Unifor’s new program aims to connect unions to larger Canadian society

These are difficult times for unions in Canada. Public-sector unions are under siege from governments in Ottawa and Alberta, while industrial unions have seen memberships shrink as manufacturing declines in Central Canada.

Labour unions have reacted by consolidating where possible and looking for ways to expand. Earlier this year, the Canadian Auto Workers and Canadian Energy and Paperworkers merged to form Unifor, the country's largest union with more than 300,000 members.

The idea of unionism has been under attack in today's fragile economic climate as businesses argue they're an impediment to productivity and competitiveness.

Unions have reacted by arguing that the widening income gap shows collective agreements are one of the best ways to ensure Canadians can earn middle-class incomes, especially as the number of people working part-time, sometimes at more than one job, rises.

Unifor's answer has been to open its doors to pretty much everyone, whether they're working full-time, part-time, self-employed, unemployed, even students.

It's helping to organize "community chapters," which it says "aims to reach out to groups of workers that are generally excluded from union membership."

[ Related: CAW, CEP unions now known together as Unifor ]

Roxanne Dubois, Unifor's community chapters co-ordinator, told the National Post it's hoped these groups would organize around broader community issues as citizens who can "change the world around [them]."

The initiative predictably has run into criticism from groups who aren't crazy about unions in the first place.

Something called the Canadian LabourWatch Association claims Unifor's effort may be breaking the law by using members' dues for things unrelated to collective bargaining.

President John Mortimer told the Post the Income Tax Act says dues should not be levied for “any purpose not directly related to the ordinary operating expenses of the . . . union.”

Many unions become involved in social causes unrelated to their collective agreements. The Conservative government's contentious Bill C-377 would address the issue, the Post said, along with forcing unions to disclose details of their spending. The legislation currently is hung up in the Senate.

[ Related: Conservative senators help to block passage of union transparency bill ]

LabourWatch, which purports to help employees become more informed about unions, is bankrolled by various small-business groups. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives notes its site provides information to workers and employers on how to thwart union-certification efforts.

"Labour Watch illustrates a recent trend towards greater co-ordination of efforts among organizations which are hostile to organized labour," the left-leaning think tank says.

Unions have targeted service-sector employees who often work for smaller firms, as a way to offset declines among workers in the manufacturing sectors.

Catherine Swift, chairwoman of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, one of LabourWatch's backers, told the Post the community chapters program "ultimately helps the unions themselves – it's not collective bargaining."

Under the program, community chapters are paired with an existing local union that provides resources, advocacy and training, the Post said.

Dubois told the Post community-chapter members "pool their resources by paying a membership fee," and that the money is not the same as dues payed by union members covered by a collective agreement.

It'll be interesting to see whether the community-chapters initiative takes off.

Labour's right-wing critics have tried to paint unions and their members as over-privileged and out of touch with the needs of the 21st-century economy that prizes flexibility and competitiveness. They've tried to build resentment against the benefits unionized workers bargained for over the years, suggesting they should be down scrambling with everyone else.

The community-chapters program represents an attempt to reconnect with average Canadians who might in turn see the value of a union's role in maintaining a healthy middle class.