As we near the end of 2023, residents of the NWT have a lot to reflect on.
This year wasn’t exactly the relaxing recovery period we all hoped it would be coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Natural disasters and economic inflation have been steadily pushing the cost of living in the North to new heights — and beyond reach for some.
Recruitment and retention issues are hitting every sector in the NWT. Workers are weighing the pros and cons of staying in the North; cost of living, wages and job security, quality of life, and healthy work environments are all factors that workers consider when deciding do I stay or do I go?
It’s important to take stock of the negative experiences that we’ve endured, as we can hopefully learn from them. But it’s just as important to acknowledge the positive side of the challenges we’ve faced, and will likely continue to face in the coming years.
It’s through these challenges that we discover and realize our strengths.
For example, when I look back at what the labour movement achieved this year, I am proud of what we have accomplished and hopeful for the future of workers as a whole.
After years of anti-union sentiment in workplaces and in Western society in general, the pandemic helped many workers realize their value and understand their worth. Workers are not disposable, and they deserve to make a fair wage that reflects the cost of living.
So rather than return to the exploitative status quo, workers started 2023 with a renewed sense of purpose — feeling empowered and ready to stand up for our rights.
Workers in Yellowknife were among the first to start what would become a rising tide of pro-labour action across Canada and all over the world. The month-long City of Yellowknife strike helped set the tone for what would be a difficult, but ultimately rewarding year of bargaining. City workers said ‘no more’ to a disrespectful employer, and walked off the job in the middle of an especially cold winter.
Workers at Avens then ramped up their mobilization by voting in favour of strike action, which forced their employer to come back to the table with a better deal that respected the important work our members do caring for some of our most vulnerable residents and their families.
Natural disasters couldn’t stop our members either. Hay River health workers spent the summer mobilizing and gaining support during a full-scale evacuation. When the wildfire evacuation interrupted their bargaining process, our members responded loud and clear that despite everything they’d been through, they were still ready and willing to fight for better working conditions and better healthcare for their community.
This is all just a small but mighty fraction of what the labour movement has been accomplishing this year. We’ve seen massive strikes by our federal public service, B.C. port workers, the U.K.’s National Health Service, Hollywood writers and actors and, most recently, over 500,000 Quebec public service workers. And that’s just to name a few! There have been so many job actions this year that ‘strikes in 2023’ has its own Wikipedia page.
‘Grind’ culture is being replaced by ‘strike’ culture, as unionized workers have been walking off the job in historic numbers to demand wages and benefits that reflect the value of the work they do. It’s work that people often take for granted until we suddenly can’t access our favourite activities or we run out of sugar.
Here in the North, the strength and resilience of our workers speaks to how we do things and who we are. We answer the call, we stand up for each other, we help each other out, and we work together because we know that we are stronger together.
The word ‘solidarity’ gets used a lot in the labour movement, and sometimes words start to lose their meaning when we see them all the time. This truly was a year of solidarity. For me, the word carries renewed significance and will be what I think of when I look back on the events of 2023.
On behalf of the Union of Northern Workers, I’d like to wish all Northerners a peaceful holiday season. We have overcome many challenges together, and we will continue to stand in solidarity as we look to whatever 2024 has in store for us.