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Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (French: Congrès du travail du Canada or CTC), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.
The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, through a merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the two major labour congresses in Canada at the time. The TLC's affiliated unions represented workers in a specific trade while the CCL's affiliated unions represented all employees within a workplace, regardless of occupation. The trades-based organizational model, which continues today especially in the building and construction industries, is based in older European traditions that can be traced back to guilds. However, with industrialization came the creation of a new group of workers without specific trades qualifications and, therefore, without ready access to the representation offered by the TLC's affiliates. In response, these workers adopted the industrial model of union organization and formed the CCL as their umbrella organization.[citation needed]
The growth of industrial jobs in the first half of the 20th century, combined with new legislation in most Canadian jurisdictions explicitly recognizing the industrial union organizational model, led to fears of raiding between the unions belonging to the two federations, the TLC and the CCL. Tensions were increased because of significant political differences. The TLC leadership, in the person of President Percy Bongough, had actively supported the Liberal Party. With the defeat of Liberal R. K. Gervin and Conservative A. F. MacArthur by Claude Jodoin at the TLC's convention in August 1953, some of the political differences between the TLC and CCL began to wane. Jodoin was not a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, having served for a time as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Quebec. However, after some conflicts with the Liberals leadership, he sat as an independent and then ran (and was defeated) as an independent in the general election of 1944. In December 1953 the TLC and CCL created a joint committee to explore means of cooperation and possible merger. On May 9, 1955, the joint committee announced that a merger agreement had been reached. The terms were accepted by the June 1955 TLC convention and in October 1955 by the CCL convention.[citation needed]
In 1963, independent unions representing civic workers and workers in the broader public sector merged their organizations to form the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, legislative changes allowed employees of the federal and provincial public service to join unions, bringing new members into CLC-affiliated unions. During this period, hospital workers increasingly became unionized. In the 1990s, unions of teachers, nurses and other similar groups affiliated with the CLC and the CLC's provincial labour federations.[citation needed]
In January 2018, Unifor, the largest private sector union in Canada, left the CLC to become independent. Unifor stated that among the reasons for leaving were disagreements with the CLC over the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them, and concerns Unifor had about US-based unions working against the rights of their members, as well as two instances of US-based unions interfering in elections for Canadian union local leadership. The CLC accused Unifor of leaving the congress in order to raid an affiliate union, UNITE HERE Local 75, in Toronto.
Under the general labour relations laws in effect in all Canadian jurisdictions, groups of workers deemed "appropriate for collective bargaining" may vote to join a union. The appropriateness of a group for collective bargaining is established by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and may consist of all employees of an enterprise at a single location or a select group of employees—maintenance workers, a specific trade or regulated group (such as teachers or nurses), front office employees, etc.[citation needed] Where such a vote is successful, the union that they have joined becomes their bargaining agent and the workers in the jobs to which the collective agreement pertains are members of a bargaining unit. Depending upon the terms of the collective agreement, some or all of the workers employed in jobs covered by the collective agreement will become members of the union which has become their bargaining agent. Union members within a bargaining unit elect their stewards, health and safety representatives and unit leadership.[citation needed]
In industrial sectors, local unions may have members in several bargaining units. These are so-called "amalgamated locals" and are increasingly becoming the norm. Within some local unions there may be tens—indeed hundreds—of bargaining units. All the union members in all the bargaining units that belong to the same local union elect their local union executive board, including president. The local union may have various sub-committees of the executive board such as political action and health and safety. In each bargaining unit, the unions will establish a union bargaining committee for the bargaining unit prior to commencing negotiations with the employer. This bargaining committee will meet with the union's members within the bargaining unit to determine the needs and wants of the membership. However, under laws in Canada, since the local union is the legal bargaining agent, the signature of the local union's president or appointed representative must appear on the contract for it to be legally binding.[citation needed]
Local unions are chartered organizations of the national or international union to which they belong. A local union charter may contain clauses that limit and/or protect the scope of the local union. For example, the charter may identify the geographic area, trade, industry, etc. to which the local union must confine itself or to which it has the exclusive mandate to represent workers.[citation needed] Other sectors have other structures as determined by the needs of the industries and the legal framework. Most jurisdictions have separate legislation under which employees of the public service may form unions. In some provinces, colleges, fire protection and police services have separate Acts. Hotel employees may also have special legislation that works alongside the labour relations legislation for that province but which removes the right to strike and replaces it with binding arbitration.[citation needed]
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Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (French: Congrès du travail du Canada or CTC), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.
The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, through a merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the two major labour congresses in Canada at the time. The TLC's affiliated unions represented workers in a specific trade while the CCL's affiliated unions represented all employees within a workplace, regardless of occupation. The trades-based organizational model, which continues today especially in the building and construction industries, is based in older European traditions that can be traced back to guilds. However, with industrialization came the creation of a new group of workers without specific trades qualifications and, therefore, without ready access to the representation offered by the TLC's affiliates. In response, these workers adopted the industrial model of union organization and formed the CCL as their umbrella organization.[citation needed]
The growth of industrial jobs in the first half of the 20th century, combined with new legislation in most Canadian jurisdictions explicitly recognizing the industrial union organizational model, led to fears of raiding between the unions belonging to the two federations, the TLC and the CCL. Tensions were increased because of significant political differences. The TLC leadership, in the person of President Percy Bongough, had actively supported the Liberal Party. With the defeat of Liberal R. K. Gervin and Conservative A. F. MacArthur by Claude Jodoin at the TLC's convention in August 1953, some of the political differences between the TLC and CCL began to wane. Jodoin was not a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, having served for a time as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Quebec. However, after some conflicts with the Liberals leadership, he sat as an independent and then ran (and was defeated) as an independent in the general election of 1944. In December 1953 the TLC and CCL created a joint committee to explore means of cooperation and possible merger. On May 9, 1955, the joint committee announced that a merger agreement had been reached. The terms were accepted by the June 1955 TLC convention and in October 1955 by the CCL convention.[citation needed]
In 1963, independent unions representing civic workers and workers in the broader public sector merged their organizations to form the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, legislative changes allowed employees of the federal and provincial public service to join unions, bringing new members into CLC-affiliated unions. During this period, hospital workers increasingly became unionized. In the 1990s, unions of teachers, nurses and other similar groups affiliated with the CLC and the CLC's provincial labour federations.[citation needed]
In January 2018, Unifor, the largest private sector union in Canada, left the CLC to become independent. Unifor stated that among the reasons for leaving were disagreements with the CLC over the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them, and concerns Unifor had about US-based unions working against the rights of their members, as well as two instances of US-based unions interfering in elections for Canadian union local leadership. The CLC accused Unifor of leaving the congress in order to raid an affiliate union, UNITE HERE Local 75, in Toronto.
Under the general labour relations laws in effect in all Canadian jurisdictions, groups of workers deemed "appropriate for collective bargaining" may vote to join a union. The appropriateness of a group for collective bargaining is established by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and may consist of all employees of an enterprise at a single location or a select group of employees—maintenance workers, a specific trade or regulated group (such as teachers or nurses), front office employees, etc.[citation needed] Where such a vote is successful, the union that they have joined becomes their bargaining agent and the workers in the jobs to which the collective agreement pertains are members of a bargaining unit. Depending upon the terms of the collective agreement, some or all of the workers employed in jobs covered by the collective agreement will become members of the union which has become their bargaining agent. Union members within a bargaining unit elect their stewards, health and safety representatives and unit leadership.[citation needed]
In industrial sectors, local unions may have members in several bargaining units. These are so-called "amalgamated locals" and are increasingly becoming the norm. Within some local unions there may be tens—indeed hundreds—of bargaining units. All the union members in all the bargaining units that belong to the same local union elect their local union executive board, including president. The local union may have various sub-committees of the executive board such as political action and health and safety. In each bargaining unit, the unions will establish a union bargaining committee for the bargaining unit prior to commencing negotiations with the employer. This bargaining committee will meet with the union's members within the bargaining unit to determine the needs and wants of the membership. However, under laws in Canada, since the local union is the legal bargaining agent, the signature of the local union's president or appointed representative must appear on the contract for it to be legally binding.[citation needed]
Local unions are chartered organizations of the national or international union to which they belong. A local union charter may contain clauses that limit and/or protect the scope of the local union. For example, the charter may identify the geographic area, trade, industry, etc. to which the local union must confine itself or to which it has the exclusive mandate to represent workers.[citation needed] Other sectors have other structures as determined by the needs of the industries and the legal framework. Most jurisdictions have separate legislation under which employees of the public service may form unions. In some provinces, colleges, fire protection and police services have separate Acts. Hotel employees may also have special legislation that works alongside the labour relations legislation for that province but which removes the right to strike and replaces it with binding arbitration.[citation needed]