In commemoration of the adoption of the UN’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, CUPE Ontario is proud to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10.
The original UDHR was the work of two years of discussion, debate, scholarship and diplomacy following the end of the Second World War, when the international community sought to codify lessons learned from that cataclysmic time.
The theme of this year’s Human Rights Day is “Our Everyday Essentials” and it fully reflects our approach to human rights in every aspect of our union’s work. In fact, the declaration that we honour on December 10 holds profound significance for us as trade unionists.
The UDHR is foundational to all the rights we claim for ourselves and others; Article 23 in particular recognizes workers’ right to join a union. But the declaration is also a practical framework for advocacy for our rights and provides the standard we use to root our demands in international law.
Universal human rights are the guiding principles for our union’s support for international solidarity campaigns. All our social justice work – including advocacy for Indigenous rights and reconciliation, migrant rights, racial justice, women’s rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, and environmental justice – are grounded in these rights.
But even as we take our place in the global struggle for justice and dignity, we are witnessing around the world the alarming rise of right-wing extremist forces that openly disdain universal human rights. These rights are under attack everywhere, including in Europe, where neo-fascist parties are increasingly gaining power and influence; in the Americas, where governments responsible to the interests of their peoples are under threat; and in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gaza, where genocidal campaigns continue to violate fundamental human rights with devastating consequences.
These attacks on human rights are not distant concerns; they affect the lives of working people in Ontario. As a labour movement, we cannot achieve our core mission of improving workers’ lives while remaining silent in the face of wholesale assaults on human dignity.
How many times have we been told, by Conservatives and right-wing pundits and employers, to “stay in our lane”? That is, to focus on bargaining wages and working conditions while ignoring broader attacks on human rights around the globe?
This is a deliberate strategy to divide and weaken our movement. In Ontario, it’s become the policy the Ford government. Premier Ford himself recently threatened to audit our union in retaliation for our vocal opposition the omnibus Bill 68, which endangers public control of our water. But we will not be intimidated into relinquishing our rights.
The Ford Conservatives want unions, and CUPE in particular, to confine ourselves to workplace issues because they recognize our potential to build workers’ power to resist not just economic exploitation, but also anti-Indigenous racism, sexism, transphobia and all other forms of discrimination.
Our union members belong to every community being targeted by the right. When these groups face discrimination and violence, it affects our collective strength and solidarity. Therefore, fighting discrimination is not just the right thing to do; it is essential to protecting the rights of all workers.
Because we have seen that human rights are not guaranteed; we have only to look to the United States, where the Trump administration is trampling human rights in an alarming escalation of authoritarianism.
Like democracy, human rights require constant defense and exercise, and that includes here at home. In the last few years, we have seen provincial governments invoke the notwithstanding clause, a previously little-used provision that allows them to override fundamental Charter rights.
Originally intended as a compromise to win provincial support for the Charter, the clause has been weaponized by right-wing politicians to attack our rights, and workers’ rights in particular, which the UDHR makes clear is a fundamental human right.
In our union, we are proud to have a range of materials that speak to the interconnectedness of human rights and workers’ rights. On December 10, we encourage CUPE Ontario members learn more about our union’s commitment to human rights, including our Anti-Racism Organizational Action Plan; the Women’s Committee’s efforts to tackle gendered violence through the guide We Believe You; the anti-white supremacy campaign, Recognize and Resist White Supremacy; and the history of CUPE Ontario’s solidarity with Palestine.
This International Human Rights Day, we reaffirm our commitment to defending for all human rights, in all their dimensions. We will stand in solidarity and continue to build in our union the power needed to create a world where dignity, justice, and human rights are realities for all.
