Christian Labour Association of Canada

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**CLAC**

Christian Labour Association of Canada
Founded	1952
Members	37,500^[1]
Country	Canada
Affiliation	ITUC
Key people	Dick Heinen, executive director
Office location	Mississauga, Ontario
Website	www.clac.ca

The Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) was established in 1952 to represent workers on the basis of "Christian social principles". The CLAC claims that their approach to labour relations develops workers’ sense of responsibility, participation, stewardship, and dignity. The association promotes improved employee-employer relations by making labour-management committees part of its collective agreements. The CLAC opposes what they call the undemocratic, adversarial, and monopolistic practices of the labour movement.

1 Practices and policies
2 Criticism
3 Local unions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Practices and policies

In negotiating wages and benefits for its members, the CLAC considers the "economic viability of the enterprise". The association espouses open shops as an expression of the principle of free association and as a balance between individual and collective interests. They represent about 39,000 workers under some 500 collective agreements across Canada; more than 15,000 of their workers are in Alberta.^[2] The membership is concentrated in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario, in sectors such as construction, social services, health care, emergency services, transportation, retail, education, hospitality, and manufacturing.

The CLAC's members fund a variety of benefit programs such as health and disability insurance, pension and retirement plans, apprenticeship subsidies, training grants, layoff assistance, and a strike fund. The association operates training centres in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, funded through negotiated education and training funds.

The association has about 150 full-time staff working from 11 regional offices, two benefit administration offices, and several training centres. The Guide, the CLAC’s official magazine, is published six times per year.

Unlike most of the Canadian labour movement, the CLAC is not affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Instead, they affiliate with the 166 million member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), formed in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Criticism

The CLAC opposes the union movement's position on employment- and pay-equity, claiming that those programs "undermine the foundations of … marriage and the family." Unions argue that employers are quick to voluntarily recognize the CLAC because of the CLAC's willingness to undercut industry-standard wages and working conditions that other unions struggled to improve.^[3] According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the CLAC has helped employers in British Columbia circumvent the Employment Standards Act by agreeing to contracts that provide less than the minimums afforded by law.^[4] (A provision of the Act is that it does not apply to workers represented by a union.)

In 2006, opponents of the CLAC, including the Industrial Workers of the World, staged rallies in Alberta, accusing the CLAC of agreeing to yellow dog contracts and claiming that the CLAC, by placating workers, provides employers with a docile workforce. Since employers often choose to voluntarily recognise the CLAC rather than insisting on the more traditional card signing or a vote by workers, opponents claim that the CLAC, in effect, is a "company union". ^[5]