Canada’s Record at the International Labour Organization (ILO)* *
Canada has been a major participant in the ILO from the beginning and was a founding member of the organization in 1919.
In 1948, the government of Canada supported the adoption of both key labour rights’ Conventions: No. 87 – Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize (1948) and No. 98 – Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining, 1949. In March 1972, Canada ratified Convention No. 87.
The government of Canada was an active participant in 1998 in drafting the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and voted in favour of its adoption. By its vote, Canada promised “to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith” the principles underlying the core Conventions.
The federal Parliament went so far as to include in the Preamble of the Canada Labour Code reference to the ILO Conventions and the broadly defined principles of freedom of association.
The reality of Canada’s record, federally and provincially, is quite different, at great cost to Canadians.
Let’s examine Canada’s record at the ILO:
- At the annual June Conference of the ILO, the Canadian government representatives take an active role in developing the ILO’s Conventions and always vote in favour of adoption of each Convention. Canada’s record at ratifying those Conventions however is extremely poor. Of the ILO’s 188 Conventions, Canada has only ratified 30.
- Canada has only ratified four of the 30 ILO Conventions developed since 1982.
- The last ILO convention Canada ratified no. 186 - Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), in July 2010, the first time in over a decade.
- The ratification of MLC should not be seen as a great surprise, since close to half of all ILO Conventions ratified by Canada are aimed at protecting workers who are not employed in Canada. Unfortunately our federal government does not seem to have the same enthusiasm for protecting the rights of workers in Canada, especially migrant workers who come to Canada for temporary employment.
- Canada has ratified only five of the eight ILO fundamental Conventions. Canada is one of only nine countries in the world that have not ratified Convention No. 29 - Forced Labour (1930). Canada is one of only 29 countries in the world that have not ratified Convention No. 98 – Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining (1949). Canada is one of only 51 countries in the world that have not ratified Convention No. 138 – Minimum Age (1973).
- Since 1982, Canada’s record with respect to the number of complaints submitted to the ILO’s Freedom of Association Committee is one of the worst of the 183 member States of the ILO member States with unions in Canada filing more complaints than the national labour movements of any other country.
- There has been 81 ILO complaints filed against Canadian federal and provincial labour legislation since 1982.
- Of those 81 complaints, the ILO has rule on 75 cases and found that freedom of association principles had been violated in 70 of the cases.
- Over 90 percent of all ILO complaints on restrictive labour laws passed in Canada since 1982 were found to be in violation of ILO freedom of association principles.
The Canadian government is failing in its responsibility under international labour and human rights standards to deter such attacks and protect workers’ rights. In fact, the federal government’s record of workers’ rights violations is as deficient or worst than many of the provincial governments in Canada.
It’s time for labour to respond
We will need to focus on the ILO and its provisions. We will need to pressure the Canadian government to ratify the remaining three core ILO Conventions still not ratified by the Government of Canada: No. 29 - Forced Labour, No. 98 – Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining and No. 138 – Minimum Age.
We should promote the enactment of the ILO principles by all provinces in Canada. This would include monitoring of compliance with ILO provisions and public information on ILO standards and reports on Canadian complaints. It should be a matter of considerable shame and embarrassment that governments in this country continue to violate international standards for workers’ rights. Governments must face increased public scrutiny for such actions.
** For a complete list of complaints against restrictive labour legislation submitted by Canadian unions to the International Labour Organization between 1982 and 2009, go to ILO Complaints