We live in a socialist society. Everybody knows that. Hell, even the Americans have a messy and tangled system of social aid. We are socialists, and the most damaging myth we function on is that we are a free market capitalist economy. This may be seen as a convenient excuse for those with the education, money, and intelligence to choose the best options in life, while those who weren’t so lucky are left with the dregs. However, this philosophy has farther-reaching effects in several areas of our society.
Division of Services
It is fairly easy to agree that some services (policing, major infrastructure and welfare, for example) are much better off when they are provided and controlled by the government. It is also possible to cherry-pick businesses like manufacturing and resource extraction where it is better for industry to hold the reins.
But our mixed system has created several hybrid “industries” like health and education where a mixture of government and private providers coexist in an uneasy partnership.
This Week’s News
I bring this up because two different labour conflicts have negatively affected our total economy, and the base cause is the same: denial of the socialist nature of the service.
Mail delivery is the easiest one to understand. Up until recently, it was called the Canadian Postal Service. Then somebody created the myth that this shouldn’t be a service, but a business. They changed the name to Canada Post and expected it to turn a profit.
Mail delivery is a service, not a business, and it can’t be expected to turn a profit. The reason is simple. As a service, the mandate of the post office is to provide mail delivery for all Canadians at an equal rate. So, a letter costs $1 to mail from Toronto to Ottawa, or from Whitehorse to Labrador City. Obviously, it can cost ten or twenty times the amount to service outlying communities.
The Competition
Canada Post is expected to bridge this gap, no matter what the cost. It does so by charging way too much for urban deliveries to make up the difference. A private delivery service can restrict its scope to the profitable areas and undercut the government company.
The Usual Result
And, as always happens with a government service, the first place they try to cut corners is the workers’ salaries. Canada Post is holding the line on their bargaining, using the excuse that they have to “stay competitive.” They can’t, and the workers shouldn’t have to shoulder the blame.
And when a strike is called, it affects the whole Canadian commercial structure, all the way down to smallest shop owners and their minimum-wage employees.
The government should stop fostering the myth that Canada Post is a money-making business. Treat it as a service that costs to run, and pay the employees what they are worth.
Transportation
The other labour dispute involves a strictly free-enterprise business: transportation. Profitable companies are trying to make more money by restricting salaries of highly paid workers in a powerful union. It is not unusual for this sort of unrest to result in a strike. That’s the way negotiations happen.
However…
This conflict slips into the public interest because of the important nature of the industry. Normally, neither side wants a strike. Workers lose wages, companies lose revenue. But in this case, the ports are shut down, and the effects on the nation’s economy are catastrophic.
The Solution
The government should do everything it can to encourage collective bargaining. It’s an unwieldy process, but it’s better than any other system we’ve tried. On the other hand, if the parties can’t act like adults and bargain in good faith, the government shouldn’t hesitate to step in and impose binding arbitration. Transportation is a service, no matter who provides it.
The Bottom Line
Canada is a socialist country, and we should get rid of the myth that important services can be provided by capitalists. If the service is needed, we should be prepared to pay for it. If the service is threatened, we should take charge and provide a fair solution. That’s how socialism works.