International Labour Organization (ILO) and Trade Agreements
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has undertaken a series of activities to increase Canadian trade union members' knowledge of labour issues in international agreements and to promote unions' participation in the development of these agreements and their implementation.
Labour issues are dealt with in a number of international arenas, such as International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ECOSOC) and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies. The CLC has a long history of representing Canadian labour at the ILO, the global union movement, and regional organizations in the Americas.
The CLC coordinates its work on international labour issues and engages in joint actions with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and with its representative body in the Americas, the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA). The CLC is committed to using all international instruments available to promote Decent Work and improve the quality of work and life for Canadian workers. This project deals primarily with three types of international agreements to which Canada is a party:
I. Instruments & Measures of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
The International Department of the CLC has organized a series of workshops across Canada, and in selected countries in the Americas, to increase awareness amongst trade unionists about international labour issues and agreements and the implications for their implementation, both in Canada and abroad.
The project focuses on ILO Conventions ratified by Canada, on the understanding that they can become effective tools for progress, when designed and implemented properly, and what to do when they are not. The workshops in Canada aim to strengthen the role of trade unions to better defend the interests of workers, now that a 2007 Supreme Court decision has incorporated ILO Conventions into the body of Canadian Law.
Each workshop has been planned to reflect the different concerns of trade union participants including workers' rights, pensions, benefits, as well as employment, equality or collective bargaining issues, as they affect workers.
II. Trade agreements between Canada and its trading partners in the Americas
- The CLC has held workshops in Colombia and Peru to engage with the unions of Canada's newest trading partners, to study the labour provisions contained in Canadian free trade agreements. The results of the workshops will contribute to a series of recommendations to the Canadian government on trade policy.
- The CLC has undertaken a series of research efforts to monitor the views of unions in Central America and the Caribbean, two areas where Canada is currently discussing the terms of or negotiating agreements.
III. The Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour (IACML) and its Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) of the Organization of American States (OAS)
- The CLC is carrying out a review of the activities of the Trade Union Technical Advisory Council (COSATE) of the the Inter-American Conference of Labour Ministers (IACML), in order to propose improvements and potential reforms to the statutes to the IACML structures in the coming Conference in September 2009. Components of the study include a survey of past and present members of COSATE, a workshop to review the conclusions of the survey and a final report with recommendations to the IACML.
This project is made possible with support from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) through its Advisory Committee on International Labour Affairs (ACILA), a 14-member Committee composed of employer and worker representatives to provide advice on federal government policies and initiatives pertaining to international labour matters to Canada's Minister of Labour
For more information on this project, please contact Lucien Royer.