Why is the Ford government suddenly raising wages and helping vulnerable workers? There’s a good reason — we’ve seen this before

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/11/2021 (1052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

First the good news: Ontario’s Conservatives have announced they are raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour on Jan. 1 for all classes of minimum wage workers. That’s a much better idea than the 10-cent increase announced a month ago.

And last week they introduced an omnibus bill called the Working For Workers Act that identifies serious issues faced by exploited and vulnerable workers. This includes wage theft; no washroom breaks for workers; noncompete clauses; and being endlessly tethered to work via your phone.

Good for them to remember they create the rules for everyone, including the worst off and those who exploit them. Kudos for tackling issues that even progressive governments have not yet put on their agenda.

Like their federal counterparts, the Ford government surprised many with this sudden pro-worker shift. The federal Conservatives too, under Erin O’Toole, delivered a pleasant surprise in the last election by identifying major inadequacies in the federal income support programs and proposing solutions. Not all were workable (for example, raising EI income replacement rates to 75 per cent during a recession by using the Sahm Rule for measuring when a region is in recession), but they were creative, and spoke to the failure of the current system to reach enough people.

But what triggered this sudden concern?

My theory is that, faced with elections and the need to broaden their voter base, conservatives in Canada, the U.S. and Europe have embraced a populism that woos the lumpenproletariat. That’s the part of the working class that doesn’t want to be unionized or work in solidarity with others.

This genre of populism first defines, then cashes in, on grievance politics, and channels the discontent of the self-identified “left-behinds” into boutique measures. Kind of like the boutique tax cuts at the end of the last big populist conservative wave. Similarly ineffective and not about system change, this style of politicking is all about the niche.

And while it’s good at identifying problems that need to be solved, it often doesn’t follow through with the tough new regulations and enforcement that are required to effect real change.

To some extent it’s not what’s being said, but who’s saying it. But do pay attention to what’s being said.

While the right to disconnect is nice, this law puts the onus on the worker to trigger good human resource practices. People with precarious work or new hires are unlikely to put themselves in that position. Similarly, stepping up scrutiny of temp agencies and inspection of long-term care homes is nice, but inspectors aren’t given the clout to charge fines. Ending noncompete laws is nice, but noncompete laws aren’t widespread in Canada and haven’t stood up in court anyway. The right to pee is important, but for heaven’s sake how did we get to a place where workers have to pee in bottles while delivering food or working in a warehouse anyway? This law doesn’t begin to deal with what could be done to stop such workplace practices. For what could be a real solution, see California.

Also, pay attention to what isn’t being said.

Mum’s the word on misclassification of workers, the essence of the fight that Uber keeps losing in courts around the world. Their workers are their employees. But without being classified as employees, they can’t access employment standards or income supports. And what about 10 paid sick days, still MIA despite 20 months of living through a pandemic?

And let’s not forget what preceded this sudden pro-worker stance.

Earlier in their tenure, Ontario’s Conservatives stopped a scheduled minimum wage increase to $15 in 2019; cut 10 sick days (of which two would have been paid sick days) to three unpaid days; and capped nurses’ wage increases to an average $1 an hour — amidst a pandemic and understaffing that is leading to serious burnout.

At the federal level, Bill 377, introduced by Harper’s Conservatives, would have wrapped unions in red tape, invaded the privacy of millions of individual union members, and stymied workers’ ability to organize. (It was one of the first pieces of legislation to be overturned by the Liberal government after winning the 2015 election.)

Notwithstanding all this, “Working for Workers” truly is good news. The Conservatives have read the room. Labour shortages are real, and here to stay. Much of the labour market has been undervalued for decades. That’s about to change. As bargaining power changes, so too do the political tactics on who to court and how. The political terrain has shifted, for everyone.

Few people are content to simply return to what we had in February 2020. The pandemic revealed the shock of what is, and unleashed a hunger for could be: a more equitable economy and more aspirational governance.

It’s now a race to the top for conservatives and progressives. Look at what provincial Liberals offered with their 10 paid sick days legislation, or the NDP’s proposed law to prevent misclassification of workers. Better is so very possible.

What “Working for Workers” makes clear is that we are now firmly in election season in Ontario. That means the beauty contest of ideas is on. May the best ideas win.

Armine Yalnizyan is a leading voice in Canada’s economic scene and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers. She is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star’s Business section. Follow her on Twitter: @ArmineYalnizyan