TORONTO – Union leaders praised the new generation of Canadians entering the workforce Monday, saying the priorities of the young group – combined with changing patterns introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic – are doing much to revitalize the labor movement of the country.
Younger workers are entering the workforce in large numbers, they said, and they offer perspectives and express priorities that often differ from those expressed by older generations.
Some of that fresh energy was on display at Toronto’s Labor Day parade, which returned to downtown streets for the first time since the pandemic began.
Chants, horns, drums, pop music and bagpipes filled the air in downtown Toronto as hundreds of workers and dozens of unions showed their support for the labor movement.
After speaking at a rally at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto, Unifor National president Lana Payne said members of Generation Z, like her 21-year-old daughter, bring an important new lens to the labor movement.
“They’re revving us up, that’s the reality,” Payne said.  “It sends a message that we need to have balance in our lives, we need to be able to have a life outside of work and we need to be able to have dignity and respect in our workplaces.”
“People started to see that they were valuable to our society and our economy, and not necessarily the respect they deserved for this job.”
Other labor leaders suggested the trend is alive and well in Canada.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labor Congress, said she’s seeing more young workers organizing in the workplace and signing union cards.
“I think some of the achievements and milestones of late are a renewed interest that workers have in taking power in their workplace, the right to organize… to understand that by working in solidarity, they can achieve greater things.” , Bruske said.  “The pandemic has shown workers that it is true.”
According to Payne, the prevalence of such attitudes is evidenced by recent discussions of the so-called “quiet shutdown”.
Although definitions vary, quietly interrupting essentially refers to showing up when expected, doing your assigned tasks, leaving on time, and not taking on extra work outside of your regular hours.  It’s not about slacking off at work, it’s about setting boundaries and preventing burnout.
But Payne argued that the silent strike is an individual action that will not solve the problem of unfair workplace conditions in the long term.
“The way you do that is to join a union, have collective power in your workplace, negotiate a collective agreement, make sure your working conditions are better and do it collectively,” he said.  “Because, chances are, your colleague feels the same way you do.”
Donovan Rich, an organizer with youth worker advocacy group Fightback, said there has been a significant wave of workers unionizing in recent months.  More than 220 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year, and Ritch said the sentiment is spreading to Canada.
“This is a sign that unorganized workers are more union-friendly than they have been in many generations, and many of them are taking active steps to organize unions,” he said.
Ritch said quiet resignations are also a form of industrial action, whether employees realize it or not.
“Workers are sick and tired of being taken advantage of, having to work long hours and being forced to do all this extra work and not getting paid for it,” he said.
“The younger generation, they don’t know much about what unions are and what they can do, but they’re learning that they have to take action in some form.”
– With files from Nojoud Al Mallees in Ottawa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 5, 2022.