European and Canadian Labour Leaders Stand Together for Workers’ Rights
Joint European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) statement ahead of the EU-Canada Summit
MONTRÉAL – The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), together representing close to 50 million workers, support a closer and deeper partnership between the European Union and Canada. At a time of tariff threats, geopolitical instability, and pressure on democratic institutions, cooperation between two democratic partners can be a source of stability, quality jobs, and shared prosperity.
The areas now under discussion, from defence and industrial procurement to critical minerals, energy, clean technologies, digital, the Arctic, and mobility, go well beyond the existing Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Workers in all of these sectors have a direct stake in the outcome, and their trade unions must be fully involved in shaping it. Labour cannot be marginalized in these discussions.
Good jobs must be the condition for any preferential treatment, including through Made in Europe treatment and participation in joint procurement and security instruments. This means full respect for fundamental principles and rights at work, including freedom of association, collective bargaining, and the right to strike, which the International Court of Justice has confirmed as protected under ILO Convention 87. Restrictions on the right to strike are a red line. We denounce any regression on workers’ rights as the wrong way to preserve competitiveness.
In Canada, the use of section 107, the ongoing review of the Labour Code, and recent Senate recommendations to further limit strikes in the transport sector risk entrenching this pattern, and we call for its repeal. In the EU, deregulation presented as simplification must not erode workers’ rights either. CETA already commits both parties not to weaken labour protections to encourage trade or investment.
A deepened partnership cannot pit workers against each other, nor become a backdoor to offshore production and undercut industrial capacity and jobs on either side of the Atlantic.
Deep cooperation must rest on a level playing field on workers’ rights and working conditions. This requires binding and enforceable labour clauses covering all new areas of cooperation, including high health and safety standards and workforce strategy for emerging low-carbon industry, just transition guarantees in raw materials and energy, and a stronger role for trade unions and the Domestic Advisory Groups in monitoring implementation.
Likewise, we reject any regression on democracy. Across the world, democratic institutions, the rule of law, and civic space are under growing pressure from authoritarian governments, the rise of the far right, and the concentration of economic and technological power in the hands of a few.
Trade unions are often the first target: trade unionists are harassed, imprisoned, and even killed for defending workers’ rights. In this context, the EU and Canada must stand together to defend democracy and free and independent trade unions worldwide, and use their trade, cooperation, and external policies to that end. Decisions on a new framework must be transparent, subject to democratic scrutiny, and developed with the meaningful involvement of social partners and civil society.
The ETUC and the CLC will continue to work together to ensure that EU-Canada cooperation delivers for working people on both sides of the Atlantic. We call on EU and Canadian leaders to place workers’ rights and democracy at the heart of the outcome of the Montreal Summit.
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