Author Description

The passage of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 presents a variety of challenges to organized labour in Canada. Given the restrictions placed on trade uions in the face of capital's need to restructure due to domestic economic downturns and increased foreign competition, organized labour has, in recent years, attempted to legitimize its practices through claims to rights, specifically to constitutional protection under the Charter. At the same time, those very practices trade unions have sought to protect are themselves being challenged as unconstitutional. While it is possible to discuss the interests of labour in terms of rights, it becomes apparent that the collective rights sought by labour are not found within the individualist guarantees enshrined in the Charter. Recent judicial decisions in which labour sought constitutional protection for collective bargaining practices, in light of various federal and provincial restrictions on such activity in both the private and public sectors, have rendered significant portions of Canada's labour regime outside of the scope of the Charter. However, certain cases still pending would, if upheld, constitute a serious threat to traditional aspects of union security. In the end, the future of the labour regime appears to depend on trade union attempts to re-politicize their membership and reassert their political power within the labour regime.