Most people agree that unions are necessary to provide collective bargaining for their members and to protect them from exploitation and harassment in the workplace. Union leaders present a serious problem, however, when they use compulsory membership fees to advocate in the courts, Parliament and the media to push their own personal left-wing ideology.
In the past, membership fees have been used by union leaders to promote, among other extremist causes, abortion, euthanasia, special rights for LGBTQ, same-sex marriage and transgenderism (the latter is currently one of the demands made by the postal union in its dispute with Canada Post). In addition, unions are enthusiastic supporters of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). They spend membership fees conducting DEI seminars at which white males feel excluded – especially Jewish ones because DEI trainers characterize Jews and other white males as residing at the top of the hierarchy pyramid of the white oppressor class. Unions are supposed to protect all members from discrimination but are instead discriminating against some of its members.
Unions are in place to support the members’ needs, but union leaders use the unions as a convenient platform, not only to promote their own personal views on domestic issues, but also to agitate for or against foreign regimes and their policies. For example, unions have been vocal opponents of Israel. Fred Hahn, the current president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), publicly supported the Hamas murder of Jews in Israel on October 7, 2023. Further, after the recent bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the United States and Israel, Fred Hahn organized a rally in Toronto on June 22, 2025, in support of Iran, despite the fact that Iran holds one of the worst records for human rights violations in the world. Another union leader, Nathan Prier, the president of the 20,000 member Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), which is the largest federal public service union, used social media to make controversial statements about Jews. Many of his points were speckled with derogatory references to Zionism and antisemitic language and expressions.
All these many issues have nothing to do with obtaining higher wages, and benefits for union members and their families. Neither do they relate in any way to the terms of employment for members. This is occurring even though the legal purpose of unions is to assist employees with employment matters only. If the extremist left-wing socialist union leaders want to be involved in these unrelated issues, they should be asking the members to volunteer the funds from their own pockets. They do not do so because they know that few union members would support their social and political issues. This is the key problem – union leaders never consult their members about advancing these issues. Instead, they use union funds without restraint or control, at their sole discretion, to advance their own extremist views.
This situation is alarming for Jewish members and Catholic members for example, who are experiencing discrimination in this way. Most Catholic members are not supportive of causes that are contrary to their faith, such as same-sex marriage, LGBTQ special rights and transgenderism. They and, Jewish members cannot help but be offended by the inappropriate statements and actions by union leaders.
Poll after poll indicates that blue collar voters have shifted away from left-wing policies such as those supported by union leaders, and are more likely to support the family values of the Conservative Party. Simply put, they have abandoned the woke federal Liberal and NDP parties who promote these extremist policies. Most union members are hard-working family people, hockey parents and soccer parents, paying their taxes. They are the backbone of this country, but their values are being ignored by union leaders. It is significant that unions receive financial support from the taxpayer when they receive tax deductions for union dues, and taxes are not paid on their strike pay, and union investments under the income tax act. Why is taxpayers’ money being abused by union leaders?
Compulsory Union Dues Should be Eliminated
Many U.S. states have banned the use of compulsory union dues for political and social issues that do not relate to union matters. Yet, in Canada there are no legal restraints on how union dues are spent. This is due to the fact that a community college teacher from North Bay, Ontario, Mervin Lavigne, challenged his union about payment of his union dues for non-work issues, and the Supreme Court of Canada in June 1991 in the Lavigne v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union case, held that:
The use of union dues for a broad range of activities
contributes to the overall good of society.
The court went on to say, however, that:
Any restrictions on how a union might spend its dues
is a legislative matter rather than a matter for the courts.
This Supreme Court decision, therefore, should be set aside by legislation so that the payment of union dues be directed to collective bargaining purposes and other work-related issues. In addition, the use of union dues must be audited. Further, unionists who use membership fees to promote the personal ideology of their leaders should be decertified by aggrieved members.
Other options could include filing an application with the Labour Relations Board on the grounds that the union has breached its duty of fair representation in a manner that is discriminating and in bad faith towards its members. Such remedies are long overdue.