The importance of Labour education - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Over nine million workers left their unions in the United States of America between 1990 to this decade and six million workers did the same in the United Kingdom in the same year. Of course it is worse in Asia. With the exception of Japan, Asian countries don’t even have unions.
Canada is way better in that respect but still not ideal. Many of the manufacturing jobs have been shipped to Asian countries because in Asian countries, labour is cheap and there are no unions that will fight for their right. As jobs were declining, union membership did too. As jobs were declining, the reputation of unions to fight for the right of workers declined too.
Add to this are government policies like high interest rates. From there, the government and the economy changed direction to pursue new ventures including deregulation of certain industries and other policy changes. This changed the way businesses were operating and it changed their labour requirement.
It was also the year when globalization started crawling the streets of Canada. It was good and it showed in the performance of our market. The working class started realizing that the internet, telecommunication development, and development of new products for information and communication can provide them the same possibilities afforded only to the rich. The working class is able to tap on foreign economies and to the upper class who understood what was going on, it was probably scary. The working class was becoming aware that it was possible for them to do better and get a better share of the economy. It paid off because for 30 years, Canada experienced growth and more importantly, working class empowerment, hope and belief. The problem was that businesses started demanding for workers whose skills can serve their new international operation. They needed to specializations and long-time union members didn’t have them. That was the most sparking proof that workers cannot afford to hope that for the next thirty years, they will have a job at their company. Their skill might easily be rendered redundant when new machines are bought that can do what they do, only better. They don’t get sick and they don’t demand for a wage increase. Where is Labour Education Now We are at doorstep of incredible communication technology growth. I know that some will say we are already in the middle of it but if you look at history, we are barely on its feet. The internet and all the technology that comes with it is barely thirty years old. That is a young industry by any account. And with its growth comes influences that are changing the face and trend of the economy and labour requirements. The large companies continue to dominate the economy and politics. It has been frustrating to the working class. A quick glance at Canada’s GDP and it will be clear that that the labour share is low, a quick glance at the employment rate and you know that we have a problem. Bluntly, the statistics show that the working class is taking less than they should. Through all these, it is the working class that’s making the sacrifices. Unions are being asked to adapt, change, become flexible. Adapting and changing means stepping back a couple of times to allow the big companies the space they want for themselves. Adapt meant making your dreams smaller and pulling your expectations lower while the owners ...Download file to see next pagesRead More