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The Alberta Federation of Labour and some 25 Alberta unions, representing more than 300,000 workers, recently unveiled the Solidarity Pact, a commitment to collective defence against any attack on workers by public- or private-sector employers. The Solidarity Pact is intended to remain in force indefinitely.

"The purpose of the Solidarity Pact is to let employers know that an attack on one union will be viewed as an attack on all unions and that Alberta unions will fight together—all for one, and one for all," McGowan said in a news release announcing the launch of the pact and the Alberta Common Front, as the allied labour organizations are known collectively.

In this podcast, we talk to McGowan about the Solidarity Pact, and labour relations in the province with a "Maple MAGA" premier, who's now advocating for a separation referendum.

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Dr Debbie Goldman worked for 28 years at the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and is an expert on the subject of call centre workers. In this short interview we discussed her new book, Disconnected: Call Center Workers Fight for Good Jobs in the Digital Age. We talked about issues like surveillance in the workplace, how the CWA won impressive victories in defence of call centre workers' rights, and how employers export call centre jobs abroad only to run-up against international trade union solidarity. We ended with a discussion about whether the much-touted "momentum" of unionisation in the USA in 2024 has continued under Trump -- and how the working class will never stop fighting for its rights.

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Luc Triangle, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), was LabourStart's guest this week on our podcast. The ITUC represents around 200 million workers in 169 countries and territories and has 340 national affiliates.

LabourStart's Eric Lee interviewed Luc about the vicious attacks by the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus against trade unionists -- and what the international trade union movement is doing to fight this. Luc spoke about the upcoming 16 April global day of action. "We need to fight against this regime," he said. "We will never accept this reality."

To learn more about the jailed trade union leaders in Belarus and show your solidarity, check out our online petition here. Learn more about the 16 April 2025 global day of action here. Learn more about the ITUC here.

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Nilufar Mammadrzayeva is an activist in İşçi Masası (Labor Desk), an alternative Confederation of Trade Unions operating in Azerbaijan. As she explained to us, "Right now, four of our comrades are facing dire conditions in prison due to their labor rights activism. One of them has already been sentenced to eight years, and the situation is only getting worse." In this interview, we discuss the situation faced by workers and independent trade unions in her country and what the international trade union movement can do to help. For full coverage of labour news from Azerbaijan on LabourStart, click here.

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This week, LabourStart's Pat Bulmer interviews Mark Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees -- the largest union in the country. Mark was asked to speak about the union's recently-adopted "Montreal Declaration" which was drafted in response to US President Donald Trump's threats against Canada.

“The declaration acknowledges the formidable contribution that the labour movement has made to building what makes us proudest to be Canadian: our public health care, public education, and so many more cherished public services. The declaration also sets out CUPE’s demands for a worker-focused response to the existential crisis posed by Donald Trump’s assault on Canadian workers,” the union explains.

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LabourStart's podcast this week is - unfortunately - about Belarus, which is probably the worst place in Europe to be a trade unionist. We are now coming up on the 3rd anniversary of the mass arrests of Belarusian trade union leaders and the crushing of the country's independent and democratic unions. Liza tells us why this happened, the role of the Ukraine war and Putin, and what we can do to help free the jailed union leaders and force the regime in Belarus to respect workers' rights -- and human rights in general.

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This week's LabourStart interview is with Kıvanç Eliaçık from DISK, one of Turkey's national trade union centres. We talked about workers' rights in Turkey, the role played by LabourStart and global unions, what individuals can do to help -- and about the central role that workers in struggle are playing in all this. We also discussed a new LabourStart campaign being launched this week in support of striking workers at Telus, in Izmir. A must-listen podcast this week, in our view.

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This week's LabourStart podcast is a short interview with Daniel Blackburn, who runs the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR), based in London. Daniel spoke with us about ICTUR's history, the journal it produces (International Union Rights), the incredible reference book they publish on trade unions of the world, and even their wall map of workers' rights around the globe. ICTUR is not well-known enough in the trade union movement but we think that after you hear what Daniel has to say you'll want to know more -- visit the ICTUR website here.