What challenges are unions facing?

Unions face some serious challenges. In the private sector, companies have become much more aggressive when negotiating with unions. In the public sector, the federal and provincial governments are looking for ways to save money because of large budget deficits, so there will be pressure to hold the line on wages and benefits. More generally, unions are facing several other challenges: the decline of the so-called "smokestack industries" (where union power was formerly very strong), the globalization of business (which has caused the movement of jobs to areas of the world with lower labour costs), and technological change (which often reduces the number of workers that are needed). Unions are responding to these challenges in a variety of ways.