Unions oppose government’s labour relations changes

The labour movement has rejected proposals from the federal government to change the powers it has to order workers off the picket line. Bill C-39 was introduced in the House of Commons earlier this week. One provision of the omnibus bill would allow the labour minister to use section 107 of the labour code to force striking employees back to work. The union representing media and telecom workers is opposed to the proposed change. “At a time when we should be standing together as a country to fend off attacks from the Trump trade war, workers and their unions must now also defend the right to fair and free collective bargaining,” Unifor president Lana Payne said in a statement. “These proposed amendments to the Canada Labour Code give special authority to the Minister of Labour to override the ability of workers to exercise their right to strike.” The United Steelworkers Union, which represents telecom workers on the west coast, was equally unimpressed by the legislation. “Throughout the government’s Labour Code review, we were clear: the right to strike is a red line,” Steelworkers national director Marty Warren was quoted as saying in a news release. “Section 107 should be repealed, not rewritten to make it easier for the government to intervene in legal strikes.” The government maintains that restrictions are in place that would prevent the minister from acting unilaterally. A prominent labour lawyer rejects that argument. “The so-called guardrails are frankly nonsense,” Mark Rowlinson of Goldblatt Partners stated in a news release from the Canadian Labour Congress. “The legislation gives the minister unfettered power to single-handedly shut down a strike based purely on their opinion. That concentration of power is unprecedented among G7 countries.” Rowlinson appeared at a news conference with CLC president Bea Bruske. She, too, lashed out the amendments. “A right you cannot exercise is not a right,” Bruske offered. “Canada’s unions fought for the right to strike and we will fight to defend it.” NDP leader Avi Lewis, speaking at a rally for striking Bank of Canada workers, vowed his party would fight against the changes. “This is the frontline of that struggle but that frontline is in every community in Canada right now,” he told the crowd. “If one of us goes down, all of us go down.” Taking the opposite tack is the Montreal Economic Institute, a right of centre think tank. “The changes to the Labour Code announced earlier would be a good step in the right direction to protect Canadians from the indirect, yet heavy, effect of work stoppages in key industries,” it said in a statement. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Unions oppose government’s labour relations changes

Regulatory |
By Paul Park
|September 24, 2026

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Unions oppose government’s labour relations changes

Regulatory | By Paul Park |September 24, 2026

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|September 24, 2026