End Exploitation of the Canadian Working Class

In any country, the economy is the backbone of society. The methods people use to buy and sell commodities amongst themselves determines how people work and how much workers get paid. For instance, if sales are made by merchants with the goal of making as much profit as possible, then the entire society will be geared towards making a profit in the people’s dealings with each other. This in turn determines working and pay conditions for the workers, because the employers will be trying to maximize profits. The way the employers maximize their profits in such a country is obvious: They pay the workers as little as possible. This is what happens in any capitalist society. And it is a perfect illustration of what goes on in Canada.

This is not some farfetched, off-kilter theory. It is what they teach in economics 101 in university. The philosopher Karl Marx wrote about it 150 years ago. And this reality directly effects you the blue collar worker, because you are the one selling your labour as a commodity on the open market in order to make a living. You have no choice but to accept the going price for that commodity, because your employer is the one with the money. And that means he is the one who can choose how much he pays his employees. If you don’t like it, he’ll find someone else who doesn’t mind selling his labour for a low price. It is a lopsided system with the ones owning the capital who are on top and who get to control everything in this country’s society, from wages, to job availability and to working conditions.

As an employee you’re selling your labour on your job - and that is what your job is, you selling your labour. You might be making 1,000$ a week, or 25$ an hour. Seems like a fairly decent salary, right? But in a lot of cases in your average company the owner and all his board of directors are getting at least 100 times that amount by simply managing the paperwork. They can do this because their average employee, the guy doing all the actual work, like you, is getting paid less money than what the product of his work generates. The value of your work could be worth only a small amount more than what you get paid. You might make 1,000$ a week, which is a loss for the owner. But your work generates a value of 1,100$. The extra 100$ of profit is pocketed by the owner of the company. But there might be 1,000 employees in the company doing the kind of work you do at the same pay. So, if your work has a surplus value of 100$, the owner of the company makes 100,000$ a week off his employees. This is how profit is generated in a capitalist economic system such as our own. This process is how the economy is kept thriving and humming along.

The workers should get a bigger share of the profits. This could be given to them, not necessarily in the form of a direct monetary payout, but in the form of better medical coverage, vacation time, job security and better working conditions.

Unions have the power to help average workers acquire these benefits, because there is power in numbers. A large union like the Blue Collar Union of Canada once everyone joins will be the most powerful union ever formed in this country, and one of the strongest anywhere at anytime. It is time that the blue collar workers of this country threw their weight behind something like this and used their numbers to their advantage. It is time that we, the ones in the blue collar sector took things into our own hands and united to get the rewards we deserve for our hard work and dedication to our jobs.

Remember “POWER TO THE CANADIAN WORKERS!!!” When you see that slogan online you’ll know that all you have to do is sign up and contribute to the cause for a nationwide union that includes people just like you.