Steelworkers say right to strike is a red line in federal Labour Code changes

TORONTO – United Steelworkers union National Director Marty Warren issued the following statement on proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code:

“Workers built this country, and workers will build what comes next. But Canada cannot build a stronger economy by weakening the fundamental rights of the people who make our economy work.

Throughout the government’s Labour Code review, we were clear: the right to strike is a red line. Section 107 should be repealed, not rewritten to make it easier for the government to intervene in legal strikes.

The government didn’t listen.

Instead, it’s giving the labour minister extraordinary discretion to override workers’ fundamental right to strike without a vote or prior approval by Parliament.

Because the bill gives the minister sweeping power to act “in the national interest,” it turns the very thing that makes a strike effective into the justification for ending it.

Economic pressure is how workers counterbalance employer power. If employers expect government intervention once a strike becomes effective, they have less incentive to compromise. That weakens collective bargaining.

There are other measures in this bill that deserve consideration, but workers’ fundamental rights are not a trade-off.

Canada needs workers with our elbows up, not our hands tied. We will be pressing the government to change this legislation and protect the right to strike.”

About the United Steelworkers union

The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.

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