
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As one measure of the changing significance of the service sector in the economy and within our own union, we need only look at how the CAW defines its presence in the Canadian labour movement. At one time we were "Canada's largest industrial union" but increasingly we describe ourselves as "Canada's largest private sector union". In other words, we recognize the need to speak for both industrial sector and service sector workers in our ranks.
While problems and remedies take very different forms in the industrial and service sectors, basic work issues like speedups, contracting out and job security are the same in both. This isn't really very surprising; the underlying economic and political conditions affect both.
Service sector workers in our union include those in the airline, rail, marine and ground transportation locals, as well as some in telecommunications; these are specifically covered elsewhere in this report. The rest of the CAW's service sector membership is varied and spread out across the country. In 1995, we had over 300 collective agreements in the service sector covering approximately 17,500 members (excludingthe significant membership in airlines, rail, marine and road transportation as well as clerical occupations).
In some cases we represent workers in a single unit, in other cases we represent a significant number in the field. CAW members work in:
As well, the service sector is usually assumed to include service-related occupations like clerical work in all sectors.
Many service sector jobs are unorganized, especially in the private service sector. One of the ongoing challenges for our union is to establish some organizing priorities among the diversity of services. And even then, with dispersed, often smaller units, they will present another kind of challenge once the organizing campaigns begin. These realities present problems enough without the deterioration of labour relations law and our legal right to organize, clearly a centerpiece in the agenda of the right-wing, anti-union governments still prevalent across this country. One more reason to commit ourselves to the defense of these rights and the defeat of these governments.
With respect to the image of service sector jobs as uniformally low waged, the spring 1996 issue of Statistics Canada's "Perspectives" points out that while the 20 lowest-paying industries in terms of weekly paycheques were in the service sector - so too were 6 of the twenty highest-paying industries in the country. Wages tend to be polarized between low and high paying service industries. The $4 billion weekly payroll in the service sector is paid out to nearly 8 million workers who earn an average $520 a week, about 22% less than the average for the 2.4 million working in the goods producing sector.
The study goes on to stress that one of the important explanations for polarized earnings is the volume of work, that is, the hours worked per week and per year. The prevalence of part-time and part-year jobs in the rapidly growing service sector has major implications for the development of our policies on working time since we have tended to focus on the issue of overtime work. Indeed, many of our service sector members are seeking policies that would maximize hours to more closely resemble the standard 40 hour work week. Policy development in this area would be particularly meaningful to the many workers of colour, immigrants and women working in the sector. This is where women's employment has expanded greatly over recent decades. In fact, fully 87% of women work in the service sector or service related jobs.
The high incidence of part-time and part-year jobs in this sector, as well as erratic scheduling for both part-timers and full-timers, is one reason that labour unions and others expressed such strong opposition to the federal government's formulation of an Hours System to be applied for UI eligibility and benefit duration. Many of those working 15 to 34 hours weekly would be hurt by the new system when they apply for regular benefits as well as UI pregnancy, parental and sick leave benefits.
The importance of services to our economy and to our trade position is not always as obvious as it is with manufacturing, in part because economic performance is usually measured by counting "things" like inventory. However, access to Canada's huge market for services figured large in the Washington agenda when negotiating the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA. Indeed, these agreements present at least as many dangers for our service sector as do the better recognized dangers for the manufacturing and resource sectors. The potential for cross-border transmission and the tendency of American-based firms to concentrate administration and clerical functions at their head office will affect many services... from airline, tour and hotel reservations to financial transactions. This "data drain" is made possible by free trade's deregulation of data flows. Although some services like the local bus line have a "natural" protection from the cross border provision of services, they still face the pressures of competition and potential American buy-outs. Broader public services like health care face the constant pressure to privatize and commercialize as corporate giants lobby for access to Canada's lucrative health "industry", a sector that one American trade negotiator called "an unopened oyster".
The CAW has become a prominent union in the service sector, a process that began with the merger of the Canadian Air Line Employees Association in 1985. Given its significance in the economy, this sector will become more important to us as the years go by. With our wide representation, experience, resources and credibility, the CAW is well positioned to play a key role in the service sector. Working with our membership, we can develop a Plan of action that addresses new organizing strategies, more coordinated bargaining and a program of legislative reform at the federal and provincial levels, including stronger employment standards and labour laws that would make it easier to organize in small workplaces.
In our service sector bargaining we must be prepared to develop our Best Practices approach, tackling critical issues like the maximization of hours for part-time workers so that more can move to regular full-time positions, the extension of benefit packages to cover part-timers and the range of benefits which are standard in our manufacturing contracts, the inclusion of measures that address workplace violence and stress, and more controls on the contracting out of work.
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A recent study by the Economic Council of Canada has concluded that over 70% of Canada's workforce is now employed in the service sector, about 3 out of every 4 Canadian workers. |
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HOSPITALITY SERVICES
The hospitality industry is one of Canada's largest employers, larger than any single manufacturing sector in terms of employment and share of the Gross Domestic Product. It is also one of the CAW's fastest growing memberships. In 1994, CAW hospitality organizing in the B.C. Lower Mainland was more than any other union's. across the country, we now have 86 collective agreements covering 164 work sites and approximately 12,000 workers in the sector. Almost half of these members are working in hotels, notably among the CP hotel chain, with some Delta and Best Western locations as well as others. We also have a concentration of units in the Whistler resort area of B.C., the Atlantic provinces and Quebec. The hotel certifications were originally the result of mergers with the former CAIMAW, CTCU and CBRT&GW, but increasingly there are new certifications under CAW. We have other members working in restaurants (especially the White Spot chain), fast food chains (notably Kentucky Fried Chicken in B.C.), clubs, recreation centres, cafeterias and catering firms from coast to coast.
During the last year there has been a concerted effort to develop stronger links between members in this sector with special regional meetings as well as sessions at CAW Council meetings. Members have identified a need for more co-ordination in our collective bargaining with employers in this sector. In response, we surveyed some of the agreements and compiled a manual of "Best Practices in CAW Collective Agreements Within the Hospitality Sector". The section titles give some guidance as to the priorities voiced by local leadership: Hours of Work and Break Periods, Seniority Rights, Scheduling Procedures and Rights, Benefits, Gratuity and Tip Systems, Classifications and Wages, Definition of the Bargaining Unit, Contracting Out Issues, Harassment, Human Rights, Health & Safety and Technological Change.
At the sector meetings the focus has been on:
A recent study by the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council documented the changing profile of the 1.3 million people (about 1 in every 10 employed workers in Canada) employed in tourism-related sectors, primarily Food & Beverage, accommodation and Transportation. 51% of them worked in Food & Beverage service and 13% worked in accommodation. In 1994 tourism was responsible for about $28 Billion of Canada's Gross Domestic Product. More narrowly defined direct tourism employment is roughly 1 in every 20 jobs in Canada:
CLERICAL SERVICES
Many of the CAW locals that include office and clerical workers are part of TOPs (Technical, Office and Professional Council).
Often overlooked by labour analysts, clerical and other office occupations have historically provided employment for a large number of the workforce. The CAW had representatives involved in an extensive 1995 study of the adjustment needs of Metro Toronto's clerical workforce, a study that determined that clerical workers are in fact the largest occupational group in that metropolitan area, a reality likely mirrored elsewhere in the country. The report also found that this group had suffered the greatest job loss of any occupational group since 1989. While employed in all industries, they are concentrated in finances and services. New technologies like optical image scanners and networked microcomputers have been used to restructure office and clerical work. Equally important are other management decisions about the organization of their enterprise. The consolidation of McDonnell-Douglas office work with DAC in the USA is one example. The trend to scheduling clerical services on a "just-in-time" basis, including the expanded use of temporary agencies is another. There has been a polarization of these jobs: some are "de-skilled", with less autonomy and more routine work, while others have become extremely complex, often with unsustainable workloads. While some technical work like desk-top publishing and illustration and even administration functions has migrated to clerical workers, some traditional clerical work has migrated to managerial staff and professionals doing their own telephone reception via voice mail, typing via computer, and correspondence via e-mail. The ranks of both the clerical and professional workforce have often been cut resulting in more stressful jobs for both. The Metro Toronto report noted that "Canadian employers spent approximately 62% less on computer related training for their clerical workforce in the second half of the 1980s than they did from 1980 to 1985. Our observations suggest that this trend has continued". Effective, accredited workplace training for more advanced positions, and even for skills needed to keep existing jobs, has been too long neglected. The work design, retraining and adjustment issues confronting office workers across the country require more attention, including initiatives at the legislative level and at the bargaining table. Both NorTel (Northern Telecom) and Bombardier (deHavilland) have recently shown an interest in pursuing so-called "telecommuting" for some office workers, a modern spin on the age-old practice of industrial homework as used by garment manufacturers and others. Unions like the Public Service Alliance of Canada have developed some useful approaches to this type of management initiative, as have legislators in other countries like Germany. Canadian Labour Congress Vice-President Jean-Claude Parrot, in his minority report for the federal government's Information Highway Advisory Council, cited the International Labour Organization's 1995 Annual Conference which adopted recommendations intended to minimize the most exploitative practices associated with homework, including homeworking by computer. This development will present our union with some serious challenges and the need for policy on electronic homework.
HEALTH SERVICES
The CAW has a significant number of units in the health care field, particularly in Nova Scotia's hospitals and nursing homes where our membership has been about 3,800. Over 500 other members work in Manitoba and Ontario clinics, nursing homes, treatment centres and supportive housing for adults with disabilities.
Cutbacks in social service and health care budgets in recent years have already taken their toll. Workers, patients, residents and their families feel the effects, as do the communities where they live. There has been a particularly vicious attack upon public sector workers, including legislated wage freezes and concessions but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Our health sector members have also had to deal with bed closures and the restructuring that is eliminating or merging facilities and forcing run-off votes between unions. There are real problems with the re-deployment of "excess" workers as well as the devolution of decision-making to local health councils which tend to be dominated by powerful players like doctors.
Many members have also had to deal with reduced hours, if not layoffs, and the declining real value of their paycheques, never very big to begin with. Another dangerous response to budget cuts has been the creation of new job classifications for "generic" health care workers, leading to layoffs and the multi-tasking and de-skilling of the remaining workforce. Indeed, the "Patient-Focused Care" programs in many facilities are health sector versions of the Total Quality Management and team systems familiar to industrial workers.
The initial infatuation with "community-based care" as an alternative to institutional care has given way to a more realistic assessment. This model has been robbed of its possibilities by cruel cutbacks. It has unfortunately become code for dumping responsibility back onto families, mostly as "more work for mother" as researcher Pat Armstong puts it, and for brokered homecare services that are being increasingly privatized and commercialized and which tend to be very anti-union, with cheap labour policies and minimal commitment to quality care.
CAW locals, especially those in Nova Scotia and in Windsor, Sudbury and other Ontario locations have participated in sustained and important efforts to pull together coalitions that unite communities in a fightback to save services and counter government tactics that tend to "divide and conquer". This is not a matter for the bargaining table alone. In Nova Scotia alone, up to 3000 health sector jobs may be lost in the next year.
The Canadian Health and Social Transfer which took effect on April 1 will bring more hardship, slashing another $7.3 Billion over the next few years from spending on health, post-secondary education, welfare and social services. It will replace the Canada Assistance Plan and other transfers, delivering them as a single block transfer to the provinces and stripping the programs of national standards. The effects will be widely-felt. We need to campaign for genuine alternatives, together with the Canadian Health Coalition and other social partners, nationally and locally.
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