{"id":102569,"date":"2025-06-16T12:37:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T16:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=102569"},"modified":"2025-06-17T12:47:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T16:47:58","slug":"award-winning-book-gives-insight-into-shifting-landscape-of-labour-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/06\/award-winning-book-gives-insight-into-shifting-landscape-of-labour-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning book gives insight into shifting landscape of labour politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The relationship between political parties and Canada\u2019s union movement is changing \u2014 bringing with it \u201cenormous\u201d implications for both labour and working-class politics, says Larry Savage.<\/p>\n

The Brock University Professor of Labour Studies says the shift was seen during this year\u2019s provincial and federal elections and will continue to shape the political landscape moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cA growing number of unions are embracing an overtly transactional brand of politics, supporting whichever party is best poised to deliver concrete gains for their members \u2014 such as job protections, workplace investments or training funds,\u201d Savage says. \u201cThis is regardless of traditional ideological boundaries or class cleavages.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new focus on transactional relationships will continue to have ramifications for workers, unions and political parties, says Savage.<\/p>\n

But the history between these groups can provide insight into its future, he adds.<\/p>\n

Savage and Stephanie Ross of McMaster University co-authored a book last fall that provides timely analysis into this changing relationship by focusing on the political evolution of Canada\u2019s largest private sector union.<\/p>\n

Shifting Gears: Canadian Autoworkers and the Changing Landscape of Labour Politics<\/em><\/a> was recently honoured for its insights with the 2025 Leo Panitch Book Prize by the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies \u2014 a particularly proud moment for Savage and Ross, who were mentored by the award\u2019s namesake as graduate students.<\/p>\n

Savage argues the trends tracked in Shifting Gears<\/em> can help inform current and future debates on the most pressing political issues facing the labour movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe book explains how we got here and also provides a framework for understanding how unions may attempt to shift gears politically in the future,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is sparking debate and discussion among union activists about political strategy in the face of a changing economic landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savage has tracked changes in organized labour\u2019s approach to parties and elections for many years and says unions moving away from \u201clongstanding ties to left-wing social democratic parties\u201d in recent years has left many people \u201cpuzzled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn February\u2019s Ontario provincial election, a number of unions \u2014 including several Unifor locals \u2014 endorsed the Progressive Conservatives for the first time in history,\u201d says Savage. \u201cDuring April\u2019s federal election, Conservative Party support surged in blue-collar auto towns like Windsor, Ont.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savage argues that long-held assumptions about labour and working-class politics are changing. As union members in Canada shift their voting preferences, new strategic opportunities are emerging for parties seeking support from different segments of organized labour.<\/p>\n

With Canada facing significant political and economic uncertainty, it is unclear whether this trend will persist. However, it is evident that both external pressures and internal dynamics will continue to shape union strategies moving forward, says Savage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The relationship between political parties and Canada\u2019s union movement is changing \u2014 bringing with it \u201cenormous\u201d implications for both labour and working-class politics, says Larry Savage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":102580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,38],"tags":[110,522,4358],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102579,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102569\/revisions\/102579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}