By Shawn Campbell
President, Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU-CSC)
On behalf of the thousands of members of the Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU-CSC), I am writing today to share our profound concerns regarding the federal government’s newly introduced labour legislation. As Canadians, we all share a common goal: a stable, safe, and prosperous country built on fair work, strong industries, and mutual respect. However, true stability and progress in our workplaces are built from the ground up when we treat one another with dignity, negotiate in good faith, and respect the fundamental democratic rights of working people.
While our confederation recognizes and welcomes several long-overdue, progressive elements within this bill, specifically the protections against predatory wage theft, cracking down on abusive contract-flipping practices, and properly resourcing the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), we cannot and will not accept these advancements at the cost of our constitutional rights. Connecting these critical protections to new, dangerous restrictions on the freedom of association and the right to strike is a manipulative legislative strategy designed to divide the labour movement.
The right to withdraw our labour is the bedrock of a free, fair, and democratic society. Protected under Section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the right to strike ensures that workers have the necessary leverage to balance the inherent power dynamic at the bargaining table. Without this genuine, unfettered right, collective bargaining is reduced to little more than collective begging.
When workers are stripped of their constitutional leverage, employers have no real incentive to negotiate in good faith. Instead, they are encouraged to run out the clock, knowing that the federal government can, and increasingly will, step in to tilt the scales in their favour. A right that can only be exercised with the government’s permission is not a right at all. It is merely a conditional privilege that can be revoked at the political convenience of the government of the day.
At the core of our objection is the proposed framework granting the Minister of Jobs and Familes unprecedented, unilateral discretion to shut down legal strikes based on subjective evaluations of the “national interest.” While proponents point to newly designed “guardrails” and specialized mediation as a fair compromise, these mechanisms are merely a bureaucratic veneer designed to sanitize state interference in free collective bargaining.
Concentrating such sweeping authority in a single cabinet minister sets a dangerous precedent among G7 nations. It subverts the checks and balances of our democratic labour relations system and fundamentally destabilizes federally regulated sectors. Workers do not strike lightly, as it is always a measure of last resort. The natural collective bargaining process functions best when employers and unions are given the space to work through their challenges directly, without the threat of political intervention.
The CCU’s resistance to these measures is rooted in a consistent, principled history. For years, we have stood firmly against the use of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which has historically allowed successive federal governments to interfere in federal disputes by directing the CIRB to impose binding arbitration or end work stoppages.
Time and time again, we have witnessed governments using Section 107 to bail out recalcitrant employers who refuse to offer fair wages, safe working conditions, and decent benefits. Every time the state steps in to break a strike, it sends a chilling message to corporate boardrooms: you do not need to reach an agreement. Rather than correcting this historical imbalance, the new bill formalizes and expands this interventionist toolkit, wrapping the spirit of Section 107 in modern procedural red tape.
Canada’s unions have repeatedly proven that we are ready to build what this country needs, protect domestic jobs, and foster economic resilience. However, we cannot stand by while essential protections are offered with one hand, and our constitutional rights are stripped away with the other.
The Confederation of Canadian Unions urges the federal government to take immediate, corrective action to preserve the integrity of our collective bargaining system. We ask that they strip all interventionist, strike-restricting mechanisms from the legislation entirely and allow the genuinely progressive components, specifically the initiatives to protect workers from contract flipping, end predatory wage theft, and properly resource the CIRB, to proceed cleanly.
The CCU-CSC remains fully prepared to work collaboratively with the federal government to enact these positive, progressive reforms. Together, we can focus on building a fairer, stronger, and more democratic economy together, without compromising the constitutional rights of the workers who keep Canada moving.
