In recent months there has been a lot of discussion about the impact of the pandemic on the labour market in both the U.S. and Canada. Much of the discussion has now evolved around the issue of hyperinflation in both countries and the resulting worker demands for increased wages. In addition, there has been a shift in the labour market itself whereby many workers who worked in certain sectors, in particular retail, tourism, services and restaurants, were laid off due to COVID-19 for months on end. Now that the economies are supposedly reopening in both countries, some of these workers have decided not to return to those sectors, but to seek other more reliable and better paying employment. Indeed, according to recent stats, there have been record levels of workers switching jobs, a trend that picked up markedly in the second half of 2021.
However, there are still signs that wage raises are stopping fall short of compensating for all of the higher prices. In some private sectors, unions are now taking advantage of the inequalities and have moved to organize disgruntled workers, offering better wages and benefits. An example of this is the American United Auto Workers (UAW) that is looking to organize Tesla workers. Several Starbucks workers have been seeking to organize unions in Buffalo, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Knoxville, Tallahassee, Florida and the Denver area. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers promoted a two-year-long push to unionize thirty Amazon facilities in the U.S. Generally, such attempts have been unsuccessful. In Canada, where unionization is easier in the private sector under industrial relations laws, certain unions have been more successful in organizing workers in facilities run by union-resistant companies such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks.
Among the major differences between the two countries is the fact that Canada has a universal health system in place and more labour standards laws offering such benefits as paid sick leave, maternity and adoption leave, paid vacation leave and higher minimum wages. Canada’s federal unemployment insurance program is national in scope, unlike in the U.S. where states have a lot more leeway to differentiate in their qualifying requirements, amounts and duration of unemployment benefits. Moreover, the Canadian safety net for the unemployed has been strengthened in recent years, playing an important part in allowing unemployed workers to do lengthier job search, provide additional economic security and keep their job protection guaranteed under the law.
On top of everything, workers are looking at the huge profits made by certain companies during the pandemic, such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, Loblaws Canada, etc., etc. Many believe, and rightly so, that they have not received their fair share of the record profits in the form of increased wages and benefits. Instead, they see companies buying back billions of dollars in stock from investors and increasing the dividend rates given to investors by large amounts. With companies declaring the end of the worst of the pandemic, previous increases in the form of risk pay are also quickly disappearing — this despite the fact that many of the pandemic risks still remain.
Moreover, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the labour markets of both countries. Employers in both countries are being forced to compete for scarce labour due to the shift in the bargaining capabilities of workers, especially in light of today’s hyperinflation. Indeed, wage increases are just one of many sweeteners that hungry firms are offering. Also on the rise are perks like a four-day workweek — offered by some eleven percent of companies surveyed recently by the Payscale data firm — as well as remote work, flexible schedules, free college tuition and other attractive benefits.
All in all, current hyperinflation will continue to cut into workers’ pay cheques. The coming months will be difficult ones for both employers and workers. Both Canada and the U.S. have similar labour markets, suggesting that significant adjustments will have to be made in each country.
FROLITICKS 
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