Communist Party of Canada issued a statement to "stop the attack by Carney and big business on the right to strike." The Party called for a Charter of Labour Rights.
Communist Party of Canada condemns attacks on right to strike
Port, rail, and air transport monopolies are lobbying the federal government to weaken the right to strike. Public submissions from the Railway Association of Canada, made as part of consultations conducted by Employment and Social Development Canada, openly called for changes to Canada's Labour Code to "reduce the likelihood of work stoppages." It has been widely reported that the federal government is seriously considering amending the Labour Code to weaken the right to strike, demonstrating that these attacks must be taken seriously. This is a call to action.
Over the past two years, we have witnessed a wave of strikes led by workers in federally regulated sectors who have used their right to strike to bring corporate monopolies back to the bargaining table. These include dockworkers and porters in Montreal and along the West Coast, Air Canada flight attendants, CPKC and CN railway workers, and Canada Post sorters and porters. In each case, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the workers back to work, invoking section 107 of the Labour Code. Clearly, the monopolies are not content with seeing their friends in Ottawa end the strikes with draconian measures; they now want their government to prevent strikes from occurring in the first place. This proves that unity in action is the way forward. But the right to strike is not guaranteed by tripartite lobbying, only by the organized struggle of workers.
All workers, whether or not they are members of the Canadian Labour Congress, and beyond federally regulated workplaces, must defend the right to strike. The fact that monopolies feel powerful enough to suggest eliminating the right to strike makes this issue urgent and demands an uncompromising response from the labour movement.
The federal government's willingness to cave to corporate demands to weaken the right to strike is not a strategy to defend Canadian sovereignty or workers against American aggression. On the contrary, these policies are straight out of Donald Trump's anti-union playbook and are of the same type as those they are now seeking to impose through the upcoming update to the USMCA. Attacking workers' rights does not strengthen Canada's independence; it only weakens the working class's ability to resist the corporate agenda from both sides of the border.
The Communist Party of Canada reiterates its long-standing demand for a Labour Bill of Rights that would enshrine the right of all workers to strike, including political and social strikes. Workers do not need tripartite negotiations that will only benefit quarterly profits while undermining their ability to bargain collectively. Workers do not need endless lawsuits or legal proceedings that take years to conclude, while their daily working conditions deteriorate and they are forced to work without contracts or, worse, be replaced by strikebreakers. What workers need is a unified approach to action, which means taking to the streets as part of a growing plan of action to strengthen workers' power. An attack on one is an attack on all. Today, it may be the railway monopolies pushing to end the right to strike. Tomorrow, if unions and workers don't take the necessary steps, these same monopolies will pressure the government to end the right to collective bargaining. Now is the time to stop the erosion of workers' rights. Now is the time to fight to expand and guarantee these rights through a Charter of Labour Rights.
The right to strike in this country has never been a gift from benevolent monopolies. The right to strike was won and defended through class struggle, at the cost of imprisonment, beatings, deportations, blacklisting, and worse. Today, once again, workers are called upon to defend the right to strike, but they must go further and demand an advancement of their rights, not just the defense of the status quo. The right to strike is not only important for federal workers; it is fundamentally in the public interest, because it prevents monopolies from imposing unchecked exploitation. A Bill of Workers' Rights would be a major advancement for all workers in this country and could only be achieved through a truly unified campaign of action.
Solidarity forever!
Workers of the world, unite!
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada