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Toronto (12 July 2013) – In Ontario, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak has been musing about instituting U.S. style labour laws when he gets into power. Federal M.P. and cabinet minister, Pierre Polievre has been issuing the same threat to the rest of Canadians.
Politicians warning they will bring U.S. labour laws to Canada
In Canada, we have a history of the right to association (unionizing) and the right to collective bargaining. In the United States, their unionization rate has fallen in the last to 35.9 per cent in the public sector and 6.6 per cent in the private sector. You can glean from these statistics how U.S. labour laws, especially the so-called "Right-to-Work" laws, are affecting workers' ability to organize in a fair and democratic way.
But statistics don't don't the full story. Statistics don't show the faces of the people affected. They don't show the conditions they live in. And for Canadians to understand what could happen if U.S. labour laws come to our country, they need to see it.
To give the best clear picture about the impact of these laws, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) sent renowned journalist, Bill Gillespie and a video crew to the U.S. to interview people who have been affected.
Only part of the project
In addition to talking to people whose lives have been affected by the anti-worker labour legislation, the crew was tasked with talking to the proponents of the legislation and the so-called "Right-to-Work" laws. These interviews will form the basis for a documentary to come out later this year.
Find out more about so-called Right-to-work and other anti-labour legislation
In eleven days, the crew traveled from Toronto to Michigan, to Ohio and into South Carolina. Capturing thousands of pictures, thousands of minutes of video and seeing the U.S. through very different eyes: through the eyes of those who live and work under legislation that undermines the rights of working people in favour of the companies they work for.
In one of the last blog posts, Bill Gillespie wrote, "Right to Work is an insidiously misleading slogan. It suggests it’s about the right to a job but it’s not. It’s a law that allows a union member to stop paying dues but still get the benefits of the collective agreement negotiated by the union and its dues-paying members. I hesitate to use the phrase but that idea sounds a little un-Canadian to me."
Watch all the videos blogs and read the commentary at Road Talk Blog.
More information:
Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE