Posted: Thursday, 11 December 2008

Submission to Peter Annis, LL.B. by the Canadian Labour Congress

The right to strike is a fundamental right related to our members freedom of association and freedom of expression as protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In our view, any amendments to the labour relations system in the federal private sector that would limit or eliminate the right to strike cannot be justified by the current trend in work stoppages in Canada.

If the federal government wants to help prevent strikes and lockouts and reduce the duration of work stoppages in the free collective bargaining process in Canada, it should maintain a balanced labour relations system and re-invest time, energy and resources into conflict prevention.

The labour relations system in the federal private sector cannot be balanced if employers continue to test the limits of loose federal rules, especially around the use of temporary replacement workers. If the federal government wants to prevent work stoppages through a balanced labour relations system, it should adopt a complete ban of replacement workers. This would reduce the incidence and the duration of strikes as well as the risk of violence on the picket line.

The Canada Labour Code also has a preventive measure that assists the parties in reaching collective agreements: the Conciliation Procedure. But access to that process is normally available to the parties only when an impasse is reached. An important service such as the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) should be readily accessible, on request, to the parties for assistance long before an impasse is reached.

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