1) job preservation 2) health preservation in the workplace 3) day-care 4) retraining 5) financial negotiations on behalf of members "Union leaders and members must become as sophisticated as management to support the attempt by Canadian business to survive fierce international competition."5 There are about four million members of Canadian unions and 10.5 million members of co-operatives. There are two choices: traditionally, unions have only tried to increase their members' standard of living by negotiating a higher wage, more benefits or fewer hours. "The union movement has played an important role in the past in the formation of new institutions such as credit unions. Today, new demands on the union movement will force it to examine its strategic choices."6 Above all, the union movement must structure itself to aid the survival of Canadian industry and Canadian jobs in a fiercely competitive world market. CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS At the national level, the "organization of unions" is the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The CLC is the central body in Canada and is composed of about 85 national and international unions representing about 2.2 million workers. LABOUR'S SOCIAL OBJECTIVES "The social objectives of the Canadian labour movement are a reflection of the aims and desires of a large segment of the country's working population."7 In some ways, the objectives are related to the economy. The objectives are: Health Programmes - the lack of available health care to all Canadians caused the labour movement to redouble its long-standing efforts to have a national medicare plan by which needed medical services would be available to all Canadians whatever their financial means. Medicare as a system of universal health care must be regarded as a public service and not merely as an insurance programme under which only a limited number of services are available. 7 Notes On Unions, Canadian Labour Congress, Quebec, 1992, P.
