Unions play important place in society
Fri May 16, 2008

To the editor:

Throughout Canada it is not unusual to read the opinions of angry readers decrying unions and the supposedly lavish settlements they get. A common mantra goes something like, "In the real world, we don't get paid vacations, a three per cent raise every year . . ." and so on. While that may be true for some and their sentiments understandable, history shows unions have brought tremendous benefits to all workers, unionized or not.

It has been reported that, over the past few decades, the middle class has been in virtual stagnation, while the rich became more prosperous and the poor more numerous. One of the main reasons cited for this is the declining number of unionized workers. Further, it has been reported, quite rightly, that regardless of how we sometimes feel about unions, over the last century they were largely responsible for the emergence and maintenance of the middle class by securing higher wages, benefits and more humane working conditions for employees.

It is true that some demands of some unions appear to be frivolous and go well beyond what an employee should reasonably expect of their employer. When these are made public, people often become outraged and the image of unions as a whole suffers.

However, there is a caveat here. If we short-sightedly shake our collective fist at unions, we may, unwittingly, begin to erode those very necessary benefits it took unions so long to secure, not only for their own members, but, incidentally, for society as a whole.

Jonathan O'Mara

Whitby