Will We Fight for Our Basic Human Rights?
The decision yesterday to invoke the “notwithstanding clause” to force teachers back to work and accept an agreement that 89.5% of teachers had voted against is a gross removal of a fundamental right. Rights only exist in reality if people are willing to defend them. History has shown that when those in power violate the rights of one group, it is not long before the rights of other groups are also violated, unless people fight back.
In 2015, the Supreme Court established that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects a right to strike. “The right of employees to strike is vital to protecting the meaningful process of collective bargaining,” wrote Justice Rosailie Abella in their decision. Collective bargaining, backed up by the ability to strike, have been the essential tools that enabled the labour movement to raise wages and improve working conditions. This allows the creation of a prosperous middle class, which we have enjoyed for decades, but now see being eroded. This right is what allows most of us to prosper, and the ease with which our government has chosen to violate this right threatens this shared prosperity.
Rights, backed up by courts, are fundamental to democracy. Since the beginning of democracy, people have recognized that even the rule of a democratically elected government can become dangerous, especially to minority populations, if it is not held in check by legal protections (rights) backed up by the power of the courts. This is why the international movement of human rights grew out of the horrors of what was a democratically elected Nazi Germany. The notwithstanding clause overrides both these rights and the protection of these rights provided by the courts.
Our government did not need to use the notwithstanding clause – they could have legislated the teachers back to work, because the strike is causing “irreparable harm,” which would then bring the settlement of this strike to binding arbitration, in which both sides would have to live with the decision of an objective third party. Why did our government choose to violate fundamental rights instead? This is a question that all Canadians need to be asking.
What this means is that the teachers are not only fighting to preserve our public education system so that it can provide a quality education to our children, but they are also fighting to preserve the fundamental rights we all share. This is a fight that we all have a stake in. As a parent, I would rather have my children at home a while longer than have the rights we all rely on violated.
Our strategy team met last night. As an Alliance, our first step is to call on all of our members to write their MLA and the premier to push back against this violation of our rights. This is only an initial response. We will engage with our labour partners to decide on a medium and long-term strategy. In the meantime, we are also calling on all of our members to:
2) Use your networks to ask others to write as well.
3) Educate your communities about why this is important and why they need to remember what our government is doing, not just in the coming weeks, but in two years when our government faces an election.
Do you want to learn more?
The CBC has an article on the constitutional history of this:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-notwithstanding-clause-teacher-strike-9.6955608
And on the back to work legislation and its implications for the teachers’ strike:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-teachers-back-to-work-bill-9.6955558
From the Globe and Mail:
https://apple.news/AVfzq9tM3S8Wde6ndsgjH-Q
Here is a video explanation from the Alberta Federation of Labour about why this is significant for labour:
https://youtu.be/h8j-LpHVlF0?si=A__srZ050Euy8bUm
And the statement from labour unions from across our province.
https://afl.org/statement-union-leaders-warn-ucp-government-do-not-invoke-notwithstanding-clause/
You can read Bill 2 yourself at:
Submitted by Ryan Andersen, Lead Organizer (Calgary Alliance for the Common Good)
In September, floral arrangements were sent to one member off due to extended illness and one in celebration of the birth of a child.
Launched in 2006 by the Canadian Library Association (CLA), Canadian Library Month provides “an opportunity for Canadians not familiar with their local library to come down and experience all the services available to them.”
For the month of October, libraries and library partners across Canada raise awareness of the valuable role libraries play in Canadians’ lives. This year’s theme is Libraries for Life.
In 1992, the Government of Canada designated October as Women’s History Month, marking the beginning of an annual celebration of the outstanding achievements of women and girls throughout Canada’s history.
Women’s History Month is also an opportunity to reflect on the work still ahead to remove barriers so everyone can participate fully in Canada’s social, cultural, and economic life.
Ever since workers and their unions won legal recognition in Canada, governments have looked for ways to limit our right to strike. For decades, federal and provincial governments relied on back-to-work legislation to break strikes, but in recent months the federal government has embraced an even less democratic approach: Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.
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