Bill C-39 could create more labour unrest, union leaders warn

OTTAWA — Bill C-39 could make labour disputes longer and harder to resolve, union leaders warned MPs Thursday, undermining the stability the federal government says the legislation is intended to protect.

Ahead of Thursday’s second reading vote, Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske joined Candace Rennick, National Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Tom Doran, President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, and CLC Executive Vice-President Marc-Édouard Joubert to urge MPs to remove the bill’s proposed restrictions on the right to strike.

“Employers have been asking Ottawa for greater power to end strikes, and Bill C-39 gives it to them,” said Bruske. “That changes the calculation at every bargaining table. Employers will have a reason to hold out for government intervention instead of reaching a deal. The result will be greater unrest, and it will be because this government chose to tip the scales in employers’ favour.”

The vast majority of disputes in the federal sector are already resolved without a work stoppage. Canada’s unions say the possibility of a strike is one of the reasons the system works: both sides know there are consequences if they fail to reach an agreement.

Bruske pointed to the International Longshoremen’s Association, whose Canadian members have gone nearly 50 years without a labour disruption, as evidence that strong collective bargaining can deliver the stability the government says it is seeking.

“For nearly 50 years, these workers and their employers have reached agreements without a labour disruption,” said Bruske. “That record has survived tough negotiations, changing governments and enormous changes in the industry. The irony is that a law being sold as a way to guarantee stability could be the very thing that ends it.”

Canadian Union of Public Employees National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick said taking power away from workers will not produce labour peace.

“Governments cannot legislate labour peace by taking away workers’ power to fight for a fair deal. As MPs consider Bill C-39 at second reading, our message is clear: remove the new restrictions on the right to strike and make employers bargain fairly. Legislating away our constitutional right to strike will not stop us from using the full strength of our union to defend our members,” said Rennick.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada President Tom Doran warned that the consequences will extend beyond individual labour disputes as workers bargain over automation, outsourcing, and the future of their jobs.

“ILWU members keep Canada’s economy moving and growing. Our members may also be among the first to face these new restrictions, and the consequences will reach far beyond the waterfront,” said Doran. “You cannot build a stronger Canada by stifling the rights of workers, making it easier to eliminate good union jobs, and harder for workers to defend them. They have a fundamental right to bargain over their future, and to withhold their labour to defend it.”  

Since Bill C-39 was introduced, unions across Canada have been united in strong opposition to the proposed restrictions on the right to strike, mobilizing members, engaging MPs directly, and speaking out publicly against the legislation.

The Canadian Labour Congress is calling on Parliament to remove the new restrictions proposed in Bill C-39 and repeal Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.

“If this government moves ahead with changes that encourage employers to hold out and make disputes harder to settle, it cannot credibly say these changes are about stability and certainty,” said Bruske. “They are a choice to give employers greater power at the bargaining table.”

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