Everyone is talking about the future of work and most of it is alarming. A growing number of workers face the harsh reality of working in non-unionized, temporary and precarious conditions.
Young graduates, burdened by massive university debts, enter an uncertain world of chasing contracts. Established professionals, with no health care benefits, live in fear of a simple illness derailing their career. Long-term professionals bitterly joke that death is their retirement plan. And they all live with a deep sense of isolation and loneliness that comes from facing these struggles without a community behind them.
As labour unionists, we stand at a crossroads. How will we respond to these conditions?
Delegates of the 2018 PIPSC AGM will be voting on a Board resolution for the establishment of Professionals Canada — a new labour organization to continue the Institute’s 100-year tradition of building communities that act collectively to improve professionals’ lives.
Professionals Canada, a separate entity from PIPSC, will bring together a community of Canadian non-unionized professionals in the private sector to address the common challenges they face. It will be a place for:
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Community: a shared space to connect and grow.
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Benefits: a collective approach to purchasing affordable benefits for professionals and their families.
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Advice: a source of expert knowledge and specialized advice to deal with challenges at work.
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Advocacy: a strong, credible voice speaking out for workers' rights in the new economy.
Professionals Canada will seek a new member base in a rapidly growing sector. It will give us a stronger voice in multiple jurisdictions. PIPSC will become the go-to source for issues related to professionals, gain greater credibility with decision-makers, and we will be innovators inside and outside the house of labour.
Thanks to the legacy and power that we have built as a union in the past hundred years, we are uniquely positioned to take on this new challenge — and with only positive impacts on the services to PIPSC members.
The changes in the new economy should not mean the end of union-made progress on issues we care about. We just have to be agile enough to build a new model of unionism for the next hundred years.
This is one of the greatest labour causes of our time. Delegates like you are standing at a crossroads that will define the legacy of our union.
If you have more questions about Professionals Canada, please read the Questions and Answers section: http://pipsc.ca/about/governance/agm/2018/q-professionals-canada.
Do you think Professionals Canada should be part of PIPSC's future?