Canadian Agenda: Why the U.S. election matters to Canada

Why the U.S. election matters to Canada

As neighbors, Canada and the United States are among the two most intertwined countries in the world. The Canadian Labour Movement and the U.S. Labor movement often face the same challenges and work closely to fight for the rights and dignity of working people and their families. With the presence of U.S. manufacturing plants in Canada and Canadian exports of unprocessed natural resources to the U.S. market, there are no two countries in the world whose economies are more integrated than Canada and the United States.

High stakes This makes the U.S. presidential election high stakes for Canadians. On November 3, Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be on the ticket versus former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. The ATU was among the first unions to endorse Joe Biden for President early in the primaries.

The outcome of this election will mean a lot for Canada. What are the prospects for four more years of Donald Trump and the Republican grip on the White House? What are the implications for Canadians and union members across Canada?

Electoral prospects During the Democratic presidential primary race, a number of progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders pushed for policies such as universal healthcare and a Green New Deal. While Joe Biden won the nomination, his campaign has moved to embrace the progressive wing, which is critical to building the kind of coalition that can defeat Donald Trump.

Traditionally the ground game wins tight elections, but with the pandemic this election will be fought online and on the airwaves. However, everyone will be watching those battleground states that Trump narrowly won: Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That is why ATU is launching an aggressive campaign to get our members in these key states and others to vote for the Biden-Harris ticket.

Complete failure The complete failure of the Trump Administration is staggering. Over 200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, including more than 85 ATU sisters and brothers.

Trump has declared war on working people by nominating Supreme Court justices that sided with the majority in the anti-union Janus decision. This decision was an attack on union dues and the financial security of unions.

The Trump Administration has stepped up its campaign of divide-and-conquer by using racism, sexism and xenophobia to divide the working class.

The Trump Administration has led the American people to complete ruin.

Impact on Canada Having someone like Trump in power emboldens and strengthens the most far-right, anti-union U.S. organizations. Canadian bosses are joining their American counterparts in adopting U.S. examples of union-busting in order to increase their power here at home. The blueprint to disassemble labour rights is being exported to Canada.

In Alberta, the United Conservative Party (UCP) has passed a bill that attempts to bring US-style labour law reform to Canada. Bill 32 in Alberta now means workers have to wait up to six months for a union certification vote, up from a maximum of 21 days. This will give bosses weeks to install union-busting campaigns and demoralize workers fighting for a union contract.

Meanwhile, corporate donations have no such limit or reporting and the UCP has increased municipal election spending limits. Conservative premiers in Canada are looking to adopt Trump’s labour policies and tilt the playing field in favor of bosses. Attack on Canadian healthcare Four more years of Trump could mean a more aggressive attack on Canadian healthcare from south of the border. Die-hard resistance to universal healthcare in the U.S. will penetrate the border eventually as giant health insurance companies and for-profit health service providers hunt for lucrative provincial contracts. This will have catastrophic effects on the Canadian public.

The stakes for Canada

To the extent that Canadians tie their wagon to resource commodities and sign free trade agreements that promote U.S. investment in the Canadian economy, Canada’s economic woes and dependency will continue to deepen. Canadians need to hope that Trump loses the election if we are going to stem the tide of decline in terms of labour law, our ability to fight bad bosses, and preserve our healthcare system. v

ATU Canadian Locals secure emergency funding victory

ATU Canada and Canadian Locals secured a victory this summer when the federal government agreed to provide $1.8 billion for public transit in its $19 billion COVID-19 emergency aid package. However, the funding comes with the condition that provinces equally match the federal transit dollars they receive.

The victory was the result of a concerted campaign by ATU Canada and our Locals to pressure the Government into reversing its decision not to aid public transit.

Only the latest push for operational funding Long before COVID-19 threatened public transit, ATU Locals were advocating for ongoing operational funding of public transit from all levels of government. As the pandemic hit, the ATU aggressively campaigned for emergency federal funding.

ATU Canada’s recent national poll found that 8 in 10 Canadians surveyed support the federal government providing $5 billion in emergency funding for public transit.

Since March, the federal government shoveled bailout money to help individuals, small businesses, public services, and corporations. The Government also freed up and expedited money from the gas tax fund for municipalities, but when asked about public transit, Prime Minister Trudeau consistently stated that his government would support municipalities – but not with transit funding.

The federal government claimed transit was a provincial responsibility. While the ATU did not stop pressuring the federal government – it also targeted provinces, calling on them to compensate transit agencies for all pandemicrelated operating losses. In June, the ATU coordinated a nationwide letter-writing campaign with community transit allies directed at the provinces. Provinces must match federal funds Finally, Trudeau announced that the Government would provide $1.8 billion to public transit as part of its $19 billion coronavirus bailout package. Unfortunately, the transit funds were the only cohort of the funding that required matching provincial funds.

Funding for personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing, long term care, healthcare, and childcare had no strings attached. The arrangement lead to speculation that the transit funding was set up in such a way that it would not set a precedent.

ATU takes fight to the provinces As of this writing, only British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario have asked for the matching funds. The ATU is disappointed that Quebec and Alberta are accepting only a portion of the available transit funding. The prairie provinces, on the other hand, have not yet announced their commitment.

Disturbingly, Newfoundland and Labrador provincial leaders elected to turn down the funding. The cost of those decisions, if left unchecked, could be catastrophic.

ATU Canada and Local 1462-St. John’s, NL, have launched a public-facing advocacy campaign to pressure elected officials of the province to reverse their decisions.

Dedicated transit funding still critical

ATU Canada and our Locals recognize that the emergency federal transit funding offer meets the acute, short-term needs to help transit systems survive the pandemic. It does not, however, provide the ongoing operational funding that will help transit thrive in the future. The onus to keep public transit operating falls on political leadership and the ATU will continue that fight. v