The national executive board of Canada’s largest union, CUPE, has passed a unanimous resolution vowing to defy the Liberal government’s Bill C-39 limiting the constitutional right to strike if it is passed unamended through Parliament.
The right to strike is a protected right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – a right affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015. The jobs minister – under this government or any other – does not get to pick and choose whether that right is respected in this country.
“The Prime Minister has a mandate to defend Canada against Trump – not to run roughshod over our constitutional rights,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “Gutting Canadians’ Charter rights will not make us stronger against Trump – it will make us weaker. The government should scrap this unconstitutional legislation, protect our rights and freedoms, and make corporations bargain fairly.”
Bill C-39 is an unprecedented attack on the ability of working people in Canada to negotiate their way to better wages and a better life – giving corporations even more power by taking away our right to free and fair collective bargaining.
“Governments cannot legislate labour peace,” said CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick. “Legislating away our constitutional right to strike will not prevent us from using the full power of our union to defend our members. With the affordability crisis, workers need the protection of unions and their right to fight for a better life now more than ever.”
