Publications

Target-Benefit Pension Plans

Submission to the Department of Finance Consultation on a Potential Federal Framework for Target-Benefit Pension Plans The CLC submitted this proposal to the Department of Finance recently to provide input on the proposed federal framework. While we recognize the focused nature of the consultation, it raises fundamental concerns of plan beneficiaries’ rights under pension legislation and jurisprudence, funding requirements, plan…

CLC President renews call for public inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada

The Right Honourable Stephen HarperPrime Minister of CanadaOffice of the Prime Minister80 Wellington StreetOttawa, ON  K1A 0A2 Dear Prime Minister, On behalf of the 3.3 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress, I write to you today to renew our call for a public inquiry into the missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. Earlier this year, the RCMP reported…

CLC pushes for worker’s rights in Bangladesh

Recently, the CLC wrote to Foreign Minister John Baird, asking him to press the government of Bangladesh to comply with its commitments to respect labour rights and to ensure the safety of garment factories.  A new framework for action called the “Sustainability Compact”, was launched with the initial support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Union (EU) and…

Together We’ve Got PRIDE

For more than 30 years Canada’s unions have stood up for the LGBTQ community[[{“fid”:”216″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:”pride banner”,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:”pride banner”},”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“alt”:”pride banner”,”title”:”pride banner”,”style”:”float: right; margin: 5px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]] We’ve been there at work, in the courts, and in the streets to defend the rights of our members, their partners and their families.   We’ve been there to protest injustice and violence. We’ve taken on and won…

CLC Presents to House of Commons Committee on the Renewal of Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs)

Barbara Byers—Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress—presented four recommendations today which would improve the quality, equity, accessibility, and funding of training in Canada. Introduction On behalf of the 3.3 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) we appreciate this opportunity to comment on the renewal of the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs). We would like to make four recommendations.1.…

Underemployment is Canada’s Real Labour Market Challenge

A Profile of Canada’s Labour MarketIntroduction Each month, Statistics Canada releases its unemployment rate, and many use it to talk about job creation in Canada. Monthly unemployment rates move up and down, making headlines but revealing little. As work patterns change, with greater use of part-time employees and other forms of precarious labour, the headline unemployment rate becomes less and…

Federal Budget – 2014 What’s in it for us?

Federal Budget 2014 Analysis What’s in it for us Introduction The 2014 Federal Budget lacks any vision about how to stop growing inequality and stimulate the economy. The Conservative plan continues to focus on austerity measures to balance their budget by 2015, and rests their hopes for economic growth on no-strings attached corporate tax cuts. But this plan is not…

What did Corporate Tax Cuts Deliver? A Background Report for Corporate Tax Freedom Day 2014

It has become the norm to believe that cutting corporate income taxes is good for the economy. We have been led to believe that cutting corporate income taxes to increase after-tax corporate profits would lead companies to re-invest in operations like research and development, machinery and staff training to boost productivity. This in turn would stimulate economic growth, and create…

Response to the Proposed Regulatory Changes Amending the Immigration and Refugee Act as it Relates to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Introductory comments  Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is seriously broken. The proposed regulatory changes do not go far enough to address the TFWP shortcomings. The programs have grown to epic proportions with no meaningful oversight or authentic measures to hold employers, labour brokers or immigration consultants accountable. The program is serving as a wage suppression and displacement tool, negatively…

How the Conservatives expanded the temporary worker pipeline

For decades, Canada has relied on migrant workers to help develop the economy. Many come through the government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). This program was intended to fill very specific jobs on a short term basis—jobs that required workers and skills that did not exist in the country.   But since 2006, the Harper government has made it much…