Jean Boulet. Image credit: Faceboo page of Jean Boulet
Quebec/CMEDIA: Changing the law to grant the government more authority to intervene in labour disputes has been contemplated by Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet.
Openly expressing interest in federal legislation giving Ottawa the power to end strikes or lockouts and impose arbitration. Boulet suggests introduction of similar law for disputes in Quebec.
Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code’s discretionary power was recently used to end labour disputes at the country’s railways, three large ports and Canada Post.
“There have been labour disputes that have concerned us and had an impact, for example, in food processing, at the Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges cemetery, in education and in public transit,” Boulet said.
The minister is also considering expanding the list of essential services in Quebec, which could prevent certain workers from walking off the job entirely.
“Perhaps we need to think about new criteria for determining what constitutes a service to be maintained in the event of a labour dispute, strike or lockout,” he said.
Being surprised by Boulet’s comments Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), one of Quebec’s largest labour federations, urges the minister to be careful before following Ottawa’s lead.
She notes the use of Section 107 in the Canada Labour Code is being challenged in court and could one day be deemed unconstitutional.
Calling it an “assault” on its bargaining rights.The Canada Post Union earlier denounced the move which looks forward to “welcoming our employees back to work.”
“This order continues a deeply troubling pattern in which the government uses its arbitrary powers to let employers off the hook, drag their feet, and refuse to bargain in good faith with workers and their unions,” read a statement.
Fearing the federal government’s numerous interventions in labour disputes could undermine the right to strike in Canada and lead to more conflicts, Senneville said,
“What we’ve seen … lately is employers saying, ‘I don’t need to negotiate because there’s going to be arbitration,’ so that’s not constitutional because there have been two very important Supreme Court rulings that say unions have the right to have the employer before them negotiate in good faith,” she said.
CSN wants to be involved in the discussions surrounding the minister’s intentions, Senneville says but the union will “never participate in discussions that would result in the loss of a hard-won right protected by the Canadian constitution.”
