Economic justice: Unionization lesson plan
- syoung679
- Sep 16
- 4 min read
By Brandon Mulholland (he/him), teacher, Burnaby
Objective: Learning how unions and collective bargaining help to raise the living standards of all workers and help reduce inequality, discrimination, and exploitation.
Big Ideas BC Curriculum: Social Studies 10–12: Understanding economic systems helps us make informed decisions; Workplace Math 10–11: Apply understanding of gross/net pay, deductions, and workplace benefits; Social Studies 4–7: Economic and technical changes can affect communities and environments.
Curricular Competencies: Assess the significance of political and economic systems and their impact on society; Evaluate different perspectives on historical and contemporary issues.
Key lesson information: Collective bargaining and unionization are a partial solution to reducing wealth inequality and raising the living standards of the working class.
The Labour Heritage Centre has many resources/videos/lesson plans on the history of unions and labour rights in BC: www.labourheritagecentre.ca
Unit plan: These lessons can be adapted to suit most grade levels and can be combined with other units.
Lesson 1: Introducing the concept of unions and collective bargaining
Pre-activity: Introduce unions and the idea of collective bargaining. On chart paper, start with a Know, Want to Know, Learned (KWL) chart that can be updated throughout the series of lessons.
Prompt questions: What is a union? What have you heard about them? Why do they matter? What do they do?
Hook: Look at the following short videos and host a classroom discussion:
Following the videos, update the KWL chart by writing new information students gained in the “Learned” section.
Research as a class
According to the Canadian Labour Congress, unionized workers in Canada earn, on average, $7 more per hour than their non-unionized counterparts. This wage premium is even more significant for women and young workers.1
Statistics Canada has a tool where students can research the wage discrepancy between unionized and non-unionized workers in Canada by year.2
Unions raise the wages of non-union workplaces as well. Union negotiated wages are often higher therefore non-union employers need to raise their wages in order to be competitive. This is most evident where union membership is high and employers fear losing their workers to unionized work sites.
Exit slip: What are two things you learned about unions that you didn’t know before? What surprised you?
Extension: If you are working on graphing in math, have the class create a bar graph that compares the wage discrepancy (averages) between unions and non-union workers. This information takes the averages of Canadian workers across sectors according to Statistics Canada and the Canadian Labour Congress in 2024:
X axis: Job sector; Y axis: Wages per hour
Job Sector Unionized Wage Non-Unionized Wage
Construction $37.00 $31.90
Healthcare (nurses) $32.34 $29.24
Manufacturing $29.16 $31.91
Education (EAs) $28.00 $23.00
Hospitality $20.00 $17.00
Lesson 2: Collective bargaining
Hook: What Is the Collective Bargaining Process? (Review view for the relevant sections.)
Pre-activity: Have the students break into small groups and discuss what they think workers would want to prioritize in a collective agreement. Additionally, think about some conditions the employer might want to propose in this agreement.
Have groups share their ideas that they came up with during group discussions. Write down some of the key ideas on the board or chart paper.
Create priorities: In their groups, have them create priorities as students at the school. What would they like to improve if they were collectively organized? They can write ideas down on chart paper, mini-whiteboards, or type them out.
Prompts for elementary:
What are three things that would help you feel happier and safer at school?
If students could make an agreement with teachers about classroom rules, what would you ask for?
What would make recess and lunch more fair or fun for everyone?
Imagine you’re part of a student team working together. What would you all want to agree on with the principal?
If you had to vote on better classroom jobs, what would you want to change?
Prompts for secondary:
If you were forming a student workers’ union (e.g., for cafeteria workers, student aides, club leaders), what would your key bargaining points be?
What policies would you include in a student-led collective agreement with the school?
What priorities would you fight for: mental health days, later start times, equitable dress code policies, etc.?
How would you balance what students want with what’s realistic for the school to offer?
Think about your role as a student employee (e.g., library assistant, volunteer). What rights and protections should you have?
Exit slip: Share out and update KWL class chart.
Lessons 3–5: Form a Union and host a mock strike
Possible additional activities:
Create a logo and mission statement for their class union.
Have the class formally create their own student union, with priorities that are important to them based on the previous lesson.
They can elect leaders to represent their unions (optional). Have students put their name forward for pre-established leadership positions. This could cross-connect with an English unit on speech writing.
The class union will submit proposals about what they would like to see improve in their school environment.
The classroom teacher will look at the proposals submitted by the union and will come back with counter proposals. Leaders who are elected can negotiate those priorities with the teacher in a “mock negotiation.” To make it more engaging, you can have different sets of students rotate out to negotiate the different priorities. The remaining students can observe the negotiation and provide written feedback on their thoughts/feelings. The teacher will present the view of the employer. If the “employer’s” terms are not acceptable, students will engage in a “mock strike.” Students can create signs and perform their strikes for a short time (e.g .,10 minutes). The teacher can then bring the representatives back to the table and negotiate again.
Closing: Debrief with what they learned, their thoughts on collective organizing, and if their view of unions changed. Update the KWL chart.
