Come on, Canada, support the ILO convention on the right to collective bargaining and union organizing

The United Nations says there are eight standards that are fundamental to the rights of human beings at work. Canada is one of the few countries in the world that have not yet formally accepted all eight of these standards. The overwhelming majority of countries have ratified all eight of the ILO's core conventions. Canada has not. Neither have a small number of other countries, including China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

We are close: Canada has ratified seven of the core conventions. It's now time to push our federal governemnt to ratify the eigth: the ILO Convention No. 98 - Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.

The Canadian constitution enshrines the rights contained in the ILO Convention.

In January 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada issued three important decisions that have positive implications for workers' rights and workplace justice in Canda. Combined with its 2007 decision, the Supreme Court's 2015 "labour trilogy" affirms that Canadian workers have the consitutional right to join a union of their own choosing, bargaining collectively and take strke action against their employer.

These decisions affirm labour rights as a cornerstone of Canada's democracy.

They also affirm the same fundamental rights that Convention No. 98 affords to workers around the world. No longer can a fgovenrment in Cnada make the argument that its labour laws are not compliant with Convention No. 98. To do so is an acknowledgement that its labour laws are unconstituional.

To find out how you can help pressure the federal, provincila, adn territorial governments to ratify ILO Convention No. 98, visit www.labourrights.ca/actions/its-time-canada-sign-ilo-convention-no-98