Why unions have had a 'summer of strikes'
CBC After decades of declining membership, unionsseem to be having a moment in North America.
Over the decades, the number of Canadian workers who belong to unions has shrunk. In 1981, 38 per cent of workers in the country were unionized, according to a recent study by the Angus Reid Institute. Last year, just 29 per cent of Canadian workers belonged to a union.
"Strikes have been virtually non-existent for most of the past 30 years or so," said Barry Eidlin, a labour expert who studies social movements at McGill University. "Those more collective solutions to people's problems at work just haven't been as much on the agenda."
But from the Canadian federal workers strike to actors and writers in Hollywood to port workers in B.C.not to mention broadcasters at TV Ontario, city workers in Saint John, N.B., and employees at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries it's no wonder this has been dubbed the "summer of strikes".
Experts say unions are being more aggressive at a time when theirpopular support is high.
