DECEMBER 2023 5 THE COST OF STRIKES Canada has seen its fair share of strikes lately—from auto workers, port workers, and federal workers related to passport renewals and immigration applications, to grocery store workers and liquor and lotteries in Manitoba. Ignoring any still ongoing strikes—some strikes lasted months, while others went on for weeks, some for days—each impacted more than just the two sides arguing over an issue. We’re not here to argue who’s right and who’s wrong. We can, however, examine how a strike can negatively affect Canada. The first thing we might ask, since we are an association of retailers, is just what is going on with all these strikes? It should be pretty obvious, but 99.9999 percent of the time it revolves around money, or rather, a perceived lack of it. Are people greedy? Yes, as a species, human beings can be greedy, with some of us always wanting to be more equal than others. Without going into specifics about how much money some striking entities earn at an hourly rate and are looking to make, let’s see why strikes are in vogue in the 2020s. More Money, Please While the word “please” may not enter into a Canadian strike discussion as often as it should, a glance at our Canadian economy shows that people don’t have enough money. 1. They don’t have enough money to keep up with the cost of living increases. 2. They don’t have enough money for affordable housing. 3. They don’t have enough money for food. All three of these points impact or have impacted the agricultural sector in Canada. Coincidentally, these issues have all arisen following the COVID-19 pandemic. Okay, maybe it’s not all that coincidental. Aside from applying better personal hygiene practices and learning not to mess with Mother Nature, what lessons can we take home from the pandemic? Plenty, as it turns out. Cost-of-living? Sure, there’s the increase for the price of fuel for your vehicles, heat for your homes, electricity during the summer AC months, and the price of food, seed, and fertilizer for your day job. Strikes—the cost of doing business Another strike means another disruption to the way Canada does business. A look at how legal strikes impact our country. By Andrew Joseph, Editor nobtis/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo In the post-COVID era, workers will go on strike or quit if they feel they are being taken advantage of.
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