As with many communities throughout B.C. these days, Squamish labour industries are feeling the pinch.
As the world slowly recovers from a pandemic-induced recession, skyrocketing inflation rates, costly real estate, and loss of big industry have made survival a battlefield for workers.
Labour strikes among various industries have recently been popping up all over the province.
Tuesday, BCGEU’s Public Service Bargaining Committee stood down its job action at BC Public Service worksites after getting back to talks with the BC Public Service Agency (PSA).
Earlier this year, Unifor was also able to make headway in their fight for wage increases, better pensions and benefits for part-time as well as full-time Sea to Sky transit employees.
Yet, the general fight for workers in these industries is nowhere near over. Employees in all labour industries feel the struggle to make ends meet in today’s climate, labour leaders say.
“They’re facing [the same problems] just like everybody else is,” said Rob Ashton, who represents International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU), which includes workers at Squamish Terminals.
“Inflation is hitting everybody in the pocketbook pretty severely.”
Ashton said that current wages do not compensate for the high cost of everyday living expenses such as fuel and food.
“For your average worker, the price of driving to work now … it’s almost not even worth the paycheque.”
Another looming concern is the cost of renting and buying homes in today’s market. Today, the goal of investing in property is becoming far less tangible.
“Right now, to buy a house, you got to be damn near a millionaire to get into the market,” said Ashton.
“People that are just trying to get into the market, it’s going to be impossible for them no matter what industry they live in or they work in. With interest rates going up, it’s going to make it even worse.”
“It’s a huge issue,” said Sylvia Fuller, a UBC professor of sociology whose research includes labour issues. “The housing costs have been just completely out of control for a very long time and the rental rates in Squamish are completely out of whack … with what’s affordable for people. So, yeah, it’s really a crisis situation on a lot of levels.”
In addition to being hit with the rising fuel and real estate costs, labourers in Squamish are also facing the loss of industries that once sustained their economy.
“A lot of that’s gone. And so… we have to be very careful with communities because if you take all the big industry out, then what are you left with? You’re left with, I don’t know what Canadian Tire pays now, but I’m sure it doesn’t pay me like Woodfibre [Pulp Mill] used to pay,” Ashton said.
In addition to losing big industries that once fuelled the economy, Squamish is also going to eventually face a wider issue that other communities within the same size category are coming up against: a population predominantly made up of retirees.
“We have that large bulk of people who are starting to transition out of the workforce and into retirement,” said Fuller.
COVID Factor
The pandemic has also added several layers to the problem.
“First, [there were] fewer folks coming in through the sort of immigration streams, while all those restrictions were in place with the pandemic,” Fuller said. “That’s a source [of the problem], for everybody to be replenishing the labour force.”
Further, the pandemic has weighed heavy on employers as well as employees. Over the past two years, COVID has caused major setbacks and roadblocks to business, affecting companies from top to bottom. The hardest hit being the small companies.
“Employers haven’t been willing or able to sort of really adjust to improve those working conditions to attract or retain their workers,” said Fuller. “Because, you know, they face those economic uncertainties as well.”
As a result, many employees left their workforces during the pandemic to go back to school and retrain for another industry.
“Those jobs were particularly disrupted,” Fuller said. “So you look around and you think … ‘OK, but suddenly my job got a lot more dangerous, more difficult [and] more insecure, because of the sort of uncertainties around demand and closures and all those kinds of things.”
Taking health care workers’ temperature
“Health care workers have been under a tremendous amount of strain over the last two and a half years because of the pandemic,” said Mike Old, co-ordinator of policy and planning with the Hospital Employees’ Union.
“That has exacerbated staffing shortages across the system.”
“Staffing is a really critical issue and there’s so many ways that we can address staffing shortages,” he added. “We need to make sure that we’ve got the kind of compensation packages in place that will keep workers in health care and attract the workers there. That’s how we can build our workforce for the future.”
Old said that injuries among healthcare workers are also a major concern within the industry.
“Healthcare workers experience some of the highest injury rates of any sector of the economy in British Columbia,” Old said. “And that’s especially true in extended care.”
Demanding solutions for workers
With today’s high cost of living and skyrocketing inflation rates, Squamish employees and union workers are calling for wage increases and improved working conditions and benefits.
“Employers have to pay more,” said Fuller. “The wages have to be better.”
Ashton says that corporations, particularly those that benefited from the pandemic, should be allowing those economic boosts felt by the companies to also go to all of the employees.
“There’s industries out there that are making [good profit] since COVID started for whatever reason, and others are taking the hit.”
Old said that healthcare unions are asking for wage increases among healthcare staff as they look for ways to maintain staff, a discussion that is part of a larger province-wide collective bargaining.
“Health care workers are looking for solutions to the retention crisis,” he said. “Like, will there be more staffing or will there be higher rates of compensation, the kind of compensation that will attract more people to the sector?”
Old said that there have been positive advancements made in his industry recently, however. When the B.C. government made a commitment to bring healthcare workers back to the public sector in August 2021 after a period of privatization, employees in the industry were able to receive better wages and benefits in improved working conditions.
“At Squamish [General Hospital] and Hilltop [House], food service workers were brought back in-house in July, and the housekeeping staff are going to be brought back in October,” he said. “That’s a big deal; reversing privatization, bringing wages and working conditions for those workers into line with other health care workers.”
Although some improvements have been made, Old said more work could be done to reduce levels of injuries to healthcare workers. Hiring more staff is one way to prevent injuries.
“We need to make sure that we’ve got the training programs in place so that people can kind of train up to be health care workers, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a while to train a health care worker. So those are the main things to do, and that’s how we will deal with the high levels of burnout our members are facing.”
Old said that information received from recent polls taken among members revealed that one out of three healthcare workers is considering leaving healthcare in the next two years due to stress from the pandemic.
“It’s a serious problem,” he said.
“Workers in Squamish … they have got to demand more,” said Ashton.
“Don’t be ashamed of it. Don’t be afraid of it. A worker’s value is what they provide to the community.”
Editor's note: This story is a special feature in honour of Labour Day, which is on Sept. 5.
