Canada’s unions stand with locked out steelworkers in Quebec
June 20, 2019
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) fully supports the United Steelworkers (USW) complaint against the Government of Quebec for violating international labour laws and severely impeding the rights of workers. One thousand members of USW have been locked out of their workplace at an aluminum smelter in Bécancour, Quebec for the past 17 months. Over the spring of 2019, Quebec’s Premier François…
This Collective Bargaining Rights Day, Unions Celebrate Wins for All Workers
June 7, 2019
Canada’s unions are recognizing June 8 as Collective Bargaining Rights Day by celebrating the labour movement’s long and proud history of winning important gains at the bargaining table, a legacy that improves the economic realities for all Canadian workers and their families. “Collective bargaining allows working people to take part in fundamental decisions affecting their lives and, through collective action,…
Canadian workers are building the economy, but many working families cannot make ends meet. The labour movement works to change this, advocating for a range of policies. Unions bargain for better wages and benefits, helping workers and their families and creating a more just, prosperous and equitable society.
On December 1, 1911, The American Magazine published a poem with the title “Bread and Roses” for the very first time. Over the next few years, it would become an anthem of the trade union movement, linked to the struggle for social justice and equality. Now a favourite anthem of the labour movement around the world, James Oppenheim was inspired to write…
Ralph Klein blinks – conservative plans to slash budgets and privatize health services thwarted by Calgary laundry workers.
November 14, 2018
On November 14, 1995, laundry workers at the Calgary General Hospital called in sick to protest the outsourcing of their jobs. Enough was enough. It was time to take a stand. Within ten days, about 2,500 workers in six hospitals and nine nursing homes were on wildcat strikes and hundreds of other health care workers joined work-to-rule and other worker…
Industrial workers of the world (iww) declared illegal in Canada
September 24, 2018
On September 24, 1918, the Canadian government made membership in the Industrial Workers of the World illegal. The maximum sentence for membership in the IWW was five years to be served in one of 24 internment camps. War brings out the worst in people and part of the propaganda of government in war time is to play on fear; fear of the…
How a 99-day strike in 1945 changed labour relations in Canada
September 12, 2018
The 1945 strike by 11,000 workers at a Ford plant in Windsor, Ontario was a turning point in Canadian labour relations. The 99-day labour dispute spread to include another 25 plants as workers walked off the job in solidarity with Ford workers. It resulted in a 3-day, worker-lead blockade of the Ford plant to stop police from moving in to…
Korean trade union leader Han Sang-gyun released from prison
May 30, 2018
The CLC joins the global trade union movement in welcoming the release of KCTU ex-president Han Sang-gyun, who was unjustly imprisoned for fighting labour reforms that would have worsened the lives of South Korean workers. On May 21st, Han Sang-gyun was released on parole after serving two and a half years in prison on charges related to legitimate and peaceful…
Canadian and Colombian labour ministers sign action plan
May 24, 2018
In May 2016, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), together with the CUT (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores) Colombia and Colombian unions , submitted a complaint to the Canadian National Administrative Office (NAO) stating the Government of Colombia failed to comply with its obligations under the Canada-Colombia Agreement on Labour Cooperation (CCOALC). The complaint addressed issues of anti-union violence and the abuse…
Unions become legal in canada (but picketing is outlawed).
April 18, 2018
On April 18, 1872, the federal government of John A. Macdonald introduced the Trade Unions Act, Canada’s first labour law, which gave workers the legal right to associate in trade unions. It was a direct response to the arrest and criminal prosecution of 24 leaders of the Toronto printers strike by Macdonald’s political opponents – aimed at garnering votes but…