Publications

CLC President available to media following Bill C-39 committee appearance

OTTAWA — Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske will be available to media Tuesday, October 20, following her appearance before the House of Commons committee studying Bill C-39. Bruske will discuss the legislation’s consequences for collective bargaining and the right to strike, and outline the changes workers are demanding: repeal Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code and remove the…

CLC brings solution to Parliamentary Committee as Bill C-39 threatens labour stability

OTTAWA – Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Bea Bruske will appear before the parliamentary committee studying Bill C-39 today, warning MPs that the government’s proposed powers to end legal strikes could undermine the labour stability they purport to improve. Bruske will urge committee members to remove the proposed expansion of Section 107 and adopt amendments the CLC has already presented…

Workers rally at MPs’ offices across Canada to defend right to strike

OTTAWA – Workers are rallying in 21 communities across Canada today, warning MPs that Bill C-39 will fuel labour unrest as some of the country’s largest unions pledge to defy the proposed restrictions on the right to strike. With MPs home for constituency week, demonstrations are taking place outside constituency offices across the country, including those of Prime Minister Mark…

Bill C-39 could create more labour unrest, union leaders warn

OTTAWA — Bill C-39 could make labour disputes longer and harder to resolve, union leaders warned MPs Thursday, undermining the stability the federal government says the legislation is intended to protect. Ahead of Thursday’s second reading vote, Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske joined Candace Rennick, National Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Tom Doran, President of the…

World Day for Decent Work: Canada’s unions fighting to protect the right to strike

As workers around the world mark the World Day for Decent Work on October 7, Canada’s unions are sounding the alarm over the federal government’s proposed restrictions on the right to strike. Canada’s unions have been clear: decent work means decent rights, including the right to strike. Expanding government powers to restrict workers’ constitutionally protected right to strike is the…

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…

Honouring Truth Means Acting on Reconciliation

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a reminder of our ongoing and collective responsibility to recognize and confront the legacy of the residential school system and other unjust colonial systems and policies impacting the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada today. This year marks 11 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report and 94…

CEOs covered by new labour code make up to 199 times more than their workers

OTTAWA — As some of Canada’s biggest employers welcome the government’s new restrictions on the right to strike, new analysis from the Canadian Labour Congress finds that CEOs at six of Canada’s biggest employers make as much as 199 times the average compensation in their industries. In 2024, the CEOs of Air Canada, CN, CPKC, Rogers, Bell, and TELUS received…

Bill C-39 would give Canadian government broadest strike intervention powers in G7 

OTTAWA — If passed, Bill C-39 would give the Canadian government broader unilateral power to end a legal strike than exists in any other G7 country, according to a comparative legal analysis commissioned by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).  That includes Donald Trump’s United States, where even the President cannot unilaterally end a national-emergency strike and impose a binding settlement. U.S.…

Employers cheer Bill C-39 restrictions on the right to strike

OTTAWA — Employer groups are welcoming Bill C-39’s new powers to end legal strikes. Canada’s unions say their reaction exposes the contradiction in the government’s claims about “strengthening” workers’ rights. “When large corporations are cheering new government powers to shut down legal strikes, workers should be alarmed,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Bill C-39 gives one…