Conservatives strike another blow to unions with Bill C-377

Do Conservatives hate unions? Critics of Bill C-377 – government legislation now being considered in the Senate that forces unions, but not other groups whose membership dues are similarly tax-deductible, to post their organization’s expenses on-line – certainly think so.

And they aren’t entirely wrong. There are undoubtedly Canadians who vote Conservative and work in non-unionized environments who resent the generous contracts that union leaders have negotiated for their members.

But such petty jealousy should not be confused with Conservatism more broadly.

At their core, union activists and Conservatives share a passionate distrust of the power often vested in authority figures and structures. Union leaders call their enemy management; for Conservatives, it’s bureaucracies, or big government.

Given their common attitude towards the dangers of excess power, Conservatives should therefore instinctively sympathize with union leaders. They are in a sense entrepreneurs who, through their organizing and negotiating acumen, have obtained superior terms of employment for themselves and their members.

Indeed, if labour costs in a unionized organization seem excessively high, Conservatives who believe in individual accountability should instinctively focus their criticism on managers who have been out-maneuvered at the bargaining table, not on labour negotiators.

One reason they don’t is that many perceive more radical union leaders to have been corrupted by the same power that they’re supposed to abhor. By declaring themselves representatives not just of their members, but of workers around the world, these “bosses” have abandoned any sense of accountability.

And when they use union dues for partisan political purposes, they cross a line that most Conservatives, however moderate, cannot tolerate.

The issue is not necessarily that unions support left-leaning initiatives; rather, it’s that union leaders have stripped their members of the freedom to donate, or not donate, to parties, candidates and causes of their choosing.

In this context, the government’s effort to weaken unions and their executives through the provisions of Bill C-377 makes visceral sense – even if the weapon the Conservatives are using is ignorant, discriminatory and perhaps even a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In sum, the introduction of Bill C-377 is a case of two wrongs not making a right.

It is not unreasonable to suggest that since workers are obligated to pay union dues, those dues should be spent on them, and not pet political causes. But forcing through legislation that targets and burdens unions exclusively and unfairly is hardly the right solution.

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Adam Chapnick