CLC head accuses Unifor of leaving lobby group to raid another union
Severed ties between the Canadian Labour Congress and Unifor have culminated in the head of the national lobby group for the labour movement accusing Canada’s largest private sector union of raiding another union for members.
Unifor’s president says the union’s decision to leave the CLC this week was due to concerns including what it says are some U.S.-based unions stifling workers’ rights to change the group representing them. The head of the CLC retorts that Unifor left so it could lure members away from other unions to boost its own membership, a move that is forbidden under the CLC’s constitution.
Just one day after Unifor announced it was leaving the CLC, Unite Here Local 75, which represents hundreds of hotel workers in Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., announced it was seeking to leave its U.S.-based parent union and join Unifor.
“Since the disaffiliation, they are now involved in raiding Unite Here in Toronto,” CLC president Hassan Yussuff said.