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grte

Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s workers join the union – UFCW 1006A - UFCW Canada - Canada’s Private Sector Union (ufcw.ca)

submitted 1 year ago by grte to c/canadalabour

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[–] Seigest 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My first job was as a Swiss army dishrag about 20ish years ago. It was unionized back then. I had no idea what it ment but given I was making a "student minimum" and they where taking a sizable cut of that, I had to quit as even an 8 hour shift was making me less then cost of getting to work.

I wasn't given any unions handbooks, and never spoke with any rep. I just assumed it was another tax everyone had to pay.

Though I certainly understand that value of those union dues now and I was happy to pay them in of my more recent better paying jobs. At a academic role I had a hour long meeting with my union day 1. I was given a bunch of resources and contacts.

Unions are great but they are not equal. So hopefully these workers get a better one then I had when I was in Swiss chalet

[–] grte 2 points 1 year ago

UFCW has, in my opinion, some issues with it's electoral system.

https://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33536:paul-meinema-announces-retirement-shawn-haggerty-elected-president-of-the-ufcw-canada-national-council&catid=10381&Itemid=6&lang=en

Following the announcement of Brother Meinema’s well-earned retirement, Shawn Haggerty was unanimously elected to lead the UFCW Canada National Council at the Executive Board’s meeting on November 30th.

They run a delegate system where locals send reps to a conference, then those reps vote on behalf of their locals to decide on the executive board. The President is then, seemingly, selected internally by that executive board. I think this results in a system where the leadership has interests in keeping workers uninformed and uninvolved with their union. I have a similar experience to yours in a brief stint in a UFCW job.

All that said, the delegates are voted on. A large enough movement within the union could change their voting mechanics to something more direct, so I remain hopeful that they can reform themselves.