Pandemic and inflation trigger seismic shift in organized labour intensity in B.C. and beyond
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed many aspects of life in North America, and one of the most profound changes may be a resurgence of organized labour.
Labour strife has taken centre stage in B.C. in recent weeks. Besides the BC General Employees’ Union holding a two-week strike from mid- to late August to protest what it claims is a lack of movement in contract negotiations with the province, there have been separate labour actions by security screening agents and Seaspan’s tugboat crews wreaking havoc on both the Vancouver International Airport and the city’s vital cruise ship sector in the last week of August.
“I think these changes have been building up for a while, and we’ve seen it bubbling up in the last couple of years,” said Mark Leier, professor of history at Simon Fraser University and a former negotiator and member of several unions prior to entering academia. Leier also noted that the widening economic gap between top executives and rank-and-file workers is another cause for labour discontent, while the current spike in inflation sparked the increase in organized labour activity.
Lunny has a front-row seat in that fight. He is the director of USW’s District 3, which covers the four western Canadian provinces and three territories. It is also the union that is representing and assisting with the unionization efforts of Starbucks workers in B.C. The union currently represents workers from three B.C. Starbucks plus one more store in Alberta.
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