CAQ government adopts law to limit length of labour disruptions

Montreal Gazette

a day ago

Quebec Politics
By
QUEBEC — Despite the staunch opposition of Quebec's labour unions, the National Assembly has adopted legislation designed to limit prolonged labour disruptions.
With the support of the Quebec Liberals, the Coalition Avenir Québec government pushed Bill 89, which the unions have tagged a declaration of war on them, into law Thursday. The vote tally was 94 in favour, 17 against.
Québec solidaire and Parti Québécois MNAs opposed.
But Labour Minister Jean Boulet defended the new law, saying something had to be done to better protect the population in the event of long labour conflicts.
'It's important to find the right balance between the exercise of the right to strike or lock out and the needs of the population,' Boulet said shortly before the vote was taken.
'In many different sectors, we've observed many conflicts that have had tremendous repercussions for the population. I think about the parents, I think about the families, I think about the children who have particular needs when they have a specific disease or handicap.'
Boulet noted Quebec is the Canadian champion when it comes to labour conflicts. He said Statistics Canada data shows Quebec set a record for strikes in 2023 with 690 work stoppages and broke that total in 2024 with 754 strikes.
'We have to take care of that,' Boulet said.
Recent polling shows the population is also on the side of the government. According to a Léger poll commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses last week, 74 per cent of Quebecers think that too many labour disruptions are bad for the economy.
As well, 72 per cent of Quebecers believe the government should be able to intervene to end labour disputes.
Boulet refuted claims by the unions and QS that the law gives the government too much power to intervene. Under the terms of the law, the Quebec cabinet will have the power to adopt a decree to refer a prolonged labour conflict affecting the public to the Administrative Labour Tribunal.
The parties would then have seven days to reach an agreement to maintain services after which the tribunal would act itself to establish the list of essential services.
The law excludes the health sector and civil service because they are already subject to the Essential Services Act, which requires them to maintain an acceptable level of services.
The law includes a second mechanism giving the minister the power to submit a dispute to an arbitrator if he feels there is a 'real or apprehended threat,' that a strike or lockout will cause the population irreparable damage. This power could only be used in the event of a failed attempt to reach an agreement by a conciliator or mediator.
'It is important to repeat that it isn't a decision to be made by the government itself,' Boulet said.
When he presented the bill, he ran down a long list of labour conflicts in which he said the public suffered, including the 2023 strike at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery that prevented families from burying their loved ones.
'I invite you to talk to those families,' Boulet said when the bill was presented in January 2025.
The legislation also earned the support of Quebec's powerful business lobby, but the province's labour unions staged protests in front of the National Assembly in April.
On Thursday, the opposition parties spoke out against the bill again. QS MNA Alexandre Leduc called Bill 89 'authoritarian and discriminatory.'
'It's too much power for one man,' Leduc told reporters. 'The right to strike is not fun for anyone, but it is the only tool left for a lot of people trying to reach a better distribution of wealth in Quebec.'
He added that the law already on the books, the Essential Services Act, would have sufficed to settle most of the labour disputes Boulet mentioned in his pitch for the new law.
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay went the other way and said his party believes the new law is justified.
'I think it's important that we modernize our law, and a balanced approach is part of the solution,' Tanguay said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM.