At an all-time low in the polls and in the final year of its term, the conservative Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has turned to attacking the fundamental rights of workers and their unions.
Under the guise of “transparency” and “democracy,” the CAQ has passed the “Boulet Act” – part of a corporate agenda that Quebecers never voted for. As a lesson in democracy, this legislation is a failure.
The law attacks the right to strike, which is protected by the Quebec and Canadian charters of rights. It allows for the suppression of strikes for reasons as vague as “the public well-being” – ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling that only serious health and safety concerns can be used to try to justify such action. The labour minister will be able to end a labour dispute by ordering arbitration, effectively removing any incentive for employers to engage in good-faith bargaining.
The CAQ also wants to end the Rand formula by making a portion of union dues “optional” – a blatant, pro-corporate attempt to weaken the political and social activism of unions that benefits not only union members but all workers and their communities. There is no justification for government interference in union activism that is authorized collectively by union members.
The government aims to further weaken union finances by imposing mandatory audits on all unions and locals with more than 50 members, which would take millions of dollars away from the essential work of unions to represent their members. Union expenses already are public, authorized by members and subjected to internal audits. There also is no justification for the government to impose more onerous rules on unions than it does on small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations.
These anti-union attacks, most of which are illegal and violate our charters of rights, aim to dismantle our social safety net and further tip the balance of power in favor of employers. This is unacceptable and we will stand together to stop it!
In closing, I would like to thank all the members who nominated and duly elected me this fall as Quebec Director of the United Steelworkers. It is an honour to accept this mandate and I am ready to stand up – with you – to fight back and defeat the coming anti-union storm.
In solidarity,
Nicolas Lapierre
USW District 5 Director
This article appears in the Winter 2025 issue of USW@Work magazine.
Share on Facebook
