Labour Day Resources

Happy Labour Day!

In the spirit of this annual celebration of the rights of labour, here are a few interesting labour law and labour news resources:

• NATLEX is the database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the International Labour Organization (ILO). There are some 55,000 records covering over 170 countries and territories. The ILO also maintains a trade union freedom cases database. There are 3 active cases based on complaints from Canadian trade unions.
• The Law Commission of Canada has looked at how vulnerable workers are increasingly left out by Canadian labour laws: "People experience vulnerability in many ways: through inadequate pay, unhealthy or dangerous working conditions, insufficient hours, exploitative atmospheres, lack of benefits, the inability to effect change, powerlessness and marginalization. In this paper, the Law Commission begins with a study of different types of vulnerability at work and then discusses how ideas about labour regulation have changed".
• The Canadian Policy Research Networks, a think tank founded in 1994 by Judith Maxwell, the last Chair of the Economic Council of Canada, runs many research projects, including the Work Network. Its research priorities include vulnerable workers, job quality and continuous learning.
• For labour news, there is Labour Start which offers a news syndication service from mainstream, trade union, and alternative news sources.