Global labour body warns Bill C-39 could violate Canada’s international obligations
OTTAWA — The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has written directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney, warning that Bill C-39’s proposed restrictions on the right to strike are “highly likely to violate” Canada’s international labour obligations under ILO Convention 87.
Representing workers through national trade union organizations in 169 countries and territories, the ITUC is calling on the federal government to suspend consideration of the proposed restrictions and engage in meaningful consultations with Canadian unions.
“Canada has a long history of standing up for fundamental labour rights,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “It should concern all of us when the international labour movement is warning that legislation before our Parliament could put those commitments at risk. This is an opportunity for the government to reconsider these provisions and get this right.”
The ITUC letter points to Prime Minister Carney’s own defence of a democratic, rights-based international order and warns that expanding ministerial powers to intervene in legal strikes risks putting Canada at odds with those principles and its international commitments.
Canada ratified ILO Convention 87 in 1972. The ITUC’s intervention comes months after the International Court of Justice confirmed that the right to strike is protected under the Convention.
“The government has heard these concerns from workers and unions across Canada. Now it is hearing them from the international labour movement,” said Bruske. “We hope the Prime Minister will take a hard look at what is being raised here. There is still time to change course.”
In his letter, ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle warns that when countries fail to uphold the rights they defend internationally, authoritarian governments can use that inconsistency to justify their own attacks on international human rights and labour standards.
The Canadian Labour Congress is calling on the federal government to remove the proposed new restrictions on the right to strike from Bill C-39.
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