Labour Rights as Human Rights: Turning Slogans into Legal Claims

What does it mean to say that labour rights are human rights? What is the role of the courts in transforming a political manifesto into a legal claim? The answers to these questions are developed in three parts. The first places the rights to organize, to bargain collectively, and to strike in the social and political context in which they are claimed, contested, and recognized. The second part examines what it means to say that labour rights are human rights with an eye to teasing out the significance ofthis characterization. Third, the role of the courts when it comes to making the maxim that labour rights are human rights a legally enforceable right is assessed by focusing on what it means to say that courts should be neutral in interpreting the freedom of association contained in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom in the labour context.