Union Party Union Relationship In Canada

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Solidarity Forever The longstanding political alliance between the Canadian labor movement and the New Democratic Party (NDP) has experienced new stresses in recent years. Whereas the NDP was widely considered the political arm of the labor movement during the Keynesian post-war period, under neoliberalism, the relationship between most unions and the NDP has become more tactical and less cohesive. This article surveys contemporary party-union relationships in Canada and examines how changes in legislature affect these relationships and establishes the fact that these relationships are essential. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between organized labour and the New Democratic Party. As well as looking at the results…show more content…
The first is called external lobbying. This is when the relationship is rather informal and unions have very little influence on policy making. The second is called internal lobbying. This is when the relationship is still rather informal but unions are routinely consulted in policy making. The third is called union-party bonding. This is when unions are able to occupy important positions within the party, but not in domination of the party, due to special organizational status. The forth is called union-dominance. This is when unions occupy these important positions and are able to dominate policy making. The relationship of the NDP and labour unions has never been as close as some of those found in Western European politics. The divided and mixed character of the union movement poses a challenge when wanting to mobilize organized labour for partisan purposes. In Canada this union-NDP relationship could be looked at as a union-party bonding. This is because unions have a say in policy making but do not dominate it. It is pointed out that organized labour is a minority voice in the NDP. The NDP hold the principle that labour representation within party structures cannot exceed…show more content…
The theoretical framework that the author uses to define this relationship would be that unions bring forth votes for the party as well as financial stability and the unions in return receive an influence on policy making meaning that the relationship only works if both unions and parties benefit from the affiliation. The author is able to show how this is so by providing examples of how unions stay by the parties’ side, and vice versa, through changes within legislature that impede on and limit their

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