NUPGE, UFCW Canada, CTF and CPPA
Ottawa (18 Jan. 2006) - Four of Canada's largest labour organizations have formally signed a Mutual Aid and Assistance pact to promote and protect collective bargaining in Canada.
Leaders from the National Union of Public General Employees (NUPGE), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada), the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), and the Canadian Professional Police Association (CPPA) met in Ottawa Jan. 16 to sign the pact to protect collective bargaining rights for all Canadians.
The pact signatories recognize that freedom of association, and the right to organize and bargain collectively in Canada, are under significant pressure. Accordingly, the signatories have agreed to focus their cooperative efforts to enhance the ability of their combined organizations to prevent further erosion of these fundamental human rights.
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National Union James Clancy |
UFCW Canada National Director Michael Fraser |
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| James Clancy (left), David Griffin, Dale Kinnear and Michael Fraser | |
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| Dale Kinnear, Labour Relations, CPPA |
David Griffin, Executive Officer, CPPA |
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| James Clancy, Winston Carter and Michael Fraser | |
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| John Staple, Executive Member, CTF | Winston Carter, President, CTF |
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| (Left to right) John Staple, CTF; David Griffin, CPPA, Winston Carter, CTF; Dale Kinnear, CPAA, James Clancy, NUPGE, Michael Fraser, UFCW Canada | |
Attending the signing were James Clancy, national president of NUPGE; Michael J. Fraser, national director of UFCW Canada; Winston Carter, president of the CTF; and David Griffin, Executive Officer of the CPPA.
"Over the past 20 years we've seen a serious erosion of our fundamental rights to bargain collectively and withdraw services if necessary, and it's our governments that are mostly to blame," says James Clancy of NUPGE.
"Rather than protecting our labour rights, federal and provincial governments have stood by silently and sometimes even provided the legal means to ignore and abuse these fundamental human rights," added Clancy.
Since 1982, Canadian governments have passed more than 170 regulations and laws to restrict or suspend collective bargaining rights for Canadian workers.
According to Michael J. Fraser of the UFCW Canada, “This attack on the fundamental human right of freedom of association has hurt the labour movement’s ability to organize non-union workers. I’m proud to be joining forces with NUPGE, CTF and the CPPA to help to reverse this situation."
David Griffin, Executive Officer of the CPPA, said the agreement between the groups is a welcome development within the labour movement in Canada. “Labour rights are human rights and governments can’t cherry pick which human rights they want to protect and promote in a democracy,” he said. “A right is a right and our elected leaders have a duty to stand up for the rights of all citizens.”
For his part, Winston Carter, CTF President, explained that teachers in many jurisdictions across the country have seen their governments interfere in the collective bargaining process with regressive pieces of legislation that go against international law. “What kind of lesson are we giving our children with respect to global citizenship when our very own governments fail to respect international labour law, time and time again?”
Combined UFCW Canada, NUPGE, CTF and the CPPA represent over 800,000 working people across Canada. NUPGE
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