LABRST 1C03 Quiz: Labour and Human Rights

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Labour Studies
• Course: LABRST 1C03
• Professor: David Goutor

Document Summary

Two issues: workers" rights to organize & bargain, protection against discrimination. Resistance : workers" rights to organize & bargain. Are workers" rights human rights and can it be protected under freedom of association. Can workers rely on the law to protect them: historically = no protection, individual vs. For vast majority of history the courts were very clear right to organize was not a right. In early point unions gave up on this. Courts said about rights is that they are individual rights, unions are collective action, therefore not a right. Courts were extremely reluctant to get involved in workplace, they wanted the marketplace to be free. They did not want to get active: free markets. Saw strikes as bad for employers and public. Courts have generally always sided with business interests. Business serves a broader interest, unions serves a narrow interest: wagner act = part of commercial laws.