In recent years, the phrase “right to work” has come to be synonymous with a right-wing agenda in the United States to undermine the trade union movement by prohibiting union security agreements, restricting the payment of union dues, and weakening the economic power of unions. Ironically, far from providing a general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, so-called “right-to-work” laws restrict freedom of association by limiting the kinds of contractual agreements unions can make with employers and, in many cases, have resulted in lower wages and benefits for workers.

This event, co-sponsored by Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), the Centre for Labour Management Relations, Faraday Law, and Goldblatt Partners, seeks to re-claim the “right to work” by re-framing work as a public good, rather than a commodity. Such a shift has far-reaching implications:

• If the right to work is a human right, what does this mean for the right of workers to participate in productive activities and to obtain an adequate standard of living?
• What are the implications for national and international regulatory systems, as well as transnational migration?
• How can such a shift help organized labour and non-unionized workers to respond to growing conditions of precarity and the erosion of decent work?

We will explore these questions, and more, at a panel discussion of trade unionists, workers' activists, and academics.

Panelists:

• Fay Faraday, Lawyer, Consultant & Writer, Faraday Law
• Syed Hussan, Coordinator, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
• Steven Shrybman, Partner, Goldblatt Partners
• Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress

Moderator:

• Steven Barrett, Partner, Goldblatt Partners