The workers who wear religious symbols, whether in Quebec or anywhere else, have one fundamental interest: to live their lives, earn their bread, and practice their beliefs without fear of state interference or economic reprisal. The decision being made by Canada’s Supreme Court does not include their direct voice, but it will certainly affect their livelihoods and their right to exist as they are. It should be a fundamental truth that no person should be forced to choose between their job and their conscience.

This whole affair, this “constitutional test case” over Quebec’s law on religious symbols, is but another chapter in the long, sad story of how those in power seek to divide and conquer the working people. They wave the flag of “secularism” or “national identity,” but what does it truly achieve? It sets neighbor against neighbor, Christian against Muslim, Jew against Sikh, all while the bosses, the bankers, and the landlords continue to extract their profits, undisturbed by the squabbles they so cleverly incite.

Let us apply the solidarity audit here. Who truly benefits from a law that tells a woman she cannot wear her hijab if she wishes to teach, or a man he cannot wear his turban if he serves in public office? Does it put more bread on the table for the working family? Does it make the factories safer, or the wages higher? No. It creates a new category of “unemployable,” a new barrier to entry for those already struggling to get by. It takes away jobs from those who need them most and restricts the freedom of expression for those who simply wish to live their lives with dignity.

The class interest here is stark. The state, rather than addressing the real issues facing working people - the rising cost of living, the lack of secure employment, the ever-widening gap between rich and poor - instead busies itself with regulating what people wear on their heads or around their necks. This is a classic maneuver: divert attention from economic exploitation by stoking cultural anxieties. While working people are arguing amongst themselves about who is “secular enough” or “Quebecois enough,” the capitalists are laughing all the way to the bank, their profits unaffected by the manufactured divisions.

And what about the state itself? Does it act as a neutral arbiter? History, my friends, tells us otherwise. The state, whether in Quebec or Washington, D.C., has a long and consistent record of siding with the powerful against the powerless. When workers strike for better conditions, whose side do the police and the courts take? When landlords raise rents to unbearable levels, whose property rights are protected? The state, under the guise of maintaining order or, in this case, “secularism,” often serves to enforce the existing power structure, which invariably benefits the owning class.

The division analysis is critical. This law, whatever its stated intention, creates a wedge within the working class. It tells one group of workers that their faith is a liability, that their identity is a problem. It encourages suspicion and resentment among different segments of the population, preventing them from recognizing their common struggle against economic injustice. When a Muslim woman is fired for her hijab, it is not just her freedom that is attacked; it is the freedom of every worker to live and work without arbitrary discrimination. An injury to one is an injury to all.

What would solidarity look like in this situation? It would mean workers of all faiths and no faith, of all backgrounds and origins, standing together and declaring, “Our jobs, our lives, our beliefs are our own! We will not be divided by these petty regulations designed to distract us from the real fight!” It would mean demanding that the state focus on ensuring fair wages, safe workplaces, and affordable housing for all, rather than policing personal expression. It would mean recognizing that the freedom to wear a religious symbol is intertwined with the freedom to organize, to demand a living wage, and to live a life free from exploitation.

This case is not just about religious symbols; it is about the fundamental right of every working person to be free from arbitrary power, whether that power comes from a boss, a landlord, or a government that seeks to dictate how they live and what they believe. True freedom, true liberty, will only come when working people unite and demand it, not just for themselves, but for every man and woman who toils for a living. Until then, these so-called “constitutional tests” will continue to be nothing more than a smokescreen for the ongoing exploitation of the many by the few.