In NAFTA Talks, Canada Demands US Drop Anti-Union 'Right to Work' Laws

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

"One group of negotiators spent all day Sunday working on the labor file," The Globe and Mail noted. "One source familiar with the discussions said Canada wants the United States to pass a federal law stopping state governments from enacting right-to-work legislation; the source said the United States has not agreed to such a request."

To read more:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/04/nafta-talks-canada-demands-us-drop-anti-union-right-work-laws

What a refreshing idea, to use a trade agreement to improve conditions for workers rather than use the agreement to aid in a race to the bottom.

[Not Ruth]

1. Perhaps Canada can ask for DACA to become the law of the land

[guillaumeb]

2. There are a number of demands made.

A very interesting article.

[saidsimplesimon]

3. K&R

O Canada!

[guillaumeb]

4. O Canada indeed.

O Canada! 
Terre de nos aïeux,

Literally true for me.

[panader0]

5. I live about 15 miles from Mexico.

I have been a bricklayer since 1973. The union did not exist. In Tucson, about
90 miles north, there was union representation. If you go another 100 miles
north to Phoenix, the union had even more sway.
My point is that the further you live from the border, the more union you see.
I joined Local 1 to work a big job on local army base. I ended up being a steward,
something I didn't really want. I have seen the value of unions.

[guillaumeb]

7. I think that most of us at DU see the value in unions.

And praise to Trudeau for this negotiating idea. Capitalists like Trump see the renegotiation as a way to become even wealthier, at the expense of workers of course. But NAFTA could have been worker oriented instead of capital oriented.

[Drahthaardogs]

13. There has been plenty of anti-union talk on this board over the years

The Administration allows it and as a strong union supporter, I have always found it shocking. Not a lot of members are anti, but some are.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Arizona was one of the very first right to work states.

In 1967 and 1968 I was an information operator for Ma Bell. While the Communications Workers of America was our union, belonging was optional, and when there was a strike in 1968, we operators weren't really a party to it, and only some of us honored the picket lines set up by the actual striking workers. There was no retaliation on the part of the company against those who honored the picket lines, and no sanctions on the part of the union against those who didn't. We were also very aware that our wages in Arizona were lower than those of operators in other parts of the country where belonging to the union was mandatory.

You may have had the good fortune to be in a trade where all of the workers went ahead and joined the union.

[haveahart]

6. Ah, the art of the deal.

[guillaumeb]

8. Not exactly the way Trump espects these talks to go.

His book really should have been labelled "The art of the steal", or a similar title.

[panader0]

9. If I remember correctly, some of the workers didn't want to join the

union because Arizona is a Right to Work state.
But because the work was on a federal base, and the company was union,
we all had to join. The union took a good chunk of our hourly pay, for dues
and insurance (which I already had). But I have great regard for unions.

[guillaumeb]

10. I represented numerous non-members as a union steward for a Federal Agency.

The non-union members all claimed to object to the idea of unions, but none objected to the wages and benefits that resulted from being in a unionized workplace.

[GulfCoast66]

11. Nor to the representation

When the get in trouble with the company. At least here in Florida the union cannot deny representation even if the scab will not join the union. Not that they necessarily go to the mat for them.

[guillaumeb]

12. Federal Agencies must represent everyone.

I conducted much training for stewards. I emphasized that giving the same effort for all was good union advertising and good conduct. I believe that I represented everyone to the same level.

[panader0]

14. It was a learning experience.

On the whole I totally agree with unions.
Back in the day, when I came up, I was taught to be fast and efficient.
I learned to lay brick and block fast and straight. The union told me
repeatedly to slow down. The other guys would cut the line to stop work.
Any effort at working hard was seen as subversive.

[burrowowl]

15. Go Canada!

[Willie Pep]

16. Canada proves that the decline of unions is not inevitable.

Dean Baker and others at CEPR have written about this issue and made the case that policy choices are behind the massive decline of unions in the United States which suggests that better policy can help reverse this decline.

See: http://cepr.net/publications/op-eds-columns/canada-proves-the-decline-of-unions-is-not-inevitable

[applegrove]

17. Trade deals can include whatever you agree to. No reason why they

can't include pro union legislation.

[malchickiwick]

19. Vive le Canada!!