A Message from SIU Canada President Chris Given
The right to strike is one of the most fundamental rights that working people have. It is enshrined in our Charter Rights, and it is the foundation on which unions can push back against exploitation, fight for fairness, and build better workplaces. Without it, workers are left with few other means in the face of employers and governments who seek to dictate the terms of our labour.
Today, that right is under attack. The Government of Canada has again trampled on workers’ rights by ordering Air Canada flight attendants, represented by CUPE, back to work. This was done within hours of their job action beginning. Instead of respecting the collective bargaining process and the sacrifices of thousands of flight attendants fighting for fair treatment, Ottawa has stepped in to crush their democratic right to strike. Canada’s government has chosen to strip workers of their rights, and it is both disgraceful and indefensible.
This latest order is not an isolated incident. The federal government has increasingly relied on Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end strikes and lock workers into arbitration. We have seen this power used in recent years against railway workers, at Canada’s ports, and now against flight attendants. What was once intended to be an extraordinary tool used only in dire national emergencies is fast becoming the government’s default response to major labour disputes. Each time Section 107 is used, it chips away at the Charter rights of Canadian workers and normalizes the idea that the government can and should step in whenever a strike causes any amount of inconvenience to business or the public.
When governments move this quickly to silence one group of workers, they set a dangerous precedent that threatens us all. If they can force flight attendants back on the job the moment a strike begins, what is stopping them from doing the same to seafarers the next time we are forced to withhold our labour?
The government’s actions fly in the face of our Charter rights and undermine decades of hard-won progress in the labour movement. A strike is never an easy decision. It is a last resort, used only when workers are left with no other choice. For the government to strip that tool away and side with employers’ time and time again erodes the very foundation of free and fair collective bargaining.
As seafarers, we know that our work is vital. We keep Canada’s goods moving, we support our economy, and we work in a demanding and often dangerous industry. Just like flight attendants, our labour deserves respect, dignity, and fair compensation. And just like flight attendants, we must be able to use every tool at our disposal, including the right to strike, to defend ourselves at the bargaining table.
That is why the Seafarers’ International Union of Canada and unions across Canada will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Air Canada Component of CUPE and will support them in their fight every step of the way. Their fight is our fight. When one group of workers is silenced, all workers are weaker. When we come together, across industries and across unions, we are stronger, and we cannot be ignored.
We call on our members, our allies in the labour movement, and all Canadians who care about fairness, democracy and our fundamental rights to join us in defending the right to strike. The government cannot be allowed to trample on our rights and tip the scales in favour of employers. We must push back together.
We must all defend the right to strike, or risk losing every right we have won.
