\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFile photo<\/p>\n
Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, stands next to Bloody Saturday, the sculpture commemorating the Winnipeg General Strike at the corner of Main Street and Market Avenue.<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n
But we also need to remember the Conservatives’ poor track record. The Harper government enforced back-to work legislation on striking workers on several occasions, in one case preventing a strike before it even began. Reflecting the Conservatives’ anti-union values, the party’s current policy declaration supports the kind of “right to work” legislation common in the U.S. south, which undermines union solidarity and leads to lower pay and benefits for workers.<\/p>\n
These reckless attacks affect workers everywhere, not just those ordered off the picket line. Every time a government forcefully ends a strike, it signals to bosses and CEOs across Canada that they can avoid negotiating in good faith with workers and rely on lawmakers to force employees back to work without fair contracts.<\/p>\n
Attacks on workers also risk rolling back the progress union solidarity has made throughout Canada’s history. It’s worth remembering that CUPW helped usher in paid parental leave, winning this achievement in a 1981 strike and setting the precedent for all Canadians. Canadian unions have also helped women and gender-diverse people by closing the wage gap, promoting gender equity hiring processes and introducing anti-sexual harassment workplace policies.<\/p>\n
More generally, unions have been essential for promoting fair wages and benefits, pensions for seniors, a regular, fair work week, and the right to refuse unsafe work. These achievements haven’t only benefited unionized workers – any time unions achieve major gains, they compel non-union companies to adopt the same policies to prevent their workers from seeking work elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Taken together, this progress has helped democratize workplaces, where so many people spend the majority of their waking lives. Human rights mean nothing if they aren’t respected, and unions have helped working people advance and exercise their rights. A Liberal labour minister, reluctant to face Parliament, shouldn’t be setting aside workers’ charter-protected right to free collective bargaining, which includes the right to strike.<\/p>\n
We know the future of politics in Canada is uncertain. Regardless of who governs going forward, we need to be clear with our elected representatives – enough with the attacks on workers’ rights.<\/p>
If any community can appreciate the legacy of the labour movement, it’s Winnipeg. Every time Winnipeggers pass by the streetcar monument at the corner of Main Street and Market Avenue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":600026449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,20],"tags":[],"education-subject":[],"media-literacy-topic":[],"post_topic":[],"content_type":[24],"class_list":["post-600026448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-correspondents","category-west"],"acf":{"short_title":"","seo_title":"","deck":"","story_tag":"","byline":"Leah Gazan","updates":null},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/correspondents\/2025\/01\/22\/enough-with-the-attacks-on-workers-rights","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Enough with the attacks on workers\u2019 rights","url":"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/correspondents\/2025\/01\/22\/enough-with-the-attacks-on-workers-rights","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/correspondents\/2025\/01\/22\/enough-with-the-attacks-on-workers-rights"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/01\/2937018_web1_28753428_E-COMM-MAPLES-DABEE-DEC18.JPG?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/01\/2937018_web1_28753428_E-COMM-MAPLES-DABEE-DEC18.JPG"},"articleSection":"Community Correspondents","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"laurieb"}],"creator":["laurieb"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Our Communities","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2025-01-22T08:01:15Z","datePublished":"2025-01-22T08:01:15Z","dateModified":"2025-01-22T08:01:15Z"},"rendered":"