The Canadian Jewish Labour Committee (CJLC) claims that the May 2026 Canadian Labour Congress convention "explicitly rejected attempts to include “Hot Cargo” language” during resolution debate. This is inaccurate. No “hot cargo” resolution reached the convention floor and no amendment was brought forward to add “hot cargo” to the resolution that was passed, GEN-134.
The record must be corrected: the CJLC - an organization which has claimed a venerable title from Canada’s labour movement history, but which today serves the purpose of defending Israeli apartheid and genocide - has called on the Canadian Labour Congress to disregard its own constitutional process.
The convention floor clearly demonstrated support for Palestinian solidarity and the principles of trade unionism. A massive majority of delegates supported the amendment to GEN-134, calling on the CLC to cut ties with the Histadrut. When Resolution GEN-134 came to a vote, the overwhelming majority of delegates voted in favour of standing in solidarity with Palestinian workers and cutting ties with the Histadrut.
GEN-061 “Palestine” was submitted to the convention by more submitting bodies than any other resolution, by a wide margin. The decision of the resolutions committee to rule such a highly vetted resolution as non-concurrent was not reflective of the democratic principles that our union governance aspires to. The decision of the Canadian Council to pass this resolution reflects positively on their duty to consider the political concerns being raised by grassroots labour activists, who are listening and responding to the expectations of union members and Canadian workers.
Workers in Canada do not want to be complicit in Israeli genocide, nor do they believe our taxes or economic output should sustain a state which is in open contravention of international law and a source of population displacement and threats to international security.
The decision to enforce hot cargo, and to refuse goods, services and relationships with the Israeli apartheid state, will always be in the hands of the workers themselves. Labour for Palestine applauds the Canadian Labour Congress for declaring its support for workers who take the necessary action and show that Canadian unions remain a force for peace, justice and solidarity with the workers of the world.