Great issue! I think two additional factors are the reluctance of existing Canadian organized labour to prioritize digital tools and workplaces, and the lack of coverage in Canadian media. In the case of the former, this is changing, but I spent time in the 90s and 00s unsuccessfully trying to get more interest in this area from incumbent Canadian unions. In the case of the latter, in my adult lifetime, there has not only been minimal coverage of unions or labour issues, there has been consistent and outright hostility towards unions and labour issues in Canadian mainstream media.
I started looking into this, and I feel like there is a lot of misinformation and anti-union ideology floating around. I've heard things like unions will do nothing but try and maximize dues, cause tech companies to leave Canada, prevent competitive roles / salaries by pushing people to stay at one company, that people will be better off overall if they can stand on their own to set boundaries and negotiate, that we can't unionize since we don't have formal agreement on classifying what tech jobs are / what specifically constitutes being a junior vs a senior, etc.
We also don't always have access to good information about the state of things in Canada. I saw you mention the possibility that our strong healthcare system could be a contributing factor, and immediately questioned if you had ever worked in or even been to Canada. I have spent over a decade trying to access healthcare for various chronic health issues and have been consistently denied treatment. I did get psychiatric care through my University, but the public healthcare system just went from telling me that my constant physical pain wasn't real because I look fine to basically 'well you're just mentally ill'. Not that they will give me any access to care for the mental illness, since medications failed to help me. Combined with the exploitative practices and lack of enforcement of employee's rights in tech, as well as the desperation to keep my job and avoid homelessness, my entire life has been destroyed. Not an uncommon experience by any means, but one that is not usually seen or heard by those able to access a family doctor that can get them the care they need. I mention it here because I think there can be similar misunderstandings in what the experience of tech workers as a whole are. The more you are struggling, the harder it can be to have your experience heard. You also tend to have more to lose by becoming associated with unionization. Those who are doing okay are more likely to generalize their own experience, and have less reason to get involved with a union. Why risk what you have in order to unionize if you don't really need it.
I feel like our society shapes us to have a very individualistic perspective in general. This enables an environment where it is easier for those who would lose money by investing in healthcare or letting unions form to have their narrative and perspective dominate. Perspectives like enforcing employee's rights in tech will lead to all tech companies leaving Canada, everyone gets fired, our economy is destroyed! We are much better at focusing on how change could negatively impact us, and tend to prioritize that over how it could positively impact everyone.
Unions require us to come together despite our different circumstances. Our divisive and overly individual societal structure discourages that. It is extremely difficult to get people to come together for any cause, especially when many are struggling to pay the bills and feel like standing up for our rights (or even saying the word union in front of our employer) could result in us getting fired or blacklisted from the industry. If you are not in that type of situation and have less to gain from a union, why bother?
When I worked in media, the union at our shop was IBEW - the Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - headquartered in Philadelphia. I have to wonder if, like for so many other things, Canada becomes a branch plant for the American tech unions at some point. Re: Gig workers - any follow up on the Foodsters/Foodora story? Is that precedent setting for gig workers? - https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/gig-workers-win-right-unionize
Great issue! I think two additional factors are the reluctance of existing Canadian organized labour to prioritize digital tools and workplaces, and the lack of coverage in Canadian media. In the case of the former, this is changing, but I spent time in the 90s and 00s unsuccessfully trying to get more interest in this area from incumbent Canadian unions. In the case of the latter, in my adult lifetime, there has not only been minimal coverage of unions or labour issues, there has been consistent and outright hostility towards unions and labour issues in Canadian mainstream media.
I started looking into this, and I feel like there is a lot of misinformation and anti-union ideology floating around. I've heard things like unions will do nothing but try and maximize dues, cause tech companies to leave Canada, prevent competitive roles / salaries by pushing people to stay at one company, that people will be better off overall if they can stand on their own to set boundaries and negotiate, that we can't unionize since we don't have formal agreement on classifying what tech jobs are / what specifically constitutes being a junior vs a senior, etc.
We also don't always have access to good information about the state of things in Canada. I saw you mention the possibility that our strong healthcare system could be a contributing factor, and immediately questioned if you had ever worked in or even been to Canada. I have spent over a decade trying to access healthcare for various chronic health issues and have been consistently denied treatment. I did get psychiatric care through my University, but the public healthcare system just went from telling me that my constant physical pain wasn't real because I look fine to basically 'well you're just mentally ill'. Not that they will give me any access to care for the mental illness, since medications failed to help me. Combined with the exploitative practices and lack of enforcement of employee's rights in tech, as well as the desperation to keep my job and avoid homelessness, my entire life has been destroyed. Not an uncommon experience by any means, but one that is not usually seen or heard by those able to access a family doctor that can get them the care they need. I mention it here because I think there can be similar misunderstandings in what the experience of tech workers as a whole are. The more you are struggling, the harder it can be to have your experience heard. You also tend to have more to lose by becoming associated with unionization. Those who are doing okay are more likely to generalize their own experience, and have less reason to get involved with a union. Why risk what you have in order to unionize if you don't really need it.
I feel like our society shapes us to have a very individualistic perspective in general. This enables an environment where it is easier for those who would lose money by investing in healthcare or letting unions form to have their narrative and perspective dominate. Perspectives like enforcing employee's rights in tech will lead to all tech companies leaving Canada, everyone gets fired, our economy is destroyed! We are much better at focusing on how change could negatively impact us, and tend to prioritize that over how it could positively impact everyone.
Unions require us to come together despite our different circumstances. Our divisive and overly individual societal structure discourages that. It is extremely difficult to get people to come together for any cause, especially when many are struggling to pay the bills and feel like standing up for our rights (or even saying the word union in front of our employer) could result in us getting fired or blacklisted from the industry. If you are not in that type of situation and have less to gain from a union, why bother?
When I worked in media, the union at our shop was IBEW - the Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - headquartered in Philadelphia. I have to wonder if, like for so many other things, Canada becomes a branch plant for the American tech unions at some point. Re: Gig workers - any follow up on the Foodsters/Foodora story? Is that precedent setting for gig workers? - https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/gig-workers-win-right-unionize