The Quebec CAQ government is aiming to reform the labour code to give itself the same strike breaking powers as the federal government

[u/Red_Boina]

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2128947/ministre-travail-greve-lockout-intervention

[u/Red_Boina]

The Quebec labour code is objectively speaking the most protective of workers rights accross Canada. It forbids scab labour, does not give the provincial government any strike breaking powers, etc. This was won through the historically heightened mobilization and class consciousness of the Quebecois working class.

The CAQ government is openly stating it aims to do away with that and copy certain laws from the federal labour code in order to continue its onslaught of attacks on the Quebecois working class, particularly so as several key sectors are to go in collective bargaining very soon.

This is an outrageous regressive attack on workers' rights, spring 2025 is going to be hot in terms of labour struggle here...

[u/BONUSBOX → u/Red_Boina]

quebec has been coasting for 30 years on its eroding workers and tenants rights

[u/Red_Boina → u/BONUSBOX]

Yep, and the fightback has unfortunately been lackluster, barring certain key moments of collective waking up such as the 2012 student strike or the 2023 front commun the tendency has been to unfortunately not raise sufficient resistance to the bit-by-bit onslaughts. It certainly does not help that unions have adopted a form of "struggle" increasingly isolated to judicial battles instead of invigorating and mobilizing the union grassroots, and generally treating issues not directly related to labour (such as the attacks on renters or immigration) as part of a separate "third fight" which they give superficial support to without really engaging their membership.

Then there is the issue of "divide-and-conquer" that the CAQ has been leveraging as much as they can, with targeted reforms that only concern this or that economic sector but in a very clear broader project of full privatization and deregularization, while also pushing divisive attacks on democratic rights to keep people at each others throat. The Front Commun responded well against those tactics last year but right now it's in a lull, and I'm deafo fearful it won't be reignited in time. Politically the situation is dogshit given the "left" party, Quebec Solidaire, just puts its entire focus on culture war issues while economically moving right to reform itself as another "responsible" (read bourgeois) party, and the PQ dropped any pretense of having a labour left at all. There are the communist parties and groups doing their best but it's nowhere near sufficient right now.

Shit's pretty grim tabarnak

[u/Red_Boina]

Translation of the article (using deepl):

The Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, says he is analyzing the possibility of changing the Labour Code to give himself new powers in the event of a strike or lockout. He says he wants to draw inspiration from the Canada Labour Code.

The Quebec Labour Code could be amended to give the Minister of Labour the discretionary power to suspend a strike or lock-out and impose arbitration on the parties in dispute.

In his year-end review, Jean Boulet made no secret of his interest in Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which has been used to suspend work stoppages in the rail sector, at three major Canadian ports and at Canada Post.

“There have been labor disputes that have concerned us and had effects, for example in food processing, at the Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges cemetery, in education, in public transit,” he explains.

Mr. Boulet affirms that he is “constantly on the lookout for the best ways to put an end to these disputes and find a solution that allows the parties to break the deadlock”.

Governments have been less inclined to pass special back-to-work legislation since the Supreme Court ruled that strike action is a constitutional right.

The Minister could also go further and broaden the notion of essential service.

Perhaps we need to think about new criteria for determining what constitutes a service to be maintained in the event of a labor dispute, strike or lockout,” he said.

CSN warns Jean Boulet

The president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Caroline Senneville, said she was “surprised” by Minister Boulet's intention.

She reminds us that to obtain this change, the Legault government will have to legislate. In her opinion, there is no guarantee that this power will remain in the federal government's arsenal forever.

“I think the minister had better be careful, because the use made of it by Canada's Minister of Labour is being challenged in the courts. I'd say three times rather than one. So we'll have to see, because the use made of it could be deemed unconstitutional,” she says.

She fears that the federal government's numerous interventions to put an end to the strike will undermine the right to strike in this country and create more labour disputes.

“What we've seen in the federal government lately is employers saying 'I don't need to negotiate because there's going to be arbitration', so that's not constitutional because there have been two very important Supreme Court rulings that say unions have the right to have the employer party before them negotiate in good faith,” she adds.

Ms. Senneville mentions that the CSN wishes to be involved in the discussions surrounding the Minister's desire, but that the union “will never participate in discussions that would result in us losing a hard-won right that is protected by the Canadian constitution”.

Jean Boulet wants to continue with the CAQ

Minister of Labour since his election in 2018, Jean Boulet seems far from bored. He has already passed 11 laws, with a 12th on the way. In 2024 it's the one on sexual harassment in the workplace that he's most pleased with.

“There's been a rise in social awareness in all sectors. My concern is that it's happening in the workplace. It's part of the broader phenomenon of harassment. It has to be fought, regardless of the environment in which it occurs,” he says.

As for his political future, Mr. Boulet seems intent on staying the course with his current allegiances, without considering a leap to the municipal or federal level. He intends to seek a third term in the elections scheduled for 2026.

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Special mention to the pathetic comments by the CSN which seems to think "social-dialogue" and limiting the fightback to judicial means is sufficient given the magnitude of the attack on display here.