As Saskatchewan citizens were just starting to kick back and enjoy the 2008 Labour Day weekend, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and an additional 21 national and provincial labour organizations were filing an historic complaint against the Brad Wall government with the International Labour Organization (an agency of the United Nations).Never before, not even during the darkest days of the most corrupt government in Saskatchewan history (i.e. the Grant Devine conservative government), has such a large and impressive number of unions been forced to take the elected government to court, and/or to an international tripartite body such as the ILO to ensure that their members human rights are respected.
Download a copy of the SFL news release by clicking here.....
Download and view the complete SFL Statement of Evidence to the ILO by clicking here.....
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See information on the NUPGE/SGEU complaint by clicking here.....
See Leader-Post coverage here: Sask. labour group files complaint
Visit the ILO website by clicking here.....
Download a copy of the SFL legal Charter Challenge against Bills 5 & 6 by clicking here.....
Download a copy of the SFL Brief to the Minister of Labour respecting Bills 5 & 6 by clicking here.....
From the news release:
"We firmly believe that the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association will find that the actions of the Saskatchewan government run afoul of Canada’s international obligations and commitments. Part of those commitments is to ensure that workers are free to join unions of their own choosing and to engage in free collective bargaining without undo influence from either employers or government," Hubich added. "At a time when human rights are increasingly topical on the global agenda, the Sask. Party government’s attack on workers’ rights is embarrassing.”
3 comments:
Not to nitpick but not only did labour take Devine to court, but the citizens did on a number of issues as fundamental as the right-to-vote.
The Saskatchewan government invoked the cahrter's notwithstanding clause as a preventive measure in a mid-1980s labour dispute with provincial government workers. The Supreme Court later ruled that the law didn't violate the Charter, so the notwithstanding clause didn't need to be invoked.
Saskatchewan's Electoral Boundaries Commission Act proposed to change riding boundaries. The act resulted in city areas being under represented as compared to rural areas.
This also went to the supreme court to answer the question about violations of the right to vote clause of the charter.
Long story shot, I support you guys in your case and I hope you win, and I hate Brad wall too, but don't whitewash how bad Devine was :-)
I stand corrected! And have amended the posting.
has such a large and impressive number of unions been forced to take the elected government to court, and/or to an international tripartite body such as the ILO to ensure that their members human rights are respected.
Best wishes for a successful outcome! We will be watching developments closely!
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