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<\/p>\nUnion leaders argue that spelling out a minister\u2019s power to quash a work stoppage amounts to an attack on the right to strike that would weaken workers\u2019 bargaining power.<\/p>\n
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Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske said Thursday that Canada\u2019s unions are setting up a \u201cwar room\u201d to mount a joint defence if Ottawa uses the proposed powers to force workers off the picket line.<\/p>\n
Unions could share funds, legal expertise and other resources to support an affected local organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this bill moves forward without amendments that protect the right to strike, no union facing government intervention will be left to fight on its own,\u201d Bruske said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether that collective response could lead to a general strike, Bruske said the decision to strike \u2014 or to defy a government order \u2014 is up to the local union membership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest of the labour movement has said we will step up in every single way that you need us to, whether it\u2019s resources, whether it is financial, whether its taking actions. And it could cumulate to a day of action, 100 per cent it could cumulate to that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Bruske made those comments flanked by dozens of union leaders at a Canadian Labour Congress summit in Ottawa on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The federal government is proposing changes to the labour code as part of a broader piece of legislation that looks to streamline project approvals and offer more certainty to businesses and investors.<\/p>\n
Bruske warned Thursday that the government is risking deeper labour acrimony, rather than industrial peace, in its approach to collective bargaining. Years spent fighting unions in court won\u2019t help secure Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s aggressive infrastructure agenda, she suggested.<\/p>\n
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu defended Bill C-39 last week at a special committee struck to study the legislation.<\/p>\n
Hajdu argued the bill strengthens the right to strike by removing the ability to use Section 107 before a labour disruption. She said the government has a responsibility to act during an \u201cexceptionally consequential\u201d dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cProtecting workers and protecting the national interest go hand in hand,\u201d Hajdu said.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Labour Congress has proposed amendments that would require a government to make its case before Parliament if it seeks to end a legal strike. The group also has proposed an independent panel of experts to assess whether an ongoing strike has created a genuine national economic emergency.<\/p>\n
Bruske said union leaders are reaching out to MPs and senators in an attempt to get their preferred amendments on the table.<\/p>\n
She added that while Hajdu has been receptive to labour\u2019s concerns, she suggested other decision-makers in the Liberal government might not be open to significant changes to the legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure that this government, in this moment, is willing to budge,\u201d Bruske said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Union leaders argue that spelling out a minister\u2019s power to quash a work stoppage amounts to an attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-951017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}