Should government employees be allowed to exercise their constitutionally protected right to collective bargaining?

Recently, I read anti-union, anti-CCRF (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 2(d)) propaganda from the CEO of Shopify (and another Shopify executive) concerning the recent Canada Post union strike for higher wages, under the guise of supporting 67,000 small businesses. Even in the name of fiduciary shareholder duty, there is no reason a CEO should be commenting on union workers of another non-monopoly* business. In 2022, president Joe Biden forced railway workers to accept an agreement he brokered. In the current year, the Liberal government forced railway workers back to work and forced the Teamsters union into a binding arbitration with CN and CPKC which starts in March 2025! Teamsters has filed an appeal and has called the legislation unconstitutional.

What further disappoints me are the fallacious arguments being made by anti-union people that Canada Post is not a good business because it loses money. How is it possible for small businesses to need a business so much that its workers should not be allowed to strike, but the business is so bad that it should be discontinued? Since Canada Post is running at a loss, then its customers (small businesses) are being subsidized by the Federal government (tax payers) rather than its workers being paid “too much” (yes someone out there think C$40,000/yr is a great salary to live on in Canada). Four alternatives to Canada Post are Purolator (91% owned by Canada Post), UPS, FedEx, DHL.

As someone who has friends across the political spectrum, it’s not surprising that friends who have communist ideals continue hating on people solely based on their wealth and say things such as “all billionaires exploited workers.” When the sample pool of “wealthy” individuals is already as small as it is, being anti-labour is not just a “hot” take, it’s a foolish one. The common counter-argument is that wealthy individuals can simply leave the country, but here is a case where wealthy individuals are dependent on the government subsidizing the supply chain. Canada is not Norway; we do not tax unrealized capital gains.

My response to Tobi is simple - pure sarcasm: Against a union strike? Charge each of those 67,000 small businesses a non-optional 15% tip for each item sold by each of through Canada Post. Gratuity should clearly be applied to every service transaction, not just restaurants and real estate! Businesses shouldn’t actually have to pay workers, that’s the duty of customers in the service industry!

Disclosures: I own no shares of Shopify, nor FedEx, nor UPS. I own shares of CP. I do not own shares in CNR however am planning on selling CP and buying CNR sometime in the future (unrelated to labour negotiations).