On February 25, 2024, CCU President Gregory Ball wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan on banning the transfer of union dues outside of Canada. As Gregory wrote: “Canada remains the only country in the world where a number of its labour unions pay dues to unions based in another country – in our case, the United States.
This practice doesn’t only lead to poorer accountability, lack of national sovereignty, autonomy and local empowerment, it causes the loss of tens of millions of Canadian dollars each year to union offices in the United States, many of them working actively against progressive values and the rights of Canadian workers….
This is why the CCU is publicly calling for the federal government to introduce legislation banning the transfer of union dues paid by Canadian workers to other countries.”
Below is the response from federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan
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Mr. Gregory Ball President
Confederation of Canadian Unions
4700 Keele Street, 151 Farquharson Building Toronto ON M3J 1P3
By email: president@ccu-csc.ca
Dear Mr. Ball:
I am responding to your email, which the Office of the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, sent to me on February 26, 2024. You wrote about your concerns regarding the practice of transmitting certain union dues of Canadian workers to the United States (US).
Under the Canada Labour Code, employees have the freedom to choose their union representatives, some of which may be based in the US. Employees who are concerned about being represented by a US-based union or having their dues used outside of Canada have multiple options.
For instance, if employees do not want to join a union because of its affiliations or practices, they are free to vote against certifying that union, or to invite another union to organize a certification drive instead. Even after a union is certified, workers have options. If a majority of workers in a bargaining unit are dissatisfied with their union, they can seek to have it decertified, or they can support another union vying to take over representation of the unit. In all cases, employees have the freedom to choose the union that will represent them in negotiations with their employer.
Thank you for taking the time to write on this important matter, and please accept my best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., P.C., M.P.
