This text is part of the special issue on Trade Unionism
After spending decades protecting their gains, several Canadian unions have changed their strategy, notes Axel Magnan of the Institute for Economic and Social Research. Social (IRES) in the Paris region. Faced with the climate crisis, they are now trying to find solutions, hoping that no worker is left behind. But do they really have the power to change things?
This evolution of the unions’ position on environmental challenges has occurred gradually since the 1990s, notes Axel Magnan. The researcher recently studied the case of Canadian union organizations and their position on what is called the “just transition.” That is, the transition that makes the economy greener while taking into account the fate of workers.
The metalworking and automotive industries were among the first to address just transition, initially focusing on protecting workers’ working conditions, the researcher adds. But over time, this “defensive” strategy has given way to a “proactive” approach, he says.
For example, unions have started to propose concrete suggestions on environmental issues. “They said to themselves: we are not just going to defend ourselves against possible job losses, but rather formulate proposals,” he says.
“Canada’s great geographic diversity means that the challenges are not the same depending on the province and sector,” he says. When it comes to the future of Canadian workers in the context of climate change, we think more of those who exploit the Alberta oil sands than of Quebec agricultural workers, for example. However, the oil industry is not the only one concerned: workers in Quebec’s cement plants, mines and aluminum smelters also have many questions.
When asked about this shift from a “defensive” union strategy to a more “proactive” approach to environmental issues, Dominic Lemieux responds without hesitation. “It reflects exactly what we’re experiencing,” says the Quebec director of the Steelworkers union, which represents workers in the steel, aluminum, cement and mining industries. “We have to take our place and we have to engage in social dialogue with companies.”
“If we succeed in forcing polluting companies to invest in decarbonization and in processes that will emit less greenhouse gases, it is our jobs that we guarantee, he continues. Throughout the world, in two, five or ten years, companies will be judged on their ability to decarbonize their activities.”
The union leader says he feels this environmental concern when he visits workers in factories. For example, he tells the story of a young man in his twenties, a truck driver, whom he met at the Lafarge cement plant in Saint-Constant, in Montérégie. “He told me: ‘If my plant closes one day, it’s because it’s going to be one of the most polluting.’ That struck me.”
Limited actions
The desire for change publicly displayed by several Quebec unions, including the Metalworkers, does not always translate into concrete actions. For example, the Metalworkers have set themselves the goal of creating joint employer-employee committees in workplaces to openly discuss environmental issues.
Except that to date, only one has been officially set up, at ArcelorMittal, in Contrecoeur. “It’s not enough for my taste, but it’s a step in the right direction,” says Dominic Lemieux.
Jonathan Michaud and Mélanie Laroche, from the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) at the University of Montreal, analyzed the case of the Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (to which the Steelworkers union is affiliated). They concluded that the low presence of “green clauses” in collective agreements in Quebec can be explained, among other things, by the fact that “unions are still seeking legitimacy on ecological issues.” They also observed that “there is a persistent gap between central structures and local collective bargaining at the FTQ.”
Does this mean that unions have a limited scope of action despite their good intentions? Dominic Lemieux of the Metalworkers does not share this opinion. “We have real weight through collective bargaining and the dialogue we have with employers,” he replies.
For his part, Axel Magnan is more nuanced: “The effective power of action of the unions depends in particular on the power that we leave them.”
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