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Labour Rights are Human Rights international symposium

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of four sponsors of an important international symposium planned in the fall. Entitled Labour Rights Are Human Rights, it will be held Nov. 19-21 at the Marriott Hotel in Ottawa.Human rights

Ottawa (12 May 2008) - The featured speaker will be Ed Broadbent, former president of Rights and Democracy and former leader of the federal New Democratic Party in Canada.

Others noted speakers will include Elaine Bernard, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program (LWP) and the Trade Union Program (TUP) at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.; Alan Spaulding, director of global affairs and president of the Union Network International (UNI) commerce section; Patrick Carrière, former senior official of the standards department of the International Labour Organization; Fred Van Leeuwen, general secretary of Education International (EI); Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of the American Rights Work; Dr. Michael Lynk of the University of Western Ontario Law School; Judy Fudge of the University of Victoria Law School and Paul Cavalluzzo of the Toronto law firm Cavalluzzo, Hayes, Shilton, McIntyre and Cornish.

Sponsoring the symposium jointly with NUPGE are the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) and the Canadian Police Association (CPA).

Topics on the agenda include:

  • Private and Public Sector Unions: Why are we in this together?
  • The Role of Unions in Promoting Democracy and Economic Prosperity
  • The Attack on Workers' Rights: Part of an international phenomenon
  • Supreme Court Guarantee of the Right to Collective Bargaining: What does it mean for the future of our labour rights?
  • State of the Nation: Labour Rights are Human Rights in Canada 2008 NUPGE

(Published as n12my08a.htm)