LABOR STUDIES
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The article, Social unionism, Partnership, and Conflict is a crucial paper for discussing the story of union engagement with the Canadian’s Aboriginal peoples. About the Aboriginals’ struggles in the Canadians land, the article is thus essential to reveal such history that is important to the Aboriginals, native Canadians, and many other people. Therefore, this paper aims to reveal critical information that concerns Aboriginals in Canada. Such information concerns their struggles, especially for their freedom, in which they faced some discrimination from the natives.
The explanation of the Aboriginals’ engagement in the unions is critical to explain the reasons why the Aboriginals joined the Unions. That was to seek their freedom. Aboriginals and the gender minority groups suffered severe racism in the labor market and frequent segregation in major jobs. On jobs, they faced discrimination despite their qualifications, and the best positions were, therefore, for the natives. Thus, their engagement in the union was crucial to redeem them from mistreatments. These unions and some recent ones have been crucial to enlightening the Aboriginals about their importance in society and why they should enjoy the same rights as the natives, especially in the labor market.[1] The unions have also been influential in defending the Aboriginals, and it is, therefore, one reason the Aboriginals continue to see some light.
The unions into which the Aboriginals joined became an enemy of the natives and the colonial government. That is because the unions strengthened the Aboriginals, thus causing decolonization. The union also helped form a template of what should be expected of the gender groups. So, those groups could yearn for their rights against the colonizers’ will. The unions also saw the indigenous issues as tangential to workers’ struggles, so the unions strived to ensure the workers were free from labor discrimination. Also, the natives were problematic to minorities’ success as they feared that by Aboriginals joining unions such as labor unions, they would become economically strong. Therefore, they may overcome the natives. Also, by joining the unions and other groups, the natives may improve their awareness. Consequently, they may easily reject all plans by the natives and the governments that subjected them to oppression. Thus, the Canadian union model was critical to decolonization for the Aboriginals.
In that sense, the union model became an ally of the minorities but an enemy of the colonizers and indigenous who were keen to oppress the minority groups. The employers also disliked the unions as they felt that the unions would tamper with their autonomy. That means that the employers would have little control over the minority groups; therefore, they can’t continue dictating jobs, especially who takes what positions or gets employed. The government also felt that the unions were a source of interference to their autonomy. The government may find it hard to control these groups once they become energized by realizing their rights and rallying together against the government controls.
The unions were also important not only to minority groups but also to Canadian natives. That is because the unions also presented the interests of the natives and so they could continue enjoying their rights. For example, the unions advocated for equal employment rights for the indigenous as well as better pay. Thus, the unions were not only useful to the gender and sexual groups but also indigenous Canadians. Thus, the unions were important to all, which strengthened their establishment, making them essential for reconciling the natives and many minority groups. Thus, with reconciliation, decolonization also becomes possible.
The article “We Are Family” by Hunt and Eaton is key to providing information about gender and sexual minorities’ needs. The article is also crucial in revealing the struggles these minority groups underwent under the groups’ hands perceived as significant. History about black workers and women is also vivid in this article, which is crucial information as black workers and the women formed the groups perceived as inferior. Therefore, this article aims at disclosing the problems the minority groups underwent in the Canadian land under the hands of the government and other groups perceived as superior ones.
Thus, one should note that in the 20th century, most of the Canadian response to minority groups was hostile. The gays, bisexuals, and transgender, among other minority groups, faced many challenges due to Canadians’ oppression.[2] Thus, any individual who was ‘out’ in any way faced severe marginalization. The same marginalization was evident in labor employment. For instance, in post Second World War, the marginalization was apparent in jobs offering in which the minority groups could not be guaranteed employment in the many jobs available. Others ended up fired immediately after realized that they were from minority groups. Such discrimination was high that it reached a point in which investigations followed, and lists of people suspected to be gays, lesbians, and other unwanted groups were taken. For instance, in 1968, about 9000 people were listed as GLBT, which showed the matter’s intensity in society.
However, with the emergence of the unions, the gays, lesbians, and other minority groups began seeing a glimmer of light. These unions were vital as they helped the groups realize their rights and arm together to demand their rights. Thus, with the emergence of unions, the minority groups could easily demand better jobs as they realized their contribution to the labor market was crucial. Women’s and black workers groups seeking equity were important to set the way for other sexual minorities and many women to realize their rights and demand them. In the unions for women, many minority groups learned about many issues that became core to start their unions. For example, lesbians learned about their rights from women’s unions and easily formed associations that fought for their rights. Therefore, it was easy for many minority groups to acquire knowledge about survival as the women’s unions formed templates to follow minority groups’ rights. Thus, it was from the knowledge that the women’s rights movement that other minority unions’ groups were able to advance.
The constitution was also essential to protect the interest of all minority groups. For example, the lesbian and gay activists working in the labor movements ensured there was a representation of their fellow people’s rights in the constitution. Therefore, from such efforts, the minority began enjoying some of their rights earlier on denied. However, it was all not easy as the unions also faced opposition from the government and some Canadian natives who considered continuing colonizing such groups. The constitution approaches were also crucial to helping unions internalize ideas concerning Charter Values and Charter Rights. The constitution contained the rights of Canadians that also included respect for human. From such understanding of the constitution, the discriminated sexual and gender groups also sought the same rights. Where their interests weren’t included in the constitution, through their unions, they agitated for them. The Canadian Charter of Rights was also crucial for the development of minority groups. That is because the Rights’ Charter guarantees equality rights among other rights, and therefore the discriminated groups could now understand those rights.
However, among the minority groups, only the transgender have been facing the most challenges. That is not because the issues affecting the transgender are different from those of the other minority groups, but there haven’t strong vocal organizations to pass their grievances. Gender issue unions have also been slow to include transgender issues; thus, the issues are still in the formative processes of being included well in the constitution and gender issues by unions. Therefore, it doesn’t mean that transgender issues are different from other gender issues, but these issues only seem new to society.
Finally, the two articles are crucial in disclosing the discrimination that Aboriginals and some minority groups suffered in the Canadian land. Such biases were evident by the natives against the Aboriginals and the superiorly perceived groups against ones viewed as inferior. Thus, the two articles relate to each other in that they show discriminatory challenges that the Aboriginals and all minority groups faced in the Canadian land. Similarly, the articles also reveal the role of labor unions and other unions crucial to deliberating the Aboriginals and the minority groups from the yolk of oppression. Thus, the articles are crucial to disclose the most relevant history concerning Canadians.
Bibliographies
Hunt, Gerald, and Jonathan Eaton. “We are family: Labour responds to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers.” Equity, diversity, and Canadian labor (2007): 130-55.
Mills, Suzanne, and Tyler McCreary. “Social unionism, partnership, and conflict: Union engagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.” Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada. Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing (2012).
[1] Mills, Suzanne, and Tyler McCreary. “Social unionism, partnership, and conflict: Union engagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.” Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada. Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing (2012).
[2] Hunt, Gerald, and Jonathan Eaton. “We are family: Labour responds to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers.” Equity, diversity, and Canadian labor (2007): 130-55.