Strikes and blockages: bill 89 in view of the unions

The opposition to the bill 89, whose objective is to allow the government to intervene in labor disputes, will reach the National Assembly this week as consultations on the legislation begin. The unions have condemned it strongly, arguing that it constitutes an attack on the right to attack.

The Confection des Syndes Nationalux (CSN) believes that the bill “unjustifiably will violate the freedom of association of employees” and “will destroy the fragile balance of power between the parties, for the benefit of employers.”

With his bill, the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, says he wants to prevent public services from “disproportionately affecting work” during labor disputes.

If the legislation is adopted, the government may determine by decree that a union and an employer have 15 days to establish the minimum services that must be maintained. After this deadline, the Administrative Labor Court (TAT) will decide.

The bill will also train the Minister of Labor, “if he or she considers that a strike or a block is causing or threatening to cause serious or irreparable damage to the population”, designate an arbitrator who can finish it and determine the working conditions of the employees.

“Useless”

“By demanding employees to maintain services that guarantee the welfare of the population, (the bill) violates their constitutionally protected right to strike,” writes the CSN in a brief that will be presented on Tuesday in the National Assembly, a copy obtained by the Canadian press.

The union argues that the government does not need to legislate and that the tools it needs to resolve a dispute already exists in the Labor Code.

He is asking the bill to be withdrawn, calling it “useless.”

“Interference”

The complaints of Centraloe des Syndes Démocratiques (CSD) are echoed by those of the CSN, which argues that the bill is a “attack” very clearly directed against the capacity of employees organized in a union to make an effective strike. “

According to the CSD, the legislation “excessively politicizes the management of labor disputes.”

“We fear the excessive interference of the government in dispute management,” says the union in its brief.

The CSD also expresses its concern that the “provisions of the bill 89 will result in an erosion of confidence in the negotiation, prolongation and judicialization of labor disputes and the loss of the collective capacity of employees to improve their working conditions.”

The discontent against the bill has already felt. A speech by Minister Boulet in Montreal was canceled last week due to interruptions caused by a group of protesters.

When the bill was presented last month, the Quebec Federation (FTQ) declared that the government was proposing a “return to the era of great darkness.” The FTQ will be present at Wednesday’s consultations at the National Assembly.

“Restore a balance”

For its part, the Council of Employers affirms that the government bill is necessary to avoid “disproportionate paralysis in Quebec, endangering economic stability and collective well -being.”

“It is imperative to restore a fundamental balance between resorting to strikes or blockages and the protection of the population. This imbalance is even more worrying because it is exacerbated by the lack of effective intervention mechanisms and by the jurisprudence in evolution,” writes the organization of employers in their summary.

–This Report of the Canadienne Presse was translated by CityNews