The working class has undergone many changes over the past few decades, manufacturing and resource industry jobs in Canada are being destroyed in the chaos of a globalized capitalist economy. With this we are seeing all time lows in the rate of unionized workers in the labour force. A major factor in the decline of […]

The working class has undergone many changes over the past few decades, manufacturing and resource industry jobs in Canada are being destroyed in the chaos of a globalized capitalist economy. With this we are seeing all time lows in the rate of unionized workers in the labour force. A major factor in the decline of a broadly organized working class is the shift in the kinds of jobs that workers are finding as they enter the workforce, or re-enter after their jobs disappear.

The fact is that the largest sector of employment in Canada is the service sector. This is a broad classification that includes work ranging from teaching to nursing to food service and the retail trade. While the first two reflect industries that have a high level of unionization, the last two reflect the lowest rate. At the same time, job creation is not being seen in such “professional” classifications as teaching and health care, it is happening in such places as call centres, restaurants and retail shops. More and more these are becoming not just the “mom and pop” type shops with small employment of 2 or 3 people, they are employers of 25, 50, or even hundreds of employees. Chains like Starbucks, Home Depot, Ikea, etc reflect the trend in the industry, corporations which operate in many different markets here at home, and around the world. These employers book obscenely huge profits, while relying on punitive minimum wage rates, the elimination of full time, or even consistent part- time employment, and benefits packages that are a cost burden to employees (if they even manage to qualify for them).

These workplaces can be said to be the new factory, factories which produce, not services and goods, but cash for the Bourgeois owners. But whereas the traditional jobs of the working class showed high rates of union organization, the workers in the service industries lack such protection. The Bourgeoisie have only ever been interested in job creation if it increases the capacity for profit, and they have achieved a great coup against the working class by shifting employment away from unionized, organized, shops. Their goal is to rid themselves of the last constraint on their profit taking.

Loomis Art Store – A Victory for Retail Workers

The recent victory at Loomis Art Store in Vancouver sets a precedent and draws a very clear line in the sand. As a growing chain of art supply retail shops, Loomis Art Store (aka “Omer Deserres”, and soon to be simply “Deserres”) is quickly becoming an international player. The company is spreading west and east. From Ontario and Quebec, to stores in Vancouver and soon in Edmonton; to the Maritimes as well as in Halifax. But they are not content to stop there. In true form, they have recently purchased a chain of stores in France, which too will fly the banner of “Deserres.” What began as a small retailer of hardware 100 years ago has now become a global retailer of art supplies.

How have they achieved their growth? At the expense of the workers. The Vancouver store on Main Street used to be a locally owned shop, called Bensons Graphics. The workers there (some of whom still retain their jobs at Loomis) were generally paid better because of the level of knowledge, skill and training involved in providing customer support and service in an art supply store. When bought out by Omer Deserres Inc., and after the name was changed to “Loomis Art Store” (as the company is known in Ontario), the first item of business was to cap wages, and hire new staff on at the minimum rate, creating a two tiered wage structure that still exists today. The new owners attempted to increase profit by decreasing the labour costs of the business.

That brings us to the present day at Loomis Art Store in Vancouver. Having secured greater profit at the expense of decent wages, the company set it sights on downsizing the current operation. Loomis operates a wholesale and account customer component. Being a worker at Loomis for over a year and a half now I have seen big shifts take place in how the company does business. When I first started at the Main Street location our wholesale and accounts customers were serviced locally, and we had a large warehouse component, and a phone sales department dedicated to serving these customers. But not for long. Approximately 6 months ago the regional manager came to town from Toronto, heads were set to roll, and 5 workers lost their jobs. Some folks say that they knew it was coming, just not when. But when a worker loses their job, it is catastrophic. Even more so with a level of uncertainty about timing, it is akin to waiting on death row for an execution date that has not been set. I was there; I saw the emotions at play for these workers. Some faired better with the stress, some covered their feelings well, and some were vocal in their fears for the future. It was at this point that I started to re-engage with the struggle on an active level.

Having over 15 years experience in the service industry (throughout schooling, and after leaving post- secondary education), I have had the opportunity to experience unionization before. I was a “barista” at one of the 10 union Starbucks shops in BC. We were certified with the Canadian Auto Workers. I use the past tense because none of those 10 shops remains organized. That speaks volumes about the experience of being unionized in the service industry, and with that particular union. There were many lessons to be learned, and it was a new experience for the workers and the union as well. Unfortunately none of those lessons was learned in time to preserve the workers hopes for organization. I spent 10 years at Starbucks, about 8 of those years in an organized shop. After experiencing collective bargaining within an industry that is notoriously hard to organize, with an employer that is stridently anti-union, and with a union that was unable to grasp the needs of the workers, I had enough and moved on.

After a hiatus I re-entered the retail trade at Loomis Art Store. Still the idea of forming a union was not foremost in my mind, having been burnt by my experience at Starbucks. But as events shaped up, the need for union protection reasserted itself in a clear and present manner. The warehouse was “downsized”- 3 people lost their jobs. The phone sales department was eliminated- 2 people lost their jobs. However, we continued to do the same business as before with wholesale and account customers. Wage increases were nominal, after a year of exemplary service I achieved the highest raise possible, 32 cents. And the benefits available to the majority of workers are completely unattainable. Obviously phase 2 of Omer Deserres Inc. at Loomis Art Store was taking place. The phone sales department was centralized to a call center in Montreal. The warehouse would have to be as efficient with 3 less people. And now, even after we have organized with the Retail Wholesale Union, some phone sales have come back to the store- the retail staff are now responsible. The company have increased their profit taking by eliminating jobs and increasing the productivity requirements of low wage workers. On our way to a first contract, the need for unionization becomes more and more important.

Our organizing drive was successful because of the lessons learned from previous struggles. After making contact with the Retail Wholesale Union a rank and file strategy was formed. Through connection with other union activists associated with ‘Fightback’, the organizing committee was able to avoid the traps set by the BC government and ensure a democratic vote for the workers. The first step was to form an organizing committee. I began a discussion with two other workers about the idea, and after we quietly canvassed workers in the shop to gauge the general opinion. It was evident that if we moved forward we would find support for unionization at Loomis. We made contact with the RWU, and after discussions with the union we were given membership cards. In BC the process demands that 45% of the workers in a shop must sign cards before a vote can take place. Over the course of approximately 3 months we proceeded to have workers who were interested sign cards. This was a quiet process, and involved meetings outside of the shop to discuss the idea. Over time, and with patient explanation and discussion, we managed to gain 60% of the workers signatures. We approached the vast majority of workers about the issue. However, as a minority were against the idea it was important to file for certification once we secured a clear majority.

The issue has, of course, resulted in controversy. The anti-union minority are vocal and “hurt” because they were not asked to sign a card before we filed. They seem to feel as though their opinions have not been accounted for. This is entirely false. The fact is that a majority of workers determined that they supported the idea of a vote. That is what the card signing process amounts to; by achieving a solid majority of signatures we open the door to a vote. If we had openly discussed the idea before getting a majority of support, the consequences would have been disastrous. If anti- union workers had been asked if they wanted a vote, they would have reacted in two ways, first by saying “no” and second by potentially acting as informants to management. The first reaction is their right and can be exercised in a democratic vote. The second reaction was a danger to be avoided. The possibility of a co-worker acting as an informant would only open the door to management intimidation, dismissals, and the ultimate subversion of a democratic process. By quietly organizing a majority of support we defeated the reaction and allowed for an honest expression of the will of the majority. We did not choose to set the system up to be prohibitive of open organizing, the current Liberal regime in BC, under Gordon Campbell, set the system up this way. They determined that 45% of the workers must sign cards before a democratic vote can take place.

It is the same government that determined there should be a 10 day waiting period between filing for certification, and the democratic vote. Termed a “cooling off” period, this is a period of time where the employer can (and did) whip up anti-union feelings through manipulations such as “captive audience meetings,” and the spreading of “their side of the story” (which usually amounts to veiled threats, and disinformation campaigns.) The only benefit to the worker in the 10 day period before the vote is that they have a measure of protection from union busting, ie. terminations, shop closures, sudden wage increases that weren’t previously part of the company’s agenda. All of these union busting tactics are pretty standard if a company finds out about the union drive and no filing has been made. This is the reason why it was absolutely essential to organize a campaign amongst the rank and file in such a way as to ensure all workers had the opportunity to cast their vote without fear of reprisal.

In the 10 day period before the vote the organizing campaing became “open.” Leaflets were put together, authored with the input of rank and file workers. Technology was used to connect workers with our message. An email list of staff was collected, and a “Facebook” group was also put together. Neither of these can substitute for “boots on the ground” organizing, that is, an active leafleting campaign, and continued discussion with the rank and file. The technology does, however, connect organizers and other workers through additional mechanisms. To expropriate a term from the Capitalists, it was a “Full Spectrum” campaign.

Voting was a two day process, in order to ensure that the greatest possible portion of the workers were able to attend. And they did. Out of 25 workers, 24 turned out. The outcome, from 23 present and elligible voters: 13 voted “yes” and 10 voted “no”. One ballot of 24 was thrown out due to a dispute over the workers supposed status as “management.” Knowing this person as a firm supporter of unionization had the ballot been counted the results would have been 14 “yes” and 10 “no.”

Conclusion

Loomis Art Store is now a union shop. A victory has been won, but the real work now begins. We have elected a bargaining comittee and are on our way to negotiations. We, the bargaining comittee are determined to negotiate an agreement that improves wages and conditions of employment at Loomis. We will strive to bring protection from the chaos and pernicious agenda of profit at all costs. The certification of our art store can serve as an example and set a precedent as jobs like ours are the fastest growing area of employment in the largest sector of Canada‘s workforce. Indeed, if the working class is to retain its dignity it must organize broadly, else it will suffer the consequences of unrestrained capitalism in this age of imperialist conquest and market domination.

However, we must not delude ourselves. Organization is only a starting point; unions alone cannot resolve the challenges faced by the working class in the service industry. Organization and militancy in the unions is key, but only a complete transformation of society will ensure that workers do not continue to suffer the indignities of “boom and slump” economics characterised by capitalism. Broadly organized workers have this power and, with a growing understanding that capitalism is incapable pf providing the basic necessities, workers will become ever more militant in their demand for change. Workers at Loomis have achieved this first step forward in gaining power on the shop floor. We look forward to the day when we can gain complete power through a socialist society and the eradication of capitalism.

• From Co-op to Union Shop: RWU organizes organic food warehouse by Brent MacVicar (11 September 2006)