Retirement Of The Likes Of Bob White...

...opened the gates of mediocrity in the union movement. IMHO if unions want to turn things around it will be done in the boardrooms not the streets.

Kelly McParland: Some helpful suggestions for organized labour

The Toronto Star has a secret memo from two big labour unions in which they concede they could go the way of the dinosaurs unless they reinvent themselves.
The paper, titled “A Moment of Truth for Canadian Labour,” says the economic pressures of globalization, growing employer aggression, hostile government policy and public cynicism have weakened unions significantly during the past two decades. “If unions do not change, and quickly, we will steadily follow U.S. unions into continuing decline,” says the paper, which is marked “confidential.”
“We must reverse the erosion of our membership, our power and our prestige.”
Membership in private sector unions is down to 17.4%, compared to 75% in the public sector. In the U.S., private sector membership is even worse — just 7% — and even public sector membership is just 35%. Canada could go the same way. Read More »