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When seasonal industries like tourism or fisheries form the economic backbone of a region, there often aren’t many jobs available for workers in the off-season.

With the recent election of Donald Trump in the United States, we’re likely to hear a lot about one of his favourite economic policies — import tariffs. At the end of November, Trump announced that he planned to implement a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada, something that would significantly impact the Canadian economy.

At the beginning of the year, CUPE locals at Hydro-Québec launched a public campaign warning against any plans to privatize the crown corporation and public electricity services. The large-scale campaign was featured on television, online, and on giant billboards throughout Montreal and Quebec City.

Strikes are a powerful tool that workers rely on to make their voices heard. This is especially true during tough economic times. When economic pressures like inflation push workers to their breaking point, labour action often follows. We saw this clearly in the 1970s, when rising inflation led to a spike in strikes and lockouts.