Recommendation 3 – Committing to Politics for Workers

Unions don’t exist in a vacuum. Our strength and ability to represent our members is affected by the broader climate around us, including the impact governments have on our trade union rights, the rights of unions to exist and to participate in free and fair collective bargaining, the strength of health and safety laws, the quality of health care and education, minimum wages, pay equity and women’s reproductive rights. Governments also shape economic policy, which of course has a huge impact on the economic and social well-being of our members.

Simply, our lives extend beyond the workplace. From our democratic rights to the taxes we pay, from the livability of our communities and cities to well-formed industrial policies that create good jobs, they are all impacted by politics and political decisions.

As well, as trade unionists, we care about social equality within our communities and within our country: about discrimination, the lives of the aged, about poverty and mental health.

All of this is “politics.”

In 2014, Unifor delegates debated and adopted “Politics for workers: Unifor’s political project.” This paper outlined a vision for our union and politics. It was based on our broad, societal objectives for all working people, beyond the realm of partisan politics.

Today, just as 10 years ago, our union believes that our work extends beyond the bargaining table. We believe that politics matter because the political decisions of today affect the entirety of our lives.

If trade unionists know one thing for certain, it is that individually, the worker is in no position to challenge management. Collective action is fundamental to defend our interests and achieve our goals. The same is true politically.

Unifor’s policies on political relationships and elections are designed to be principled, independent, balanced and transformational. And building political change is related to building our own power as a union, to building worker power.

Unifor was created to meet the challenges of today and to make a difference.

To accomplish this, we need a long range framework and short and medium term policies and strategies. In the shifting realities of politics in Canada, it is clear that our political project is only just beginning.

As Unifor National President, I recommend that Unifor:

• Renew its commitment to building its own political project, one that recognizes the power workers have when they come together for broad transformational change that benefits working people collectively;
• Update the 2014 Politics for workers paper to represent the political context of today and engage Unifor members at upcoming Regional Councils in 2024-2025 on Unifor’s political project;
• Play an active role in major Canadian elections in the next year, including known elections in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick, as well as possible elections in Ontario and Nova Scotia. The union must also prepare a national strategy to engage directly and meaningfully in the forthcoming federal election; and
• Roll out election-related information and analysis, including on the need for industrial strategies in Canada, on key party policies and platforms, as well as candidate voting records and public positions, to better inform members’ voting decisions.