FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 199850th Anniversary of UN Declaration of Human Rights provides chance for Alberta to rethink its human rights approach
"Many of the articles of the declaration deal with the critical area of rights at work," noted Ms. Cormack. "Specifically mentioned are the right to just pay and working conditions and a prohibition on work without pay," said Cormack. The current scandal at Buffet World restaurants – where young Albertans are systematically worked without pay – and the government’s refusal to deal with the problem, highlight labour’s concerns over the state of human rights in Alberta." "We believe that violation of basic workers’ rights occurs everyday in Alberta," said Cormack. "Further, we believe the Alberta Labour Code itself does not go far enough in supporting Article 23 which states clearly that "everyone has the right to form and join trade unions." Alberta’s record on workers’ rights mirrors the provinces poor performance in other areas of human rights, according to Cormack. "There are many other fundamental concerns about this government’s attitude to human rights," said Cormack. "The right to protection from unemployment, to equal access to public services, the stipulations on protection of children and the bar on discrimination by reason of sex or sexuality – these are all areas where the Klein government’s record is suspect." "I really urge the Klein government and its Ministers, first, to take the time on this 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights to carefully read the Declaration itself. Secondly, they should then seriously take stock of how human rights protections can be brought up to a standard that will actually live up to the promise of the UN Declaration," concluded Cormack.
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