Unionization Rates in Canada - Research Paper Example

Unionization rates in Canada Unionization rates in Canada Introduction A well functioning democracy often needs a strong and robust middle class. Globally strong unions are often critical when it comes to the building of a middle class that is critical to the maintaining and winning democracy. Union density has been falling in recent decades, and in fact the membership rate in the private sector has decreased and is now dismal. It is imperative to understand that as the union density decrease, the bargaining power of the union is often weakened because of the competition that exists with non union lower wage employees. Further, if there is less bargaining power, this means that there is lower wages, fewer rights and health benefits. For this reason, there is a need to study the variations that exist in gender rates in unionization in order to understand the underlying causes of why people are joining or leaving unions. This paper looks into detail the variations that has existed in gender unionization rates in Canada and the reasons as to why there exists such variations. This is important as it will ensure that authorities can understand why people are not joining unions by having concrete facts and data at their disposal. Purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to understand the gender variations that exists in unionization levels and why the variations exists. The study looks into data from the 1980’s to 2013 and examines the differences and the fluctuations that has existed in unionization rates and explains why there have been such variations. Rationale of the study 1. Unions are an integral part of the economy and therefore understanding why there is low unionization rates is key into improvement of the labor productivity and hence the economy. 2. The difference that exists between male and female unionization rates will help in understanding differences in pay. 3. The difference in unionization between male and female will show which groups are often affected and what can be done to increase their unionization levels. Approach and data sources This research paper utilizes information from various governmental and nongovernmental organizations databases. It further looks into different journal articles and books in order to get information regarding unionization rates in Canada. In particular, this research paper utilizes information from Statistics in Canada in the interpretation of the graph. The information from the government databases and journal articles is reliable and consequently the information in this research paper can be described as factual and precise. Analysis and major findings From the year 1982 to the year 2013, the overall unionization rate in Canada has decreased. The unionization rate is often defined as the proportion of employees that are union members. The number has substantially declined over the years, in this research paper; the trends in unionization rates especially examined under gender will be studied. It is imperative to understand that the decline in unionization in Canada is not a recent phenomenon and in fact, the unionization rate fell through the years 1980’s to the year 1990. However, in the 21st century, the rate has remained substantially stable; however, there are different trends when it comes to both men and women. There is often a need to organize the unorganized; however, this has become a major challenge that faces most Canadian labor movements. The union density has been decreasing and this has been particularly blamed on the heavily unionized sectors emphasizing industry restructuring, accelerated pace in regards to technological change, contracting out and privatization as well as a well defined cultural shift in employments from goods to service oriented sector. Women workers can be said to be an expanding demographic group in the workforce, however, they constitute the largest segment of the unorganized pools with what can be described as the greatest potential for union organization. In fact in the year 2002, women comprised about 36.4 of all total union membership (Barry, 2011). This has to be compared with the fact that they constituted to around 42.9 percent of the total labor force. Further, only 31% of the working women were organized as compared to around 40% of their male counterparts. The main question that perplexes many organizers in unions is why women often do not organize when it is clear that unionization often provides significant monetary as well as non monetary benefits (Shamsuddin, 1996). There is often unambiguous empirical evidence when it comes to the earning gaps that exist between the genders especially in unionized establishments as compared to non unionized industries. There are several explanations that have often been put forward in order to try and account for the low level of unionization that exists among women (Barry, 2011). It is often argued that although there appears to be no significant differences that exists between gender in work attitudes as well as attitudes towards the unions, there is often a suggestion that women are often less likely to be in an union as compared to men because they are often in and out of the labor force more times as compared to their male counterparts. This is often because of family obligations as well as other leaves such as pregnancies. Secondly, it is suggested that a higher proportion of women often work part time jobs as compared to men and this often has a big impact when it comes to the joining of a union (Barry, 2011). The third suggestion is that women are often concentrated in low paying jobs in industries that are less unionized. It is imperative to understand that although there has been a lot of research on the possible causes of gender differences that exists in unionizations in United States, there has been little research when it comes to the subject of Canada (Barry, 2011). There is a need to gain what can be described as a Canadian perspective into the issue in order to fully understand the question of underrepresentation of women in unions. However, tables seem to have turned in the 21st century, the number of women entering unions is steadily increasing. Therefore, the question that is being asked is whether the factors that prevented women from entering into unions have been taken care of. This is because from a historical perspective as shown above, the membership in unions was dominated by male employees was higher than the female employees. However, a study carried out in the year 2005 showed that the unionization rates for both male as well as female employees both stood at 32%. In the year 2012, the unionization rate for females was higher than that of their male counterparts, standing at 32.8% as compared to 30.3% for the male employees. As seen from the above graph, the rates for men have been decreasing while the unionization rates for women have been increasing dramatically. There are several reasons that have been forwarded as to why there has been a decrease in the unionization of men in Canada and an increase in unionization rates in women. One of the suggestions that has been aired is the lost power in unions. In the 1970’s and the 1980’s the unions were powerful and were able to bargain on behalf of its workers. However, this is not the case in the 21st century as unions are very weak as their numbers has decreased and their leadership has in many cases failed. Individuals often look out for themselves and because the establishment of the media in many industries it has become difficult for employees to discriminate workers and therefore, this have made unions redundant (Freeman, 1988). The suggestion also states that women are joining unions because of their peculiar and unique position in the job market. They are often at a disadvantage as they are more prone to sexual harassment, denial of paid pregnancy leaves as well as other women related needs. Therefore, they have realized that unions are the way to go when it comes to championing of their rights and consequently the bulge that has been experienced in their unionization rates in Canada. It is imperative to understand that it is not all male groups that saw a decline in numbers and further, it is also not all women that joined unions. There are specific industries as well as age groups that joined or left the unions in both men and women. For example, in the year 1981, men had a higher rate than women which stood at around 42% versus a mere 31% for the women (Barry, 2011). However, in the next three decades as shown in the above graph, there was a decrease in the number of men in unions, however, the rate remained fairly stable among women. Therefore, there are some scholars that have argued that women are not increasingly being unionized but their numbers are remaining the same, what has happened is the fact that men are getting out of unions and therefore, the difference is begin noticed. As a result of this phenomenon, in the year 2012, men had a slightly lower unionization rate as compared to women which stood at 29% for men and 31% for women respectively. It is of worth to note that the decline in unionization rate was especially pronounced among young workers, this is because most of them feel that there is no need to join unions as they are progressing in their careers (Harcourt, 2006). Most youth employees often argue that that there is no need to join a union only to get out in a few weeks when one finds better employment. When looking at the graph, it can be seen that by the year 1981, the difference that existed in unionization rate between the employed people that were aged 18-24and those that were aged 55-64 was around 16 percentage points. They stood at 26% and 42% respectively, however, this has changed with time and in fact in the year 2012, the rate stood at 21 percentage points being 15% to around 36%. It can be seen from this statistics that indeed there has been a fall generally in unionization rates in Canada. There have been several theories that have been forwarded so as to explain why this is happening. The first theory has argued that unions are weakening. The unions are weakening because of the tough economy; this is because workers are being forced to take jobs that are available and not to complain or else being fired. Unfortunately in Canada, young people have been hit hard by the struggling economy and there are those that are still unemployed (Eaton, 2005). Therefore, they are taking jobs without the intention of joining unions. This decision is weakening unions as most of them work on the principle of numbers (Harcourt, 2006). If they do not have numbers; it is imperative to note that youth are increasingly becoming the bulk of the workforce of the labor force in Canada. Therefore, with the decreasing numbers it is extremely difficult for the unions to negotiate on behalf of the union members because they do not have the bargaining power. For this reason, the unionization rates have been falling steadily over the years. Further, sectors that are in many cases likely to be unionized, such as teachers, government workers and library jobs do not often appeal to the youth. Instead, most youth are being recruited into the service industry, in technology, with small companies or sometimes in restaurants and many of these jobs do not have unions associated with them. Most of the undergraduate students can be described as young, bright and ambitious and they often expect that their future employers with be able to treat them well. They, therefore, do not see any reason to join a union. Conclusion In summary, it can be seen that in the 1980’s and the 1990’s the rate of unionization was higher in men as compared to women. However, this number has decreased and has over the last decade favored women. In a study carried out in the year 2012, it was found that women had a higher unionization rate as compared to men. It is believed that this is so because women have realized that they are often vulnerable at the workplace with problems such as pregnancy leave and family matters that they have increased their unionization rates. References Freeman, R. B., & Ichniowski, C. (1988). When public sector workers unionize. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Barry, M., & Wilkinson, A. (2011). Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Freeman, R. B. (1994). Working under different rules. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Top of Form Harcourt, M., & Wood, G. (2006). Trade unions and democracy: Strategies and perspectives. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers. Bottom of Form Eaton, J. (2005). Union renewal in Canada: Strategies, tactics, and public perceptions. Shamsuddin, A. F. M., & University of New England. (1996). The effect of unionization on the gender earnings gap in Canada, 1971-1981. Armidale, N.S.W: Dept. of Economics, University of New England. Read More