'They've got to put money on the table': Expert discusses labour disputes and what the province could do to prevent them

Jason Foster, an Athabasca University professor and former director of policy analysis at the Alberta Federation of Labour, joined CTV Edmonton Morning Live to talk about labour disputes as Canada Post employees strike.

 

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

 

Kent Morrison: Railways, airlines, ports and posts have all had work disrupted in the last year or so because of labour disputes. The impact of those strikes and lockouts hurting the economy and life for people like you watching at home. At the same time, labour action is looming inside Alberta schools, possibly hospitals, so why is this all happening seemingly at once? How did we get here? Why does it feel like there's a major union threatening a strike or being locked out every couple of weeks right now?

Jason Foster: Because right now we basically are, every couple of weeks seeing a strike or a lockout. It comes down to the fact that it's been a rough four or five years, right? We had COVID. Lots of health-care workers in particular, grocery store workers, had to go through a lot of stress during COVID, and as soon as COVID started to ease up, bam. We got hit with inflation. Thirteen per cent in the last three years. People are really feeling that in their pocketbook. I think what we're seeing is workers saying, “I need to catch up,” “I need to find a way to pay my bills.”

Kent: Is this something that would have, without COVID-19, naturally cycled through? These contracts would have all happened at different times, and we wouldn't have seen a backlog all coming out at the same time?

Jason: There is an element of that. There was a lot of delaying, bargaining during COVID, and it did cause agreements to align. We certainly see that in the province. Provincial public sector workers, there's 250,000 workers currently in negotiations. That's unusual.

Kent: What are you expecting as we go into next year? Where do you think these disputes will play themselves out again?

Jason: In the provincial public sector, I think the rest of this fall and into the spring, we're probably going to see more disputes. I think we're going to continue to see disputes going into 2025, but eventually, it will start to wane. We've seen strike waves in the past. They usually last for two or three years, and then things start to calm down again.

Kent: Will we have a stretch where we don't have much labour unrest, after this all gets sorted out?

Jason: I don't have a crystal ball, but that would be my guess. After last year, this year and probably next year, we'll then start to see a little bit more labour peace.

Kent: We've heard from people inside hospitals, people inside schools, provincially, right now, that they are unhappy. Is there anything that can be done now to avoid work stoppages in the future?

Jason: Yeah, it's very simple. Employers have to realize that this is what workers are experiencing. They've got to put some money on the table. If they put appropriate amounts of money on the table, I think it will calm everyone down. The problem is that employers and workers are not yet at the same level in terms of deciding how much money that looks like.

Kent: Who gains the most when we get to a lockout or a strike stage? Does it benefit the workers to get to that point because they have more leverage that way?

Jason: It depends on the individual circumstance, but in general, all other things being equal, it does tend to advantage the worker. Because what they've done is they've disrupted the operations of the employer, which has an economic impact on the employer, which increases their motivation to try and get a deal.

Kent: Do you think the provincial government will be in a position to get things done before we see job action in hospitals or schools? They don't seem all that likely to do so at this point.

Jason: I haven't seen any signals from the provincial government that they're ready to do what needs to be done. As an Albertan, I'm worried about that. Often in collective bargaining, movement happens at the last second. As we get to that 11th hour, the unions are starting to prep their picket signs, that might be when we see the movement.

Kent: As we speak of the postal strike, do you have any idea how long this will last?

Jason: I think the postal strike is probably going to last a couple of weeks. Either the federal government's going to feel a need to step in, or hopefully the parties figure it out. There needs to be a bit more “happening” on that particular strike before it's going to settle.

Kent: Into the Christmas delivery season then. We'll continue to track those contract talks between Canada Post and the union here on CTV Morning Live.