Trade unions Archives - Communist Party of Canada

Labour Day 2022: For a United and Class Oriented Movement

Posted on September 1, 2022

Sep 012022

Labour Day 2022 marks an escalating struggle by workers in the public and private sectors to recover wages slashed during two years of pandemic and economic crisis, and to resist public sector pay restraints, huge hikes in interest rates, and runaway price increases on food, fuel and rents.

In BC, public employee job actions started August 15, and 400,000 workers could eventually strike, demanding that the NDP government negotiate real wage increases with cost of living provisions (COLA) to protect against runaway inflation.

Solidarity with the Port of Montreal Dock Workers

Posted on May 7, 2021

May 072021

The Communist Party of Canada strongly denounces bill C-29 adopted by the House of Commons and the Senate on Friday April 30. It forces 1151 dock workers back to work at the Port of Montreal who were on strike since April 26.

The Port of Montreal dock workers have been without a collective agreement since 2018. The main point of contention in the negotiations has to do with work-life balance and the right to disconnect from work. In fact, they are currently asked to call the employer between 6 p.m. and midnight to find out their assignment for the next day. The employer’s bad faith forced them to strike for ten days last August, which resulted in a seven-month truce at the end of which the workers rejected the employers’ offer by 99.7%.

Communists demand Parliament reject USMCA

Posted on February 18, 2020

Feb 182020

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada calls on Parliament to refuse to ratify the USMCA, and we urge the labour and democratic movements to mobilize against this sellout of the interests of working people and farmers across Canada.

CLC should reinstate Lafleur & strengthen international solidarity

Posted on September 30, 2019

Sep 302019

The news that the Canadian Labour Congress has stripped Vice-President Donald Lafleur of his duties and put him on administrative leave raises many troubling questions. This action runs counter to the urgent need for labour to adopt a more militant fightback strategy, to strengthen the role of trade unions in the struggles for peace and international solidarity, and to promote a more democratic and inclusive leadership style, from the top levels of the CLC down to the provincial federations, labour councils, and union locals.

Bombardier: Public takeover to save jobs, communities and the environment!

Posted on July 18, 2019

Jul 182019

In the wake of the recent announcement from Bombardier that it will cut 550 jobs at its Thunder Bay Rail Transportation facility, the Communist Party of Canada is reiterating its call for the aerospace and transportation corporation to be placed under public ownership and democratic control.

The job cuts are devastating to the Northern Ontario city of just over 100,000 people, where Bombardier is the 8^th largest employer. The announcement comes on the heels of 15,000 job cuts worldwide over the previous three years, including 3000 in Quebec and Ontario in November 2018. Over that same period, Bombardier received at least $4 billion in public bailouts from the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments.

Nationalize General Motors in Canada!

Posted on March 1, 2019

Mar 012019

The Communist Party of Canada calls on the federal government to nationalize the General Motors operations in Canada under democratic control, as the only way to save the jobs of the 2,700 workers in Oshawa and the many jobs in parts plants and in the surrounding communities dependent on the income from workers in the factory. Continue reading »

Withdraw back to work legislation

Posted on November 22, 2018

Nov 222018

The Communist Party of Canada today demanded the federal government withdraw back to work legislation and an enabling bill to speed its passage, which the government will use against the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

The union has been forced to strike as a result of the employer’s refusal to negotiate a fair contract that takes into account pay equity for women workers, health and safety, staffing, over-burdening, job security, a reduction in precarious employment, pay for all hours worked, and a better work-life balance for postal workers. Continue reading »

Unifor and CLC: get back to the table!

Posted on January 23, 2018

Jan 232018

The announcement on January 17 by the National Executive Board of UNIFOR, Canada’s largest private sector union, that it was disaffiliating from the Canadian Labour Congress, effective immediately, is a shock to millions of workers in Canada – over 3 million of whom are members of unions affiliated to the CLC, and 300,000 who are members of UNIFOR.

Many remember an earlier split in the late ‘90s, ostensibly over the same issues, which fractured the labour movement for almost a decade. During that time governments and corporations drove a vicious austerity agenda that cut jobs and wages, closed plants and factories, destroyed defined benefit pension plans, orchestrated bankruptcies under the CCAA that stole workers’ wages, pensions, and benefits – just like US Steel, Nortel Networks, and Sears are doing today. Union density was undermined, the pay gap grew wider and part-time and precarious work replaced good union jobs. Public and post-secondary education and healthcare were under sharp attack, core funding for public services and universal social programs was slashed, and the trade union movement itself came under sustained attack. Corporations raked in super-profits, half a million manufacturing jobs disappeared, and real wages, purchasing power, and living standards fell. Continue reading »

Save Canada Post! Support postal workers.

Posted on October 5, 2016

Oct 052016

After protracted intransigence at the bargaining table over fundamental human rights issues, a long over-due intervention by the government, and a united and militant fight against concessions put up by the union with the full support of the public, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers finally has a tentative two-year deal with Canada Post.
The deal halts managements vicious attack on the workers’ pensions, preventing two-tier pensions. It doubles paramedical benefits for Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers, who are predominantly women, raising extended healthcare benefits for these workers to the same level as urban operations. While the illegal gendered 28% pay gap between urban and rural employees remains, the union did win a major human rights victory, establishing a process to finally resolve this shocking pay discrepancy within nineteen months. Continue reading »

Build mass Labour struggles and a People’s Coaltion

Posted on August 23, 2016

Aug 232016

Labour Day 2016 statement from the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

Coming almost a year after the defeat of one of the most dangerously reactionary governments in Canadian history, Labour Day 2016 is an important point for the organized trade union movement to respond to challenges facing the working class in the changed political environment – and most importantly, to mobilize against the continued neoliberal austerity policies of governments and corporations. Continue reading »