Reining In The Unions

"I accept the results of the election.  But I can't accept a union representing public servants working for the government of Canada which forcefully takes money out of the pockets of Canada's public servants to support parties that want to break up the country.

"How can it be in the interests of public servants to support the breakup of Canada?"

Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre

Mr. Poilievre is so outraged at the regional wings of the Public Service Alliance of Canada having decided to support candidates representing Quebec Solidaire and the Parti Quebecois, and urging their members to vote for those candidates in the provincial election that brought a minority PQ government back to power in Quebec that he is prepared to push for legislation for opting out.

This has, understandably, horrified public service unions; their leaders are aghast that a Member of Parliament representing the ruling Conservatives is prepared to besmirch them all with that broad brush of condemnation.  "Why attack all unions because one decided to take a position on the election", asked Claude Poirier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees.

And in came the suspicion that somehow the Prime Minister has something to do with this; that the PSAC website "StephenHarperNousDeteste.ca" (Stephen Harper Hates Us), and their hiring of a small plane to fly a banner advertising that site had a great deal to do with this move.  Don't think so.  What it does amply demonstrate is the lack of maturity on the part of the PSAC executive.

That the PSAC went out of their way to support Quebec university student unions in their recent public displays of flouting the rules of law and order in defiance over paying for more of the costs of their education, is simply another manifestation of their dysfunction.  Their members, by and large, forced to pay union dues, would far prefer that the union represent them in more traditional ways than foreign boycott and divestment episodes, as well.

The truth sometimes makes people uncomfortable.  There is a growing body of evidence that manifests that increases in unionization have a tendency to result in lower productivity, profitability and investment.  In the case of civil servants, that investment is in their jobs, when they work to rule rather than as perhaps in respect of the position they are paid to fulfill.

Employees being forced through Canada's labour laws - "Individuals wishing to work at a unionized company in Canadian provinces can be required to join the union and pay full dues", have little option but to pay those dues.  Alberta enjoys the lowest rates of unionization in he country; 24.2% of the workforce.  A Fraser Institute study has recently found that Alberta can boast the best-performing labour market on the continent.

Labour unions at one time were a dire necessity when labourers were victimized by unscrupulous and uncaring employers.  At the present time, in the best-case scenario, management and union can meet on good terms and agree on benefits for workers that work to the advantage of all concerned.  More latterly, however, unions have continued to be adversarial, demanding and belligerent.

And all too often, political.  Taking to the stage to use their political weight, their union funding and their smug righteousness to take on causes that should be off limits and certainly beyond their mandate.  Rein in the unions?  Sounds long overdue, a very sound move.