Unions see opportunity as new generation of organizers emerge amid pandemic As the pandemic has dragged on, workers from companies have joined unions this year December 24, 2020 by Anita Balakrishnan, The Canadian Press While “unprecedented” has been the go-to term to describe the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wave of labour upheaval currently moving across the country is the latest turn in a familiar cycle. Times of crisis have always been linked to labour unrest, says Dimitry Anastakis, who teaches business history at the University of Toronto’s department of history and Rotman School of Management. Labour activity followed both the First and Second World Wars as well as the Great Depression. Anastakis points out the largest strike in Canadian history _ the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 _ came amid an influenza pandemic.