This text is part of the special issue on Trade Unionism
While Quebec continues to attract more and more immigrants, whether permanently or temporarily, or as refugees, this reality that is transforming the job market is poorly represented in union associations. This is what emerges from the work of Sid Ahmed Soussi, professor in the Department of Sociology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
What do immigrants often do when they settle in Quebec? Very often, they start working in their community, in small organizations or micro-enterprises. Others will find a very precarious position in a multinational, for example in an Amazon warehouse. Another path frequently taken by newcomers is that of agencies that provide workers to large companies, for example in the hotel or food processing sectors.
“All these types of jobs have one thing in common: they almost completely escape union organizations,” says Sid Ahmed Soussi. The researcher has conducted several studies on the issue, notably with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) and the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ).
Low diversity unions
However, unions exist in several organizations where there is a presence, sometimes strong, of workers from immigrant backgrounds. However, the sociologist noted that they are underrepresented in local unions.
And of course, this is reflected in the union federation to which they are affiliated. “At this level, there is an almost total absence of immigrants,” says Sid Ahmed Soussi.
He therefore notes a problem of representativeness. “Since new arrivals are very present on the job market, but practically non-existent in trade union organizations, they do not work to ensure that all the challenges related to immigration are taken into consideration by trade union organizations,” the researcher deplores.
Solutions outside of unions
While unions can work on several levels to improve their representation, it should be remembered that in Quebec, unionization is concentrated in the public sector. In 2021, the union presence rate was just over 85%, and around 23% in private companies, according to data from the Ministry of Labour.
However, newcomers are underrepresented in the federal and provincial public service. Quebec had promised to reach a proportion of 18% of employees who were part of a visible or ethnic minority by 2023. However, in 2022, this rate was struggling to exceed 15%, according to the Treasury Board Secretariat.
“To bring about real change, governments would first have to show a clear desire to have better representation within the civil service,” stresses Sid Ahmed Soussi.
Another element that does not facilitate the unionization of immigrants is the adoption in 2014 by Quebec of Bill 8 following a reform by the federal government.
“Temporary migrant workers in agriculture have seen their access to unionization restricted, if not locked out,” says the researcher. “They can now obtain representation rights, but that does not allow them to unionize. This means that they can create an association that can make observations to the employer, but the latter is not obliged to negotiate in good faith.”
The question of training
Trade unions can indeed use different means to improve their representativeness in relation to newcomers. “During individual interviews that I conducted, it appeared essential that unions better train their delegates on the issue of immigration and ethnocultural diversity,” says the researcher.
He also noted that immigrant workers should be informed about union action.
There would also be awareness-raising interventions to be carried out on the need to invest efforts to unionize precarious work environments, where there is a large proportion of new arrivals, believes the researcher. “It’s time and money for the unions, but it’s also a question of union solidarity,” he maintains.
The researcher also hopes that trade unions will speak out more publicly on the challenges facing immigrant workers. “We hardly hear from them, but this issue is very common in public debate. It’s important, because successful integration of immigrants depends a lot on work, and on union organization when it is present at the employer’s.”
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