Quotes
"The use of picket lines is an invaluable tool in the economic arsenal of workers in the collective bargaining process” (para 35). more...
Supreme Court of Canada decision Alberta v. UFCW - November 15, 2013,
“The countries in which union density rates are higher are also the ones in which the welfare state is more developed, taxation levels higher and more progressive, collective bargaining more centralized and labour law both closer to international labour standards and better implemented.” more...
International Labour Organization, World of Work Report 2008: Income Inequalities in the Age of Financial Globalization,
"High rates of unionization lead to greater income equality, lower unemployment and inflation, higher productivity and speedier adjustments to economic shocks." more...
Unions and Collective Bargaining Economic Effects in a Global Environment, The World Bank,
"The gains that union members make at the bargaining table spill over into creating healthier and more prosperous communities for everyone. Union members can be good ambassadors in a campaign for greater fairness for all Canadians." more...
Ken Georgetti, President, Canadian Labour Congress,
"Unions are about fairness: workplace fairness; economic fairness; opportunity fairness; political fairness; and democratic fairness. Unions promote fairness, not just for their members, but for all Canadians.” more...
James Clancy, National President, National Union of Public and General Employees,
“The right to strike is necessary to support collective bargaining. Without the right to strike, collective bargaining is no more than collective begging.” more...
John Hendy, QC, President, International Centre for Trade Union Rights,
No worker is inherently vulnerable. Workers are made vulnerable by laws that facilitate relationships of inequality and laws that fail to address exploitation. We need to name both: how that inequality is constructed and who benefits from it. more...
Fay Faraday, Founder of Faraday Law and inaugural McMurtry Visiting Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School,
"Freedom of association is the most important of all freedoms. It is about equalizing power so that workers can engage in our democracy at an even level with employers and corporations.” more...
Paul Cavalluzzo, Senior Partner, Cavalluzzo Shilton McIntyre Cornish LLB,
“Labour rights are human rights. Unions fought for strong labour rights. When labour rights are weakened, then unions have less ability to fight for human rights for all workers” more...
Paul Champ, Senior Partner, Champ and Associates,
“Unions make an important contribution to democracy …as actors of democracy …by promoting the moral values and ideals of democracy … and by using techniques of democracy such as social protest." more...
Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel, Canadian Civil Liberties Association,