The Importance of Unions in Reducing Racial Inequality

The Centre for Future Work has released new research regarding union coverage and wages across different racialized categories of Canadian workers. The report also contains a review of efforts by Canadian unions to improve their representation of Black and racialized workers, and recommendations for strengthening the union movement’s practices.

The research confirms that racialized workers are under-represented in unions. New Statistics Canada data, which now disaggregates statistics on employment, wages, and union status according to a set of racialized categories, indicates that racialized workers are significantly less likely to be represented by a union or covered by a union contract. This lack of collective bargaining power contributes to racial gaps in job quality, wages, and employment benefits.

In 2022, racialized workers earned hourly wages almost 10 percent lower than non-racialized workers – and were 8 percentage points less likely to be covered by a union contract. Only one-quarter of racialized workers are covered by a union contract, compared to one-third of non-racialized workers. The gap is even worse for racialized women, reflecting the intersectional barriers they face in accessing decent work – and achieving collective representation to fight for improvements.

The correlation between lower union coverage and lower wages confirms unions need to become more effective at organizing with racialized workers, and engaging with them in collective action for better jobs and better pay. For that to occur, however, unions need to become more visible and more consistent in fighting for racial equality in everything they do: from organizing campaigns, to collective bargaining, to union education, to leadership development, and grassroots community engagement.

This report also shares insights from interviews with fifteen experienced racialized trade unionists, that shed important light on the experiences of racialized workers organizing within unions. These interviews reveal a mixture of hope and frustration: hope that unions can and must be vehicles for racial equality and overall economic justice, but frustration that negative attitudes, inertia, and systemic racism within unions hold back the labour movement’s engagement with anti-racism struggles.

The simple math of Canada’s labour force cannot be denied: if unions cannot become more representative of the growing racialized segment of Canadian workers, their power will inevitably shrink in future years. But to succeed in organizing among racialized workers, and lifting their wages, job quality, and living standards, unions must act as vehicles of racial justice at the same time as they fight for better jobs and wages. From the interviews, and a survey of research and documents on previous union anti-racist initiatives, the report identifies several best practices which can strengthen unions’ racial justice work – and enhance their visibility and credibility among racialized workers.

The report concludes with several recommendations for specific initiatives and reforms so that Canadian unions can rise to the challenge of organizing and mobilizing with racialized workers in the struggle for both better jobs and a racially inclusive and equitable society. The fundamental conclusion of this report is that those two struggles are inseparable.

Please see the full report, The Importance of Unions in Reducing Racial Inequality: New Data and Best Practices, by Winnie Ng, Salmaan Khan, and Jim Stanford.

This report was prepared as part of the Centre for Future Work’s PowerShare program, in partnership with the Atkinson Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.