Since the turn of the twenty-first century, Canadian unions have scored a number of important Supreme Court victories, securing constitutional rights to picket, bargain collectively, and strike. But how did the labour movement, historically hostile to judicial intervention in labour relations, come to embrace legal activism as a first line of defense as opposed to a last resort? Unions in Court documents the evolution of the Canadian labour movement’s engagement with the Charter, demonstrating how and why labour has adopted a controversial, Charter-based legal strategy to challenge and change legislation that restricts union rights. This book’s in-depth examination of constitutional labour rights will have critical implications for labour movements as well as activists in other fields.

Larry Savage is associate professor of labour studies and political science and director of the Jobs and Justice Research Unit at Brock University.

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Charles W. Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Studies at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan.

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"Larry Savage and Charles Smith in Unions in Court: Organized Labour and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide a lively and illuminating account of the evolution of Canadian labour law[…]"

Industrial Relations / Relations industrielles

Unions in Court is a key account of a vital piece of Canadian history and is a must-read for anyone involved in labour law. It should find its way into public, academic, courthouse, and government libraries, and, of course, the collection of any private firm with a labour department.

Canadian Law Library Review