During the recent railway dispute, the federal Conservatives were strangely silent. A work stoppage of any length would have had grave effects on the Canadian economy, something a national political party should have strong views on. And Conservatives, no lovers of labour unions, usually have lots to say about workers on picket lines. But not a whisper.

Could this have anything to do with Pierre Poilievre’s new persona as champion of the working class? The Conservatives have made gestures in that direction. For example, they supported the federal anti-scab legislation passed in the House of Commons earlier this year despite strong business opposition.

Or perhaps Poilievre has seen and envied the support Donald Trump has achieved. Trump actually outperformed Hillary Clinton among union members in the 2016 election.

Or perhaps he is copying the populist examples of Republicans such as Senators Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, Mitt Romney and J.D. Vance who have been courting Labour.

Senator Hawley has declared, “in the choice between Labor and Capital, [Republicans] must start prioritizing the workingman.” He has walked a Teamsters picket line and supported a rule that would make it easier for them to unionize. (They have reciprocated by donating to his re-election campaign.), Along with J.D. Vance and Senator Rubio, Hawley backed a railway safety measure that would require freight trains to operate with at least two-person crews, a top priority for rail unions. Rubio has endorsed a unionization effort by Amazon employees in Alabama.

Vance echoed Hawley with remarks at the Republican convention. “We’re done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street,” he said. “We’ll commit to the working man.” He has co-sponsored a bill with Senator Romney that would raise the federal minimum wage to $11 an hour from $7.25. He has also supported sectoral bargaining, a practice common in Europe in which unions and management bargain for an entire sector of industry, a practice that would greatly improve unions’ negotiating position. Some conservative intellectuals, such as the economic think tank American Compass, have also supported European models of works councils and sectoral bargaining.

The Republican national convention saw a surprising first with a major union leader, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, making a speech. Even Project 2025, the infamous manifesto proposed for a Trump presidency, commented on how “American workers lack a meaningful voice in today’s workplace.”

Whether all this will amount to anything is something else. The courting senators are a small minority and the Republican Party’s financial backers will have little use for such sentiments. And much of this is driven by a desire to get back to the 1950s “family values” concept of a working man providing for his stay-at-home wife and their children.

As for the union side, those with long memories may recall Ronald Reagan courting the air traffic controllers, gaining their support, and then when elected, breaking their union. Trump’s praising of his friend Elon Musk for firing striking workers might jog their memory.

Still, it’s encouraging. If some of these Republican senators are willing to work with their Democratic colleagues, Congress could do some good things for American workers. After all, J.D. Vance teamed up with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren to rein in the bankers.

And then there is our top conservative, Mr. Poilievre, and his attempt to become a champion of the working class. He claims he has spoken to more local unions than to corporate business crowds, and his message does seems to be resonating with the masses.

But he has a long way to go to overcome his history. His record as a minister in the Harper government tells a contrary story. For instance, he pushed hard for U.S.-style “right-to-work” laws. In 2013 he boasted, “I am the first federal politician to make a dedicated push toward this goal. … I would encourage provincial governments to do likewise.”

He fought card-check legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize in favour of a process that gives employers more time to stall a union drive. He supported Bill C-377, an anti-union (and probably unconstitutional) piece of legislation that tried to force labour unions but not corporations to disclose all of their internal finances. He campaigned to allow public sector workers to opt out of paying union dues, a proposal aimed at the Rand Formula, a pillar of Canadian labour law.

But for the upcoming election the tune has changed. Now he proclaims, “Workers have every right to demand raises for soaring food, homes & fuel prices.. Let’s be a country that gives its workers back control of their lives.”

If by the latter he means strong unions across the full range of workplaces, we might take him seriously. The vote against scab labour was a start. Call me a pessimist, but I’m not expecting to see a lot more.