Brussels, 21 March 2007: A new ITUC report issued today on Canada reveals shortcomings in the application and effective enforcement of core labour standards in the country, especially regarding discrimination and limitation to trade union rights in provincial laws. The ITUC report coincides with Canada’s trade policy review at the WTO on 21-23 March 2007.
The ITUC report highlights the fact that Canada has only ratified five of the eight ILO international core labour standards. It has failed to ratify ILO Convention 98, the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, ILO Convention 138, the Minimum Age Convention and ILO Convention 29, the Forced Labour Convention. As an ILO member, Canada must ratify these three major conventions. Urgent measures must then be taken to comply with the commitments to respect internationally recognized core labour standards that Canada has accepted in various international forums. ”It is simply not acceptable that a country such as Canada has not ratified and fully implemented these fundamental Conventions,” said Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary.
Although some federal laws give workers the right to join and form trade unions, significant limitations on trade union and other workers’ rights exist under Canada’s provincial laws. These limitations impose significant obstacles to trade union activities. According to the report, violations take place throughout the country and the International Labour Organization, through its supervisory committees, has criticized the situation and called for amendment of these legal deficiencies.
The new report also shines a light on the reality of discrimination in Canada. Women continue to be paid significantly lower incomes than men, while discrimination against workers of colour, Aboriginal people and workers with disabilities continues in the country. One positive aspect of the report shows that child labour is not a significant problem in Canada, although it does linger in some jurisdictions.
The report concludes with a chapter on trafficking of people, as a part of its analysis of the existence of forced labour. It notes that some 800 people are annually trafficked to the United States for purposes of sexual exploitation or the drug trade.
Founded on November 1 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 304 national affiliates.
For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.
