{"id":500016,"date":"2022-10-11T17:22:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T14:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/unifors-lana-payne-is-taking-on-the-fight-for-workers\/"},"modified":"2022-10-11T17:22:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T14:22:33","slug":"unifors-lana-payne-is-taking-on-the-fight-for-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/unifors-lana-payne-is-taking-on-the-fight-for-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"#Unifor&#8217;s Lana Payne is taking on the fight for workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ed7501bab4\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ed7501bab4\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/unifors-lana-payne-is-taking-on-the-fight-for-workers\/#%E2%80%9CUnifors_Lana_Payne_is_taking_on_the_fight_for_workers%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Unifor&#8217;s Lana Payne is taking on the fight for workers&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CUnifors_Lana_Payne_is_taking_on_the_fight_for_workers%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Unifor&#8217;s Lana Payne is taking on the fight for workers&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Canada\u2019s labour movement<\/span> is ripe for a resurgence after decades of stagnant wages\u2014not to mention the health-and-safety nightmare that was the pandemic. Leading the charge is Unifor, the country\u2019s largest private-sector union, which represents more than 315,000 employees. Recently, Unifor made headlines for its own internal conflict: in March, former president Jerry Dias was charged with a breach of Unifor\u2019s code of ethics after he allegedly accepted $50,000 from a Canadian supplier of COVID-19 rapid test kits and promoted the product to union employers. (Dias denies the allegations.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Restoring solidarity won\u2019t be easy for Lana Payne, but luckily it\u2019s one of her strong suits. In August, the 57-year-old activist, who previously served as Unifor\u2019s secretary-treasurer, was elected the organization\u2019s first female president and is, in her words, looking to \u201cturn the page.\u201d So far, that\u2019s meant recruiting members from growing industries, like electric vehicle production and warehousing, and pressing for wage hikes that match the <\/span>rapidly rising cost of living. Believe it or not, <span class=\"s2\">she\u2019s getting them. Here, Payne discusses her version of work-life balance and riding the new wave of worker action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>You initiated the external investigation into Jerry Dias after he allegedly accepted money to promote COVID tests to union employers. Take me through how that felt.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">I had a lot of feelings. After the initial shock of the complaint, it became pretty clear that the only way to go was to make sure I pro<\/span>tected the union. Unifor\u2019s creation in 2013 was an act of hope to build worker power. Accountability and transparency\u2014those principles are right in the preamble of our constitution. All of that flashed before my eyes.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>What made you decide to run for president?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">Well, a lot of people asked me to do it. I\u2019m an unconventional leader. For too long, the typical image of a union officer has been a loud man on one side of the bargaining table. I\u2019m a woman, and I have a different leadership style\u2014I work collaboratively with people. I also see it <\/span>as <span class=\"s3\">my responsibility to make sure workers are part of the economic and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> debates of the day. It\u2019s not enough for a union to just go in and bargain at specific workplaces. I learned early on while working <\/span>for the fisheries\u2019 union out east that if you want to make real change, you better<span class=\"s3\"> have political clout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>What does that clout look like, practically speaking?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">You have to know how to deal with politicians, whether they\u2019re Conservatives or New Democrats or Liberals or Greens. When I was federation president in St. John\u2019s, we had a Progressive Conservative government and we <i>still<\/i> made significant labour advances. In the mid-<span class=\"s3\">2000s, we led a massive campaign to increase the minimum wage. I think we saw a 67 per cent increase over five or six years. We also improved health and safety laws for the first time in 30 years. A lot of that is because I knew how to build a big tent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Didn\u2019t your interest in the labour movement come as a result of you getting fired?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">I was a very young journalist at the <i>St. John\u2019s Telegram<\/i>, just past probation, and I made an error in my reporting. I remember calling my dad that night very upset. I\u2019d lost my first real job. My dad said, \u201cDon\u2019t you have a union?\u201d He was a welder and a lifelong union member. I think I was the first person to file a grievance with the<i> Telegram<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Did you get your job back?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Yes. I covered the labour beat after that. I later got a call from the fisheries union, which offered me a job in communications. It was 1991, right before the fisheries crisis, which ended up being one of the biggest organizing feats in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador\u2014harvesters, plant workers and hundreds of communities under one union. It was a pivotal time in the province.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1241038\" style=\"width: 1358px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"wp-image-1241038 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WH_9598-e1665077463962.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1348\" height=\"1684\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photography by Wade Hudson)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>What makes this moment such a flashpoint for worker activism?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s3\">Every single day during the pandemic, we saw <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> stories about how we depend on workers to survive. For workers, there was a sense of, <i>I\u2019m valuable again.<\/i> But they weren\u2019t seeing that spill over in the form of compensation or improved working conditions. We still had frontline workers who\u2014let\u2019s face it\u2014were not being paid anywhere near what they were worth. The pandemic also topped off 40 years of wage stagnation and households needing two incomes to get by. Together, these things are a recipe for renewed worker militancy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Why have wage increases topped out at one per cent for nurses, given the national shortage? <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Because, in Ontario, Bill 124 limits wage increases for public-sector workers to that maximum. As a result, we\u2019re having a massive crisis around labour in health care\u2014and in education. It\u2019s a big mistake. Actually, that\u2019ll be one of the first things I raise with Doug Ford when we meet this fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>In the U.S., public support for unions is the highest it\u2019s been since 1965. People are taking on the likes of Amazon, Starbucks, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le, Google\u2014and they\u2019re winning.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It\u2019s definitely an organizing moment. It\u2019s happening in the U.K. with railway and dock workers, too. It\u2019s everywhere. Unifor just signed its first collective agreement with WestJet workers in Calgary and Vancouver. We\u2019re also seeing an increase in strike activity. Last year, Unifor had more disputes than in any year since 2013.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Do you see this momentum continuing?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">People say that Canada has a labour shortage. In some cases, it\u2019s a shortage of decent wages. And this unrest isn\u2019t going to change. \u201cBe satisfied with whatever crappy job we can offer you\u201d is not going to play anymore. If employers want to recruit and retain workers, they\u2019ve got to provide the kind of environment workers are asking for: higher wages, pensions, collective agreement. And respect, which is hard to negotiate for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Are there any workplace shifts that really surprise you?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">One thing I find really interesting is \u201cquiet quitting.\u201d Of course you don\u2019t want to have to answer emails for the rest of time, or work 20 minutes late every day for no extra pay. But quiet quitting is an individual response to an issue within the whole workplace. I\u2019m like, okay, well, that\u2019s great, but if you really want to exert proper workplace power, you do it collectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Would you say that you have work-life balance yourself? Do you <i>want<\/i> work-life balance?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">I don\u2019t want anyone to feel that they need to be like me, but I want to change the world. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to work 16-to-18-hour days to do that. I did take up walking during the pandemic, though. I go down by the water in Toronto, which, for an East Coaster, is good for the soul.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><b>Maybe running would be more your speed.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s2\">I walk fast. And, I did just run\u2014for president.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/the-interview\/lana-payne-workers-unions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Unifor&#8217;s Lana Payne is taking on the fight for workers&#8221; Canada\u2019s labour movement is ripe for a resurgence after decades of stagnant wages\u2014not to mention the health-and-safety nightmare that was the pandemic. Leading the charge is Unifor, the country\u2019s largest private-sector union, which represents more than 315,000 employees. Recently, Unifor made headlines for its own&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":500017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/WH_9521-e1665077572649-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[103541,14985],"class_list":["post-500016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-the-interview","tag-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}