As Labour Day rolls around once again, there’s a different feeling in the air. For many workers, wages haven’t kept up with inflation. There’s a growing sense that workers have been pushed to the brink and they’re ready to stand together for a fair deal. For some that has meant strikes; for others, tough negotiating. Slowly, progress is being made.
But a recent article, by a former grocery-store worker, puts this progress in context. The article makes the point that there was a time when a person could build a solid career out of a full-time job at a grocery store. There were benefits, a pension, and a wage that would be about $46/hr in today’s dollars. Cashiers and clerks started at a wage that was triple the minimum wage.
Today, we can’t imagine such a thing. That’s how far removed from decent work our economy has become. It’s not that grocery stores are making less profit. In the quarter that ended July 1, Metro announced that net earnings increased 26 per cent to $346.7 million from $275 million during the same quarter a year earlier. That’s profit. Yes, their costs went up, but their revenues increased at the same time, ensuring these huge profits.
And, of course, it’s not just Metro. And it’s not just grocery stores. Profits don’t trickle down to workers; they flow to shareholders through increased dividends and buybacks. It’s how the system works.
“Profits don’t trickle down to workers; they flow to shareholders through increased dividends and buybacks. It’s how the system works.”
As we celebrate Labour Day, let’s also begin to imagine a new kind of economy. What about an Economy of Solidarity? An economy grounded in human rights and care for the earth and all earth’s inhabitants.
If we learn to stand together, we could make it happen.
-Sister Sue Wilson, CSJ
