The past several decades have not been auspicious for the Canadian labour movement. Only 25 years ago, unions represented 38 percent of the Canadian workforce and were at the zenith of their influence and visibility. Union leaders met regularly with prime ministers and premiers, and most major newspapers and broadcasters had a full-time labour-beat reporter. Bob White and the auto workers captured the attention of many Canadians by breaking away from their American parent union in 1985 and then leading an inspired campaign against the Mulroney government’s proposed free trade agreement with the United States. Through this period, governments of all stripes in Ottawa and the provinces enacted worker-friendly legislation that promoted workplace health and safety, employment equity, pay equity and union organizing. By the early 1990s, the New Democratic Party—the political ally of the labour movement—was in power in three Canadian provinces, including Ontario, and held 43 seats...
Michael Lynk is the associate dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario. He is also a labour arbitrator. Before donning his academic robes, he worked for a decade as a labour lawyer in private practice and on the staff of several national unions in Ottawa and Toronto.
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