Quebec labour minister mulls law change to give province authority to end strikes, lockouts

Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet is contemplating changing the law to grant the government more authority to intervene in labour disputes. 

In his year-end review, Boulet openly expressed interest in federal legislation that gives Ottawa the power to end strikes or lockouts and impose arbitration.

That discretionary power — Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code — was recently used to put an end to labour disputes at the country's railways, three large ports and Canada Post.

While the law can only be used by Ottawa to intervene in conflicts under federal jurisdiction, Boulet suggests a similar law could be useful for disputes in Quebec. 

"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," he said.

But Boulet asserts that he is always looking for ways to put an end to these disputes and find solutions that allows the parties to break the deadlock. 

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.

Fears of undermining right to strike

Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), one of Quebec's largest labour federations, says she's surprised by Boulet's comments and 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.

Senneville fears the federal government's numerous interventions in labour disputes could undermine the right to strike in Canada and lead to more conflicts. 

"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.

Senneville says the CSN wants to be involved in the discussions surrounding the minister's intentions, but that the union will "never participate in discussions that would result in the loss of a hard-won right protected by the Canadian constitution."