Negotiating with Giants: Tariffs & What They Mean For You
In our upcoming general membership meeting in Brooks, AB on April 16, 2025, at 7 PM, we’ll be joined by economist Jim Stanford to focus on the tariffs and trade war we’re all seeing in the news. Our conversation with Jim will centre around what tariffs mean for the everyday lives of workers.
There are three key questions we’ll aim to answer:
- How will tariffs affect your job security?
- How will they affect the cost of living?
- What impact will they have on your union’s ability to bargain for your interests?
One of the big factors in a situation like this is called asymmetrical bargaining. It’s what unions do all the time with employers, and it’s the situation that countries around the world now face with the United States.
So, what does this term mean?
David vs. Goliath: Negotiating with Giants
“Asymmetrical” bargaining refers to differences in power, as seen in the David & Goliath story.
Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, gave a union-centered perspective during a recent interview about tariffs.
“Our political leaders could learn a thing or two from unions and our approach to bargaining,” said McGowan. “It’s what we do, and there’s something we call asymmetrical bargaining, which is bargaining between two parties of unequal power.”
“That’s what we do all the time,” he added. “When a group of workers bargain against employers it’s always asymmetrical.”
“And that’s what we’re facing with Trump and the United States. They’re obviously much bigger than us, they’re much more powerful, but there are strategies for the little guy to win.”
UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse adds that our members face this kind of imbalance with employers all the time in bargaining, and that some employers will try to make use of the trade war as an excuse to push their agenda at the bargaining table.
“The concern,” says President Hesse, “is that employers will use this chaos as a pretext to deny fair wages or benefits for our members.”
“There is a good chance that some will attempt this no matter what actual impact the tariffs have on their business model,” adds Hesse.
“Gil is absolutely right to talk about asymmetrical bargaining as the key to winning important fights,” notes Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart. “It really is at the core of what unions and the labour movement do.”
“At Local 401, we have a long track record of success in delivering wins against the odds in difficult times,” continued Stewart. “And that experience is going to come into play now more than ever before.”
There are several important elements to asymmetrical bargaining that will be at play in our negotiations with employers, just as they are in Canada’s trade war-era negotiations with the United States.
The Keys to Effective “Asymmetrical” Bargaining
A worker raises her voice with confidence: it takes a fighting spirit to stand up to bullies!
There are several important keys to asymmetrical bargaining that will be in play in our negotiations with employers, just as they are in Canada’s trade war-era negotiations with the United States.
Building Alliances
This is also called “borrowing power.” Groups with common interests “borrow power” from one another by coming together to support each other in bargaining.
Your union is doing this right now. We have joined an Alberta Federation of Labour initiative called the Common Front in which more than 300,000 workers have pledged mutual support for one another in negotiations. All of those unions have signed a Solidarity Pact which promises members will stand with each other in the event of job action.
Understanding our Strengths
Although employers often have deep pockets and lots of political power, unions have strengths of our own. We have the power of the people on our side, and there is strength in numbers. We have the power to tell a truthful and powerrful story that resonates with the public.
When we stand strong and united, the strengths of the labour movement can cause even the most powerful companies to bend.
Watching the Clock
“A lot of negotiation comes down to timing,” say President Hesse. “Sobey’s, for example, recently tried to bully our Safeway members into accepting a rushed agreement outside of normal bargaining.”
“We stood firm, stuck to the facts and held the Company to account,” adds Treasurer Stewart. “Our Safeway members rejected that offer and are now in a position to press for fairness when official bargaining begins.”
As bargaining comes up at workplaces around the province, including JBS in Brooks, your union will be careful not to be rushed into any kind of agreement. We will be keeping an eye on the clock and taking the steps necessary to bargain from a strong position and get the offers our members need and deserve.
Be Sure to Join Us on April 16th!
President Hesse and Treasurer Stewart with JBS members at our 25th Anniversary barbecue.
These are just some of the tariff-related issues we’ll be talking about with Jim Stanford next week. Jim is great at bringing these issues into focus for those of us who aren’t economists, and this meeting will be a great opportunity for our members.
You can click here to hear AFL President Gil McGowan’s interview on tariffs. It starts at the 3:17 mark of that recording.
You can click here to see a video from Jim Stanford on the issue.
As always, you can join our general membership meeting in two ways.
Live Video Stream
A few days prior to our meeting, you will receive an email from noreply@motionmeetings.co with a link to watch the general membership meeting via a live video stream and ask your questions.
At 7 PM on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, you can click that link to join and watch the meeting and ask your questions.
Telephone Call
If you prefer to listen in to our general membership meetings on the telephone, you can ignore that email and wait for us to give you a call at around 7 PM on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
If you answer that call, you will be automatically connected to the general membership meeting, where you can listen in and ask your questions.
We hope you’ll be able to join us for this important meeting on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at 7 PM!
In solidarity,
Your Union
UFCW Local 401
Posted on: April 11,2025