Canada's labour record ranks with Turkey, Chad and Morocco

'Governments that use the law to break the law have no right to expect us to obey the law.' - Larry Brown, NUPGE

Ottawa (18 July 2006) - Canada has one of the worst records of any western country in promoting and protecting labour rights, says Larry Brown, national secretary-treasurer of the 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).

For decades, Canadian governments have made a mockery of the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) by signing international conventions on labour and human rights and then shamelessly violating them at both the federal and provincial level, Brown told the annual general meeting of the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

"In the last 22 years, our governments have passed 87 pieces of back-to-work legislation," he noted.

"This is an astounding number. Most of this legislation not only forced workers back to work, but also unilaterally imposed settlements. This has happened at least 46 times in recent years," he said.

"In the public service, the new norm is, that the government negotiates, then if there is an impasse, they feel free to impose their ‘offer’ as the law. Their employees’ wages get set by statute, a statute passed by their boss."

GM would kill for such power

"An employer like General Motors would kill for this power," Brown said.

"Would governments buy cars that way, setting the purchase price of the car by law? If they tried, would people accept that? Would they lease buildings by legislating the rent? Would they set in law the amounts they are prepared to pay their friends the consultants?"

Repeatedly, these actions have violated UN and ILO treaties that Canada has solemnly signed at the international level and agreed to respect and enforce.

"Since 1982, unions in Canada have filed more complaints with the ILO’s Freedom of Association Committee than the national labour movements from any of the ILO’s 177 member states," Brown said.

"That's worse than Turkey’s record. We’ve very often won our complaints – they have usually been upheld by the ILO. We’ve won ILO rulings against actions of the B.C. government, for example, and the Ontario government, and the Newfoundland government.

"However, our governments have shown a complete disregard towards the rulings of the ILO governing body."

Brown said it's interesting to contrast the Canadian government response to violations of workers' rights with violations of the corporate rights set out in international trade
agreements.

Corporate rights are sacrosanct

The Canadian government has gone to bat repeatedly for industry (the softwood lumber dispute is a good example), directly and forcefully intervening wherever necessary to ensure to protect industry and business, he said.

But the attitude is entirely different when the rights of ordinary workers are at stake.

"Their position, when they are severely criticized by the ILO, is 'So what?' The ILO has now grouped Canada with countries such as Chad and Morocco for its labour rights record," Brown said.

"The National Union has embarked on a major campaign to turn this situation around. We intend to make fair labour laws a central part of labour’s political agenda. Our campaign includes a book the subject, leaflets, our website and a Workers' Bill of Rights during last election (Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the only leader who did not sign).

Governments that break the law

Brown said the result is a growing sense of frustration and anger with politicians and a lack of faith in laws that are supposed to protect working people. Because of this, a significant shift is taking place in the attitude of organized labour, he added.

"Our philosophy is simple – we believe that governments that use the law to break the law have no right to expect us to obey the law," Brown said.

"We cannot continue to buckle under the force of unjust and unacceptable actions by the governments. We need to begin to draw our own line in the sand, and say that we will not continue to accept the unacceptable." NUPGE

More information:
• ILO rebukes Canada for violating labour standards
• UN agency condemns Quebec labour violations
• Labour Left Out: a new book by Roy Adams
• NUPGE calls on Ottawa to restore workers' rights
• NUPGE again asks Harper to sign The Workers' Bill of Rights
• It's never too late, Mr. Harper
• Gilles Duceppe Signs The Workers' Bill of Rights
• Complete Text - The Workers' Bill of Rights - download pdf
• NUPGE Labour Rights Page
• labour rights.ca - collective bargaining is under attack