With the Labour Day long weekend around the corner, the B.C. Federation of Labour (BCFED) said it’s important to celebrate the achievements of workers and keep fighting for better working standards for employees.
“Our economy and society depend on the workers,” BCFED president Irene Lanzinger told the Richmond News this week.
“Whether that’s in a mine, a mill, if you’re a teacher or a health care worker, these are people who are important in keeping our economy strong, and our public service work, and making sure that people are looked after in our society.”
Lanzinger said many important gains have been made in improving workers’ situation since the introduction of Labour Day in Canada, which can be traced back to a parade in support of the Toronto Typographical Union’s strike for a 58-hour work week in 1987.
“We have worked hard to make sure workers have time off, things like sick leave and vacations, mandatory employment standard acts and a limit on the number of work hours,” she said.
Lanzinger, however, noted that there is still a lot of work to be done, such as increasing the quality of jobs workers have.
“What are the wages of the job, and what health benefits and pension plans are included; they are all important,” she said.
She noted many people in B.C. work part-time or temporary jobs long before they are able to get a full-time permanent job, which, she says, is concerning.
Lanzinger gave an example of the booming tourism industry in B.C., where, she said, there are many low wages and temporary jobs that terminate at the end of the summer.
There has been a decline in the number of people that belong to unions since the 1950s, according to Lanzinger.
She said a global move to strong, right wing governments at that time and local economic factors led to the drop.
“We used to have one of the largest unions in the province – the wood workers union - but we have seen a decline in industries like forestry,” said Lanzinger.
“And big companies like Walmart took over, which fought to keep the union out.”
The unionization rate in B.C. is around 30 per cent today, according to Lanzinger.
