When could PSAC strike end? How Ottawa has dealt with past job actions – National | 24CA News
How lengthy may Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members be on strike?
That query is being requested of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities, which has the ability to desk back-to-work laws, as federal public servants strike for the second day Thursday.
The Liberals, who’ve a minority authorities, have sidestepped these questions, and opposition events are dealing with queries as properly on whether or not they would assist such a invoice.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stated Wednesday his get together, which is backing the Liberals on key gadgets by means of a supply-and-confidence settlement, wouldn’t assist back-to-work laws.
The Conservatives have been non-committal on supporting such laws, with the get together’s Treasury Board critic MP Stephanie Kusie saying Wednesday the “incompetence” of the Trudeau authorities is what’s triggered the strike.
Though each events say they need to see the 2 sides attain a deal, it’s unclear how lengthy the strike will go on, and the way it will finish. The authorities and union items have been negotiating for 2 years.
Throughout, Trudeau’s authorities has labored with unions and labour teams on varied priorities, together with a plan to introduce anti-scab laws by yr’s finish to ban the usage of alternative employees throughout a strike or lockout.
A PSAC employee holds a flag on a picket line in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Canada’s largest federal public-service union says that some 155,000 employees are on strike throughout the nation after talks with the federal government failed to provide an settlement earlier than a Tuesday evening deadline.
Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
However, Trudeau, who stated Wednesday it’s vital “to respect labour rights,” has launched back-to-work laws earlier than.
Here are some examples of how his governments have handled strikes and the specter of job motion previously.
The Trudeau authorities was below strain in March 2022 to introduce back-to-work laws in what ended up being a quick strike between CP Rail and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.
Roughly 3,000 CP Rail conductors, engineers and prepare and yard employees have been off the job on March 20 and 21, ultimately reaching an settlement on March 22.
Industry teams pressed Ottawa to introduce back-to-work laws to finish the work stoppage. They stated the stakes have been excessive, given the CP Rail shutdown got here at a time when many companies have been coping with provide chain difficulties brought on by COVID-19, excessive climate and protester blockades at border crossings.
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan stated in an announcement on the time, the end result was “further evidence that when employers and unions work together, we get the best results for Canadians and our economy.”
2021 Port of Montreal strike
Unlike the CP Rail strike, the job motion taken on the key Port of Montreal in 2021 didn’t finish by a negotiated settlement.
For the second time as prime minister, Trudeau handed back-to-work laws, this time with the assistance of the Conservatives. Three Liberals, in addition to the Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Green MPs, voted in opposition to it.
Roughly 1,150 dockworkers went on strike April 26, 2021 after being with no contract since December 2018. The Liberals’ laws handed the House on April 29 that yr after being tabled two days prior. It was authorized by the Senate on April 30.
Then-labour minister Filomena Tassi stated on the time if strike was allowed to pull on, it could’ve value the financial system $40 to $100 million per week, immediately threatening 19,000 jobs and not directly affecting a whole lot of 1000’s of different jobs throughout the nation.
2020 Phoenix pay settlement
The Trudeau authorities averted a possible strike vote by PSAC when the union signed on to an settlement for retributions over Ottawa’s troubled Phoenix pay system.
The deal was introduced on July 10, 2020, greater than a yr after the union rejected the federal government’s preliminary supply – the lone holdout since greater than a dozen different unions signed that settlement compensating impacted civil servants.
PSAC’s rejection kicked off a course of by which a three-person panel would take a look at the bargaining course of and creator a report. If nothing modified in that point interval, PSAC would’ve been legally be allowed to carry a strike vote.
The union ultimately reached a cope with Ottawa that noticed its members gather as much as $2,500 every in money funds over the harms brought on by the system.
The prime minister additionally confronted strain to intervene after CN Rail employees went on strike in November 2019.
About 3,200 CN employees have been with no contract since July 23 that yr. They walked off the job on Nov. 19 over considerations about lengthy hours, fatigue and “dangerous working conditions.” The two sides introduced they reached a deal on Nov. 26.
Industry leaders from farming to mining and forestry referred to as on the Trudeau authorities to resolve the strike by getting Parliament, which was on break, again early to move back-to-work laws. The authorities selected to let either side keep on the bargaining desk.
The union thanked the Liberals for respecting employees’ proper to strike.
Trudeau, three years after first being elected to a majority authorities, got here below fireplace for enacting back-to-work laws in November 2018, ending a weeks-long strike by Canada Post employees.
The employees had been on rotating strikes since Oct. 22, 2018 over higher job safety, improved well being and security, and different measures. The authorities’s back-to-work laws handed within the House of Commons on Nov. 23, 2018, after being launched the day prior and handed the Senate on Nov. 26.
Canada Post workers occupied places of work of a number of politicians in protest of the deliberate laws, calling on Ottawa to respect employees’ rights to free and honest collective bargaining.
Then-labour minister Patty Hajdu stated the federal government had a accountability to all Canadians and companies that drive the financial system. The strike triggered huge backlogs of unsorted mail and packages at postal depots.
— With information from Global News reporters and The Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
