UN agency condemns labour violations by British Columbia

Campbell Liberals have the worst record in North America; labour practices condemned nine times in two years by International Labour Organization

Ottawa – The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, has again condemned the Liberal government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell for violating workers’ human rights by contravening international labour standards that Canadian governments have committed to uphold.

In a highly critical report released recently, the ILO condemned the province for clear violations of freedom of association principles. It also recommends the government take specific actions to repair the damage done and demands the province come into compliance with international standards.

This is the ninth time in two years the ILO has condemned the B.C. government for trampling on the basic rights of workers, the worst record of any government in North America.

The ILO is a tripartite body made up of representatives from business, government, and unions. It is responsible for monitoring and upholding international labour standards and safeguarding workers’ human rights. These rights are spelled out in ILO Convention No. 87 – Freedom of Association & Protection of the Right to Organize Convention (1948), as well as the ILO’s Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998).

Canada a signatory

Canada and all provinces are signatories to many ILO Conventions, and have made the commitment “to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith” the principles underlying these standards.

In its most recent ruling, the ILO uses uncharacteristically blunt language to describe how the Campbell government violated the human rights of thousands of workers by using the legislature to arbitrarily enforce its will and alter freely negotiated collective agreements.

The ILO ruling was in response to a complaint brought forward by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) on behalf of two of its Components, the British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU/NUPGE), and the Health Sciences Association of British Columbia (HSABC/NUPGE).

The complaint involved three anti-worker laws passed in 2003:

• Bill 94, the Health Sector Partnerships Agreement Act stripped basic rights and protections that exist in the provincial labour code to create draconian union-free zones for private health corporations to operate in B.C.;
• Bill 18, the Coastal Ferry Act dealt with the Campbell government efforts to establish B.C. ferries as a private corporation; and
• Bill 95, the Railway and Ferries Bargaining Assistance Act, was used by Victoria to intervene in ferry workers’ bargaining in the fall of 2003.

'A violation of freedom of association'

The ILO issued a wide-reaching ruling which concluded that all three pieces of legislation clearly “constitute a violation of freedom of association principles.”

As a remedy, the ILO has taken the unusual step of requesting the B.C. government to amend the Health Sector Partnerships Agreement Act and the Coastal Ferry Act to bring them in line with ILO Convention No. 87.

The UN body also warned the Campbell Liberal government to “abstain from adopting” any similar laws in the future.

The ILO also requested to be kept informed of developments on all the above issues.

With the ILO’s most recent ruling, the Campbell government has given the province the embarrassing record of having more ILO complaints filed against it than any other Canadian province in the agency’s 84-year history.

In fact, there has not been another government in North America found guilty more often of violating ILO freedom of association principles in such a short period of time.

Six previous cases of rights abuses

Two years ago, the ILO found the Campbell government guilty of rights abuses for passing six other laws:

• Health Care Services Continuation Act (Bill 2, June 2001);
• Health Care Services Collective Agreements Act (Bill 15, August 2001);
• Skills Development and Labour Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 18, August 2001);
• Education Service Collective Agreement Act (Bill 27, January 2002);
• Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act (Bill 28, January 2002); and
• Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act (Bill 29, January 2002).

The ILO ruled these laws violated international standards by shredding signed collective agreements and curtailing bargaining rights for more than 150,000 health, social service and education workers.

To date, the province continues to thumb its nose at the UN agency, and has failed to comply with any recommendations to bring these laws into compliance.

In fact, since coming to office in May 2001, the B.C. government has passed 12 pieces of legislation that restrict, suspend or deny the freedom of association rights of workers. Restrictions have been placed on the right of unions to organize. Collective agreements have been torn up. Freely negotiated wages and benefits have been swept away. And employers’ proposals have been imposed on workers and their right to strike removed.

Worst in Canadian history

“When it comes to labour laws, no other government in the history of Canada has abused their legislative power more often than the Campbell government,” says NUPGE national president James Clancy. “In fact, B.C. is now at the bottom of the class in North America in terms of respecting workers' rights. This has to be viewed as a major embarrassment for the province."

Clancy says Canada’s reputation in the international community has also been severely tarnished.

“Members of the international community are watching and are aware of the abuses occurring in B.C.,” says Clancy. “The federal government should be very troubled by this and should pressure the Campbell government to implement the ILO’s recommendations and to conform with UN labour standards in the future.”

George Heyman, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union, says the ILO violations are a “horrible blemish on our international image.”

“This is the ninth time in two years that the ILO has condemned the B.C. government for trampling on the basic rights of workers,” says Heyman.

“The bottom line is that when it comes to respecting basic labour rights, B.C. has the worst conviction record of any government in North America,” adds Heyman.

Demand for compliance

Meanwhile, Cindy Stewart, president of the Health Sciences Association of BC, demanded that the Campbell government comply immediately with all of the ILO recommendations.

“If B.C. wants to avoid condemnation and embarrassment on the international stage, then the Liberals must learn to respect basic rights,” says Stewart.

She warns that in the past, “on controversial issues like environmental practices, we’ve seen what can happen when the world community takes exception to the practices of our provincial government."

“Now, with these latest ILO violations, Premier Campbell is exposing B.C. to the prospect of further censure from the world community,” Stewart says. NUPGE

For more information:
• Derek Fudge, NUPGE, (613) 228-9800, dfudge@nupge.ca
• Mary Rowles, BCGEU, (604) 291-9611, mary.rowles@bcgeu.ca
• Rebecca Maurer, HSABC, (604) 439-0994, rebecca@hsabc.org

Background Materials
• The ILO's full decision on case #2324 against the BC government pdf
• The ILO's recommendations from case #2324 against the BC government pdf
• Summary of B.C. legislation restricting collective bargaining and trade union rights pdf
• Statement by Ulf Edstrom of the ILO committee of freedom of association pdf

Web posted by NUPGE: 14 April 2005