Twenty thousand Canadian workers lost their tourism-related jobs.
In fact some 30% of Canadian workers were union members in 2008.
Irish, German, and French Canadian workers readily found jobs in the state's textile mills and tanneries.
A third of Canadian workers belong to unions, about twice the level in the United States.
The bulk of the health care costs of Canadian workers are covered by government programs.
In a 1994 study, Hamermesh and the economist Jeff Biddle examined the income of several thousand U.S. and Canadian workers.
But the Canadian workers are adamant that new workers eventually reach the same pay as existing employees.
In 1984, Canadian workers, then part of the U.A.W., went on strike for two weeks, with a similar effect.
Some industry analysts argue that unionized Canadian workers are now significantly more expensive to employ than their American counterparts.
In the 12 months to January, Canadian workers' pay rose by 3.7%, a real rise of 1.5%.In this section Reprints.
(The Teamsters represent large numbers of Canadian workers, and the union has had no similar complaints about an open border with Canada).
