Quebec Introduces Legislation to Restrict Strikes

The Quebec government has introduced a new bill to restrict the length of strikes and lockouts.

Presented today by Labour Minister Jean Boulet, the bill is designed to safeguard services crucial for maintaining “social, economic and environmental security,” particularly for vulnerable individuals.

Boulet explains that his bill would apply to sectors not currently covered by the province’s essential services act, which oversees labor relations in fields like healthcare and the public sector.

The proposed legislation would enable the government to refer labor disputes to Quebec’s administrative labor tribunal, which could then require the parties to come to an agreement to sustain specific services.

Additionally, it would grant the labor minister the authority to designate an arbitrator who could resolve labor disruptions that the minister deems to be causing “serious or irreparable harm” to the public. However, this provision excludes the public sector.

This bill comes in response to multiple prolonged labor disputes in recent years, including a teacher strike that shut down 800 Quebec public schools for 22 days in November 2023.

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Quebec unions have swiftly denounced the new bill, with one condemning it as “a declaration of war on workers.”