Racialized workers in Canada less likely to be covered by union: report

The report by the Centre for Future Work found that a quarter of racialized workers are covered by a union contract, compared with one third of non-racialized workers.

Black and racialized workers in Canada are less likely to be represented by a union, according to a new report.

The report released Tuesday by the Centre for Future Work found that a quarter of racialized workers are covered by a union contract, compared with one third of non-racialized workers. The gap was even wider for racialized women.

“Racialized workers have not benefited from unionization to the same degree as other workers, and they need unions as much or more than other workers,” said Jim Stanford, economist, director of the Centre for Future Work and a co-author of the report.

Statistics Canada only recently started collecting the more detailed labour force data that made this report possible, said Stanford.

Hourly pay for racialized workers was almost 10 per cent lower than non-racialized workers in 2022, the report said, again with a wider gap for racialized women.

“The correlation between lower union coverage and lower wages confirms that unions need to become more effective at organizing with racialized workers, and engaging with them in collective action for better jobs and better pay,” the report said.

“For that to occur, however, unions need to become more visible and more consistent in fighting for racial equality in everything they do: from organizing campaigns, to collective bargaining, to union education, to leadership development, and grassroots community engagement.”

A major factor contributing to the underrepresentation of Black and racialized workers in the union movement is the sectors in which they are more likely to work, said report co-author Winnie Ng, a labour activist and former Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Toronto Metropolitan University.