January 7, 2011 - Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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Protecting the Labour Rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in a Globalized World quarter of 2010 bringing output closer to its 2008 levels. What this tells us is Vale achieved what it appears it has wanted – a non-union shop in a certified workplace. Vale Production/Voisey’s Bay UptoQ32010 2009 2008 2007 (000metrictons) Nickel 17 40 78 59 Copper 17 24 55 42 Cobalt .235 .971 1.695 1.239 Source:ValeProductionReportavailableatVale.com Profits Surge as NL Workers’ Share Falls In his book Economics for Everyone, Jim Stanford notes that “the employment relationship reflects an inherent asymmetry between workers and employers. Individual workers need a job to support themselves and their families. Their work choices may be limited by unemployment, labour market segmentation, or a shortage of alternative employers (especially in smaller communities). An employer, on the other hand, can easily replace any individual worker (unless they possess some very special skill). So at the individual level, workers need their employer a lot more than their employer needs them.” In other words, the imbalance in power between workers and their employers is a byproduct of this fundamental and inherent employment relationship. But as Stanford explains collectively employers depend on their workforce to perform all or most of the work required for a private company to operate and generate profits. Workers realized very early in the history of capitalism that they could make gains by combining forces to take advantage of this bargaining power, and negotiate collectively for better wages and working conditions. It is difficult (although not impossible as Vale proved throughout the Voisey’s Bay strike) for an employer to Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour Page 27
Protecting the Labour Rights of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in a Globalized World replace their whole workforce at once. Therefore, workers have much more clout dealing with their employer collectively rather than one at a time. And while early efforts to organize unions met with often ruthless opposition, by the mid 20 th century unions had won broad appeal and acceptance This started to change with neoliberalism. “Business has returned to a more confrontational attitude, and has been working hard to undermine the power of unions ever since,” says Stanford. “The legal, economic, and cultural environment facing unions has become hostile in most capitalist countries. The experience has been worse in the US, where unionization has been slipping steadily; unions there now represent barely one-tenth of the workforce, largely explaining why America’s economy has become the most lopsided toward business of all the developed countries.” Stanford goes on to argue that globalization and the rise of MNCs has meant that this imbalance or asymmetry in power is even greater than before, thanks to the extra flexibility, diversification, and mobility which is accorded to corporations. In the past, when a company depended on the revenue and/or output from one particular facility, the workers could try to level the bargaining field by unionizing. Today, a company like Vale can survive for long periods of time without revenue or output from any particular plant – and there’s no realistic hope that workers can band together across borders to impose a larger cost of disagreement on the employer and thus correct somewhat this imbalance in power. That’s why we get very long strikes/lockouts like this one, where the employer is clearly on the offensive, and willing and able to wait out the workers for very long periods of time. This imposes large costs not just on the workers, but on the whole community and the regional and provincial economies. In addition, it creates huge divisions in communities when neighbours are sought out and used as replacement workers against neighbours. We must all understand the incredible potential for volatility that such circumstances can perpetuate. Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour Page 28
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January 7, 2011 - Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

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