Canada has a shameful secret when it comes to human rights at work. It is one of the few countries in the world yet to ratify all eight of the international standards recognized as being fundamental to the rights of human beings at work.

These standards are referred to as the eight core conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The ILO is a United Nations agency, specializing in developing and promoting international human and labour rights conventions which are recognized around the world.

Conventions are developed under the ILO's unique tripartite structure in which government, employer and worker organizations from around the world co-operate and come to an international consensus on what the minimal labour standards of work should be.

Of the 188 conventions developed to date, the ILO has identified eight core conventions as the basis on which all other workers' rights can be built. These provide for the necessary conditions for the improvement of individual and collective rights at work.

More than two-thirds of the 182 member states of the ILO (126 out of 182 countries) have ratified all eight core conventions. Canada is one of only 23 countries with five or less of the eight core conventions ratified.

The three core conventions Canada has not ratified are: No. 29, Forced Labour Convention (1930); No. 98, Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (1949); and No. 138, Minimum Age Convention (1973).

The official reasons why Canada has not ratified the three core conventions are somewhat obscure, contradictory and difficult to understand. Successive governments have failed to outline reasons for Canada's refusal to ratify them. Details on which governments in Canada object to ratification and the precise nature of their concerns remain unknown. There has been no public debate, and little parliamentary discussion regarding Canada's failure to ratify the three remaining core ILO Conventions.

When it comes to consulting the labour movement and employer organizations in discussions around ratification of ILO Conventions, the ILO spirit of social dialogue and tripartism is nonexistent here in Canada.

Overall, Canada has one of the lowest ratification records of all ILO member states, having only ratified 31 of the ILO's 188 conventions. This is an international embarrassment for Canada, as it puts us close to the bottom of countries in the world which have not formally recognized the internationally-accepted fundamental rights of human beings at work.

We should not accept the hypocrisy of our federal government playing a leadership role at the ILO in developing international labour standards while not being prepared to ratify all eight core conventions.

At a time when ILO conventions are becoming increasingly important and recognized as part of international trade agreements between countries, it is critical that Canada catch up with the overwhelming number of countries around the world which have ratified all eight core conventions. There is no reason why we cannot.

As Northerners and as Canadians we should demand that our government urge the federal government to formally recognize the internationally-accepted fundamental rights of human beings at work.

- Mary Lou Cherwaty is president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour