Tariff turmoil: Politicians are not moving fast enough
US President Donald Trump has unleashed economic shockwaves that are hitting workers around the world. Sweeping tariffs announced on April 2 caused the global stock markets to tank, wiping out trillions of dollars in value almost overnight. Many workers have seen their retirement savings vanish while other workers received layoff notices.
Yet, as stock prices bottomed out, Trump told his followers on social media: “This is a great time to buy!!!” Here's what happened afterward, according to the Associated Press:
Less than four hours later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all his tariffs. Stocks soared on the news, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading.
The market, measured by the S&P 500, gained back about $4 trillion, or 70%, of the value it had lost over the previous four trading days.
In other words, those rich enough to buy shares at rock-bottom prices made incredible profits. Meanwhile, those who could not afford to lose what little they had, sold before things got worse and ended up losing their life savings.
Canada’s politicians are putting corporations first (yet again)
Before the tariffs, Canada was already dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. But with tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automotives still in place, and with the threat of worse to come, Canadians are drowning under rising prices and decreasing job security.
So, what are Canadian politicians doing in response? On the one hand, they are offering big tax breaks and financing for corporations. On the other hand, politicians have offered almost nothing to protect the incomes of workers.
Let’s be clear: Corporate tax breaks will not stabilize our economy. As it stands, too many of us barely have the money to cover the bills each month. Giving incentives for corporations to hire more workers or produce more goods and services will not work if they don't have customers with the money to buy more. Instead, corporations are more likely to pocket these tax breaks as extra profit like we saw during the COVID crisis.
That’s why we need to elect politicians who will pass laws that put workers first–not CEOs and executives. And it's why we need to build a united, multi-racial working-class movement across borders, that can push back on bad bosses and greedy CEOs.
Canada needs a Workers-First Agenda
We need our governments to adopt a workers-first agenda to protect workers and our communities. This Agenda should include:
Income Supports for All
Workers (including migrant workers and misclassified workers) need at least $600 a week in income support, either through Employment Insurance or direct grants.
Accessible and Adequate Employment Insurance (EI)
Employment Insurance must be made more accessible as only about 35% of unemployed workers get it at any given moment. The weekly EI benefit needs to be enough to live on. And EI benefits should provide enough weeks to allow workers to find another decent job.
Affordable Housing
We need permanent rent control for all tenants (including for small businesses) and a moratorium on evictions. All levels of government must invest in high-quality, deeply affordable, social housing.
Lower the cost of living by funding public services
High-quality public services help stabilize the economy AND make life more affordable. Here are just a few examples: $10 a day child care, health care, and education. With enough public funding we could imagine expanding low- or no-cost public transit, and deliver deeply affordable, high quality, social housing.
To do this, we must address the staffing crisis present in sectors like childcare and healthcare where low wages, unstable hours and lack of job security has led to widespread burn out and a staffing shortage.
Tax the corporations and the billionaires
There's so much more we could imagine if we had enough revenue to provide these kinds of public services. But years of corporate tax cuts has meant that big corporations and the billionaires that run them, have not been paying their fair share. We need to turn this around by taxing the corporate profits and the super rich.
4 things you can do now to make sure No One is Left Behind
There’s no time to lose in the fight for a workers-first agenda that leaves no one behind.
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📨 Send an email to all federal candidates as well as provincial and territorial representatives.
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🗓️ Join us at the next pan-Canadian organizing meeting on Tuesday, April 22, 7:00 pm ET; 8:30 pm NT; 8:00 pm AT; 4:00 pm PT. RSVP to receive the Zoom link.
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📝 Invite your local federal election candidate, community organization, or union to endorse the No One Left Behind campaign. The endorsement link and sample resolutions are included on the Tariff Emergency page of the Justice for Workers website.
- 📌 Email us at [email protected] for support organizing your own local outreach blitz or postering action.
If you missed the March pan-Canadian organizing meeting, you can read a summary of the meeting here or watch/listen to the recording.
And don't forget to check the Justice for Workers events page to plug in to local actions and events.
