Labour Minister Jean Boulet recently tabled a bill that would possibly impact Quebecers’ right to strike. In fact, Bill 89, titled An Act to give greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or a lock-out, reads as follows:
The Minister may, if he consider that a strike or a lock-out causes or threatens to cause serious or irreparable injury to the population and the intervention of a conciliator or a mediator has not been successful, refer the dispute to an arbitrator for the latter to determine the conditions of employment of the employees included in the bargaining unit on strike or locked out.
This means that, in theory, the Minister could use this future law to end a strike or lock-out. For now, the government has published a list of affected industries, and (for now) the construction industry is not included.
We will keep you informed of further developments, should the situation change as a result of the parliamentary committee.
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