Canadian Government Must Support Right to Strike
Feb 12, 2015
Canadians from coast to coast are calling
on the federal government to seize a unique opportunity next month to take a
meaningful stand at the United Nations for a measure that would reduce income
inequality and help spread stability and prosperity in our own communities and
around the world.
This dramatic opportunity centres around a decision about peoples' right
to strike that is to be made during the upcoming meeting of the
Governing Body of the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO), which takes
place March 12-27 in Geneva.
The group of employers on the ILO’s Governing Body are attempting to overturn
more than 50 years of international legal precedents that recognize
the fundamental right to strike. Employers will profit mightily if they
succeed, but at the expense of working and middle-class families and
communities around the world.
Healthy unions do much more than simply ensure fair wages for their members. Unions
matter to everybody because they reduce income inequality, strengthen
democracy, resolve conflict peacefully, and spread prosperity, safety and
justice. But they can’t do any of those things without the right to strike —
it’s the only power they have.
The right to strike hasn’t yet been lost at the ILO. The employers are just one
of three equal groups represented on the ILO’s Governing Body: workers and
governments are the other two groups. The workers have already stated clearly
that they are opposed to any measure that limits the right to strike. The
government group — which holds the deciding votes on the issue, and which
includes a representative of Canada’s federal government — has yet to
make its position clear.
The Canadian government has made us proud many times for taking leading
international stands for basic human decency and dignity, and we’re confident
that it will do so again by strongly supporting the right to strike during next
month’s ILO meeting.
Supporting the right to strike won't be difficult for our
government. Canada is among 94 countries in the UN that have already
enshrined the right to strike in their constitutions. Just last month, the
Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed the right to belong to a union and the right
to strike are enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, stating
that the “right to strike is essential to realizing … the values of human
dignity, equality, liberty, respect for the autonomy of the person and the
enhancement of democracy.”
I have written to federal Labour Minister Kellie Leitch asking for her government to make a clear statement that Canada's government supports the right to strike during the ILO meeting next month. I also urge other Canadians to write similar letters to the federal and even their provincial governments. Click here for a copy of Clancy's letter or here for a draft of a letter to your provincial or territorial labour minister.
The more support our government receives from Canadians, the more likely it will be to take the kind of strong leadership role that we will all benefit from and that we can all be proud of.
In my letter to Minister Leitch, I also asked that she take part in the international day of action to defend the right to strike, which will take place on Wednesday, February 18, by making a strong public statement reaffirming the government’s recognition of basic human rights. The day of action is being promoted by the International Trade Union Confederation, the global union federation representing union members around the world, including all the members of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Making a strong statement on February 18 would just be a gesture, but it would be a gesture that would help Canada assume a leadership role on basic human rights heading into the ILO meeting.
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