Promise of a Collective Voice for the Precariat

Along with much else, the workplace has seen a transformation. Fifty years ago, workers looked forward to full-time, secure jobs with good wages and benefits. Often, the quality of their work was protected by their collective voice, i.e. a union. Today, an increasing number of workers face part-time, temporary jobs with low wages, limited benefits and irregular hours. Many must work several such jobs to make ends meet. And, as most of these jobs are non-union, workers tend to lack a collective voice—they are on their own.

The federal government has recognized that labour standards, critical to ensuring a basic floor of rights for workers, are no longer adequate for this new workplace. It is now in the process of up-dating the Canada Labour Code to fit this new world of work.

The Code was amended in 2017 as a first step, including strengthening compliance and enforcement. Further changes followed in 2018 regarding fair treatment for workers engaged in precarious work. Consultations suggested that much more change was required in a number of areas including e-communications outside of work hours, protections for workers in non-standard work, portability of benefits, federal minimum wage and non-unionized workers ability to express their views collectively. The Minister established an independent expert panel to consider these issues. The panel has now concluded its study and issued a report.

Some of the 39 recommendations that particularly caught my attention include the following:

• A minimum wage, to be adjusted annually, be set at 60 percent of the median wage
• The Code provide clear definitions of "employee," "dependent contractor," and "independent contractor"
• The Code definition of "continuous employment" include periods of layoff or interrupted service of less than 12 months
• The Code provide a right to compensation or time off in lieu for employees required to remain available for potential demands from their employer
• The federal government explore the development of a portable benefits model for workers
• Further study of legal barriers in the Code to union representation
• The Code include protection for concerted, i.e. union, activities
• The Labour Program undertake a benchmarking exercise to obtain systematic information on the prevalence of joint workplace committees and related voice mechanisms, both individual and collective, among non-unionized firms
• Further examination and analysis of graduated models of legislated collective representation
• Studying the feasibility of an independent legal framework that would enable freelancers working for federally regulated broadcasters and truckers who are considered as independent contractors to organize collectively
• Further study of the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a legal framework to enable extensions of collective agreements in specific sectors ... where unionization rates are very low
• The federal government regularly review progress on modernizing federal labour standards and protecting those in precarious forms of work

All this applies only to the federally regulated private sector which includes about 18,000 employers, 915,000 employees and 80,000 self-employed workers. Although only directly affecting a small portion of the country's 15-million plus workers, if acted upon it would set a strong standard.

A standard sorely needed as inequality rises. From 1982 to 2010, the bottom 90 percent of income earners saw only a meagre two percent increase in real market income while the top ten percent saw an increase of 75 percent and the top one percent 160 percent. A large part of the problem is the increasing number of people finding themselves stuck in the precariat. Many of the panel's recommendations are directed at assisting these workers. Of special importance are those which would offer currently non-union employees a collective voice.

With most provinces now having conservative governments, hope that they will follow the fed's example is slim, but if the Trudeau government acts on the panel's recommendations, a path is set toward a more equitable future.