Organizing Unorganized Workers

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the importance of unions maintaining their efficacy by focusing their energy and resources on organizing the unorganized. The paper highlights, however, the many factors that hinder unionization in Canada. The paper specifically describes the major barriers to the increased unionization of women.

From the Paper:

"Without sufficient members, labour unions lose their power and efficacy, in that they lack the requisite strength in numbers for leverage against the employer, and thus cannot negotiate benefits for their members. It is therefore important that union membership remains at least constant. However, as the work force is usually growing, retaining the same percentage of union members requires ongoing recruitment. The problem is that so far from growing, union membership is actually dropping in many industrialized countries, largely due to major changes on the work front. For example, jobs are declining in the manufacturing industries (traditionally a good place for union recruitment) and are growing in the private service sectors (a place where recruitment is difficult, due to factors such as small company size, and a preponderance of part time, casual or contract work)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Currie, Carol and Geri Sheedy. (1987). Organizing Eaton's. Working People and Hard Times: Canadian Perspectives. Eds. Robert Argue, Charlene Gannage and D.W. Livingstone. Toronto: Garamond: 247-259.
• Fudge, Judy. (1993). Conclusion: Pay equity in a declining economy: The challenge ahead. Just Wages: A Feminist Assessment of Pay Equity. Ed. Judy Fudge and Patricia McDermott. Toronto: University of Toronto Press: 281-288.Labour Studies 332 Study Guide.
• Warskett, Rosemary. (1998). Bank worker unionization and the law. Studies in Political Economy 25: 41-73.
• Reiter, Ester. (1986). Life in a fast-food factory. On the Job: Confronting the Labour Process in Canada. Eds. Craig Heron and Robert Storey. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1986: 309-326.

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