National union urges Harper government to speak up on the right to strike

The group of employers on the ILO’s Governing Body are attempting to overturn more than 50 years of international legal precedents that recognize the fundamental right to strike. Employers will profit mightily if they succeed, but at the expense of working and middle-class families and communities around the world.

“Healthy unions do much more than simply ensure fair wages for their members,” says James Clancy, National President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE). “Unions matter to everybody because they reduce income inequality, strengthen democracy, resolve conflict peacefully, and spread prosperity, safety and justice."

“But they can’t do any of those things without the right to strike — it’s the only power they have.”

The ILO meets next month in Geneva and will consider the motion to overturn the recognition of the right to strike.

Provincial unions are calling on their labour ministers to add their voices to the call for the right to strike. See the joint letter from HSA President Val Avery and BCGEU President Stephanie Smith here.

For more information,  and to add your voice, see the information on NUPGE's website here:

http://nupge.ca/content/12097/canadians-urge-federal-government-take-me…