UFCW Celebrates SC Ruling that Supports Workers’ Right to Strike

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) have announced to be celebrating the precedent-setting Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that strongly supported that workers have a constitutional right to strike. According to the court ruling announced on Friday, workers’ right to strike is an essential part of the collective bargaining process in Canada’s system of labour relations. Additionally, it said that though governments have the authority to limit the right to strike for workers who perform essential services, they should not limit this right more than necessary.

UFCW’s national president, Paul Meinema, stated that “we applaud the Supreme Court for affirming workers’ right to strike in Canada,” adding that “the right to withdraw labour is a universal human right that is essential to ensuring fairness in the collective bargaining process.” One of the country’s leading union, UFCW, represents more than 250,000 workers in various industries.

The landmark ruling was made in result of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour challenging a 2008 law which limits who can go on strike. According to the ruling, the Saskatchewan legislation “prohibits unilaterally designated essential service employees from participating in any strike action against their employer” and gives them “no meaningful mechanism for resolving bargaining impasses.” Meinema alleged that vast majority of collective agreements in Canada are negotiated without a strike and stoppage is always a last resort when bargaining but still the right to strike is “integral to enabling workers to negotiate with employers on more equal terms.”

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