La Presse’s chief editorialist recently blasted unions for spending money for political purposes, echoing the regressive arguments of employers and the CAQ’s youth wing. The fact is, if we want to defend our rights, we have to go on the offensive. That includes the right to accurate and reliable information—which doesn’t mean accepting obtuse opinions spouted by ill-informed columnists and editorialists. The role of the media isn’t to parrot the messaging of employers and their lackeys.

The role of unions is spelled out in section 1 of the Labour Code: “a group of employees constituted as a professional syndicate, union, brotherhood or otherwise, having as its objects the study, safeguarding and development of the economic, social and educational interests of its members and particularly the negotiation and application of collective agreements.”

The CSN fights daily precisely to improve the economic and social conditions of its members. We act on two fronts: first, by negotiating working conditions and applying collective agreements; and secondly, by taking political action to improve living conditions for all. Both fronts are essential to our work as a union—for workers do not live in a silo cut off from the rest of the world. They are also citizens, full members of Québec society who enrich it by participating in its democratic life. Though the government tries to isolate them, the 40% of Québec workers who are unionized are an integral part of our collective life.

In 2019, François Legault declared that “surpluses belong to Quebecers; they don’t belong to pressure groups, they don’t belong to the unions.” As if the employers’ associations, private businesses and multinationals weren’t powerful lobbies with enormous resources. Since then, there has been an escalation of union-bashing rhetoric on all sides, including articles in the mainstream media that betray a dismal ignorance of our role and the differences between union organizations.

The CAQ’s divide-and-conquer strategy has paid off so far. In recent years, we have been hit by a flood of anti-union and anti-worker legislation. We have a duty to fight back!

Those who want to shut unions out of political life don’t understand the role of a union. Their vision dehumanizes workers. As CSN president Caroline Senneville put it, “Workers are not robots that can be turned off after their shift.” We aren’t living in the dystopian series Severance, where workers forget everything when they leave the job and go home. Our living and working conditions are inextricably linked, whatever some editorialists may think.

We are in a time of crisis. Social rights are being eroded south of the border and we see the same trend setting in here. The government needs scapegoats to justify its regressive policies. Attacking us deflects attention from increasingly fascistic policies aimed at excluding immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, women and the working class from public discourse. Meanwhile, the broligarchs are getting richer, the middle class and the poorest are getting poorer, lockouts are multiplying, anti-immigrant laws are proliferating, and the media are promoting legislation that limits workers’ rights.

So what are they afraid of? Our power as workers. Historically, we have fought together in solidarity and achieved major social progress, from abortion rights, pay equity and parental leave to immigrant rights and the creation of the public daycare network. We know these gains are never guaranteed; politicians will do what they can to roll them back. The Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain–CSN is fighting back to protect the rights of all Québec workers.

By the way, workers at many major media outlets are unionized. That includes journalists. Their collective agreements guarantee their professional autonomy, among other rights. Negotiating those agreements is one way unions defend press freedom. But we have also fought, and continue to fight, politically to safeguard the future of media—particularly at this time, when they are under assault from all-consuming foreign online platforms.

Chantal Ide

General Secretary, CCMM-CSN