Canada right to strike bill sparks coast-to-coast rallies

Workers in 21 communities across Canada took their fight to their MPs' doorsteps on October 16, rallying outside constituency offices, including those of Prime Minister Mark Carney and several federal cabinet ministers, as part of a National Day of Action against the Canada right to strike bill. The rallies, timed for the week MPs spend in their home ridings, were organized by the Canadian Labour Congress to pressure the government over proposed new limits on the right to strike for federally regulated workers. The labour federation said the demonstrations followed weeks of growing opposition that included grassroots mobilization, a national advertising campaign, direct lobbying of MPs, and international condemnation of the proposed law.

The legislation at the centre of the fight is the Canada right to strike bill, formally the Building Canada Strong Act and known in Parliament as Bill C-39, tabled on September 21 by Carney's government. It passed second reading on October 8 by a vote of 296 to 26, according to The Canadian Press, and now sits with a special committee. Its labour provisions would write the federal labour minister's Section 107 intervention powers into the Canada Labour Code in explicit terms, replacing years of ad hoc executive orders with a formal process.

Under the Canada right to strike bill, once a legal strike or lockout has begun in a federally regulated industry, such as rail, ports, airlines, telecommunications or postal services, the minister could appoint a special mediator and then, after considering the mediator's report, direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order workers back, extend the collective agreement, or impose binding arbitration. The trigger would be the minister's conclusion that the stoppage harms, or could harm, the national interest, a term the legislation does not define and that no independent body must confirm before the minister acts. Unions argue that this effectively entrenches the intervention power they had been pushing to repeal.

Why unions say the Canada right to strike bill crosses a red line

Opposition to the Canada right to strike bill runs through the country's biggest labour organizations, which say the change would tilt every future negotiation. Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske told MPs that the bill would fuel unrest rather than stability, arguing that the government cannot credibly claim to protect labour peace while making disputes harder to settle. Nearly 95 percent of federally regulated labour disputes are resolved without a work stoppage, according to the congress, which warns that employers counting on a ministerial rescue will have less reason to bargain seriously at the table. Several of the country's largest unions have pledged to defy the restrictions if they become law and to stand behind any union that does the same.

Unifor, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers, opposes the expanded intervention powers even though it supports other parts of the Canada right to strike bill. Unifor national president Lana Payne has described the right to strike as a line her union will not let any government cross. The United Steelworkers take a similar position, with national director Marty Warren calling for Section 107 to be repealed outright rather than rewritten in stronger form. Eric Tucker, a professor emeritus of law at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, told reporters the legislation hands the minister enormous discretion, noting that the "national interest" wording places few real limits on when the power can be used.

The government says the bill modernizes labour relations

Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu, who would hold the new powers, has pushed back on criticism of the Canada right to strike bill. She has said the legislation protects the right to strike while reinforcing the responsibility of unions and employers to negotiate in good faith. The government points to new conditions the bill imposes: the minister must weigh a special mediator's report, consider whether using the powers affects freedom of association, and account for effects on the Canadian economy. The bill also requires parties in sectors with a history of disruption to begin formal bargaining at least six months before a contract expires, makes government-facilitated relationship repair mandatory after any work stoppage, adds 100 new federal health and safety officers, nearly a three-quarters increase in inspection capacity, and funds 26 new staff at the Canada Industrial Relations Board to clear a backlog of worker complaints against employers.

The fight over the Canada right to strike bill builds on a recent record of executive intervention, and on other labour standoffs this month, including the Orange County Teamsters strike over a stalled county contract. Ottawa has used Section 107 about ten times since 2023 to end disputes or send them to arbitration at Canada Post, CN and CPKC railways, and the ports of British Columbia and Montreal, The Canadian Press reported. Several of those interventions are now being challenged in court as violations of the freedom of association guaranteed by the Canadian constitution. For the workers who marched that Friday, the message was simpler: keep the strike as a genuine last resort, because without it, they said, collective bargaining loses its meaning.

Sources:

Canadian Labour Congress: Workers rally at MPs' offices across Canada to defend right to strike

Canadian HR Reporter: Bill C-39 clears second reading, putting federal strike rules under review

IndustriALL: Right to strike Canada: impacts on workers' rights