Unfortunately, all too often, governments and the global corporations they support do not respect the rights of workers and unions. Many times they act against workers in violation of their own domestic and international laws. Through our relationship with LabourStart and other global solidarity organizations, the CCU supports the right of workers to participate in and form unions without fear of intimidation, interference or loss of liberty.
We encourage our members and guests to our website to make use of this page to review the daily labour news from Canada and around the world. We ask you to take a few moments to support the global solidarity campaigns that appear here. Add your voice to the struggle for workers rights at home and abroad.
In recent weeks, the hardline, conservative government of President Park Guen-hye in South Korea has been openly attacking union rights through regressive labour legislation, violence, the arrest of trade unionists, and the criminalization of legitimist democratic protest. On November 14, police used water cannons and tear gas as tens of thousands rallied against the Trans-Pacific […]
By CCU President John Hanrahan On Saturday October 10, bombs exploded in Ankara, Turkey at a peaceful demonstration organized by unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The message of the protesters was a call for peace. The CCU’s best sources report that 86 protesters were killed and hundreds wounded. The Confederation of Canadian Unions calls on […]
Esmail Abidi, a union activist with the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association, was arrested by the Iranian government on June 17, 2015. His travel ban and subsequent arrest came after he sought permission to attend Education International’s world congress in Ottawa later this month. There have been recent actions calling for better working conditions for teachers […]
Columbia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. Between January 1, 1986 and April 30, 2010, there were 2,832 murders of unionists within the country. The average for that 20-year period was one murdered trade unionist every three days. As of 2009, trade union membership for the country stood […]
The Confederation of Canadian Unions stands in solidarity with the working people and students of Hong Kong, as well as the HKCTU (Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions), in their struggle for democracy. CCU President John Hanrahan has written to the General Secretary of the HKCTU, Brother Lee Cheuk Yan, who has published an open […]
On February 25, 2014, a general strike was held in South Korea to protest the anti-union attacks of the Park Guen-hye government. In the past year alone, the Korean government has engaged in the following attacks against the country’s union movement: • The de-registering of the teachers union • The prohibiting of the registration of […]
The CCU demands that the Government of Cambodia release immediately all twenty-one workers being held in prison for their role in the strike and protests calling for a fair wage in the Cambodian garment sector. We further call on the government to respect freedom of association and assembly, and to cease in the use of […]
Throughout this month, several hundred Turkish union members will face criminal hearings and possibly years in prison. What was their crime? Exercising their right to freedom of association to organize and participate in strikes and demonstrations opposing government policies. Even as it is embattled in a corruption scandal that has caused various senior politicians to […]
Columbia is widely regarded as the most dangerous country in the world for labour unions and their members. According to the United Nations, over 3,000 trade unionists have been murdered in Columbia since 1986, and at least 11 have been killed in the first six months of 2013 alone. All reports indicate that state authorities […]
Labour unions in Turkey are fighting back against increasingly repressive measures of Prime Minister Erdogan and his authoritarian government. Lives are at risk as there are threats of imprisonment and violence against labour union members and peaceful democracy activists. CCU Vice-President John Hanrahan is calling on everyone to join the LabourStart campaign to stand in […]