Fox News’ vocal support for the far-right trucker convoys in Canada, which began in opposition to vaccine mandates for operators crossing the U.S.-Canada border but has since expanded to oppose all public health measures, has revealed Fox’s hypocritical stances on vaccine and testing policies, as well as protesters who block roads.
But now another key angle has been exposed: While, in the past, Fox opposed advances by organized labor, demeaned unions, insulted striking workers, supported companies over unions, opposed higher wages for workers, and falsely blamed unions for supply chain troubles during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is now egging on this labor shutdown — which not only sabotages other workers, but was not authorized by any union or democratic process in the first place.
A key point here is that Fox has falsely represented the truck convoys as representing the wider views of truckers in Canada, as the network has tried to incite similar actions in the United States. In fact, a reported 90% of Canadian truckers are vaccinated, and since the beginning of convoy protest many spoken out against it and noted that it is not addressing “critically important” issues affecting the industry’s workers. Teamsters Canada has also opposed the convoys, leaving the minority of truckers to represent themselves. And since blockades began at sites such as the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, Michigan, the other truckers who are still doing their jobs have been faced with arduous traffic at other routes.
Stephen Laskowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, told CTV News about the toll that the blockades have taken on the truckers who are actually working. “They have no access to food for six to eight hours other than what's in their truck, [no] washrooms, they’re losing shifts, the mental stress,” Laskowski explained, further adding: “Most importantly … drivers are telling us their reputation as truck drivers are being hurt by these people who have nothing to do with our industry that are involved in this.”
Furthermore, the Ambassador Bridge blockade has led to shutdowns at auto plants, as assembly components have been stuck across the border. This event seemingly triggered an immediate reversal in Canada of conservative support of the convoys, with the federal Conservative Party leadership calling for all protesters in Ottawa to go home. Previously, the party’s federal caucus members had openly courted the Ottawa convoy’s support.
Doug Ford, the conservative premier of Ontario (an office similar to a U.S. governor), announced Friday that the province was declaring a state of emergency and imposing stiff penalties on blockade participants. These include up to $100,000 Canadian dollars (approximately $78,500 USD) in fines, prison sentences of up to one year, and possible revocation of personal and commercial driver’s licenses.
But on Fox News, which has engaged in absurd and disproven demagoguery on supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this new supply chain crisis caused by anti-vaccine saboteurs is a cause for celebration.
Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson claimed Thursday night that the blockade was “the single most successful human rights protest in a generation” — while at the same time boasting of the economic damage that the blockade has caused to other workers, forcing a shutdown of Ford and Toyota plants, and noting that “General Motors has canceled multiple shifts.”
Carlson then condemned the Biden administration for coordinating with the Canadian government on providing alternative traffic routes: “That's Scranton Joe, the pro-union guy, shutting down a labor action” — thus falsely equating the wildcat disruption with a real strike that would have been brought about by a democratically representative decision.
Later in the monologue, Carlson accused liberals of committing a betrayal of their usual support for “organized labor,” again falsely describing those truckers committing the blockades as “striking workers,” and claiming that liberals would soon “be demanding scabs” — disregarding the fact that other truckers have still been working and facing sabotage this whole time. Adding insult to injury, Carlson would seemingly brand them as “scabs,” despite the fact that they never had any chance to vote on any real labor action, and for which all evidence indicates it would have failed under a democratic procedure.
Then, promoting a further truck convoy in this country, Carlson said: “How does the supposedly pro-union White House feel about this? They're completely panicked.” (As for what any actual unions might think, the Teamsters in the U.S. had already put out a statement on Thursday condemning the blockades up north.)