Workers need super unions to take on super corporations.
That’s the opinion of Rene Lindquist, a national representative for the Communications, Energy and Paper workers Union of Canada. The Canadian Auto Workers Union voted unanimously to merge with the CEP and form a new union.
CEP members will vote in October to decide if they want to combine the two unions.
Lindquist said he expected that his fellow members would join CAW because it made sense given how difficult it has become for unions to take on their employers.
“I wish we didn’t have unions at all,” Lindquist said. “Is there a need for these big super unions? Yes. Look at industry they have gone to big super companies. You could have a situation where you have 10 mills and you decide you take one mill on and we’re going to bring them to their knees and we’ll have labour peace with the other ones. Is that fair? Is that right?”
CEP has about 130,000 members but combined with the CAW the membership could swell around 300,000 making it the largest union in the private sector.
While there may be more members, Lindquist said the entire issues boil down to workers being treated fairly.
He said members need to lose their individual labels and instead concentrate on the fact they are part of the “Great Canadian Union”. He said the right label will cover everyone.
“It’s a natural marriage,” he said. “We’re both Canadian unions, we’re both predominately private sector unions and I’m looking forward to it. We will have some duplication of services but that’s all being worked out.”
He added unions usually come together every 20 years and found it interested that CEP formed two decades ago in 1992.
CAW Local 229 president Kari Jefford, who represents 2,300 members across the region, said she’s excited by the idea of the two unions forming something new. Although she had no concerns about getting too big, she said it’s important to have a strong union because they are facing numerous attacks from both the provincial and federal governments.
She explained that the federal Conservative government has used legislation to force unions back to work and now the provincial Liberal government wants to take bargaining rights away from teachers unions.
“It’s not just unions,” Jefford said. “Unions are just a small part of the working world. The 99 per cent are under attack. We have a Tory government that has been attacking the union movement and legislating people back to work. It’s the agenda of the elite who are running the country.
"Everything is under attack even a women’s right to choose if she wants to keep her child.”
