Workers rally at MPs’ offices across Canada to defend right to strike

OTTAWA – Workers are rallying in 21 communities across Canada today, warning MPs that Bill C-39 will fuel labour unrest as some of the country’s largest unions pledge to defy the proposed restrictions on the right to strike.

With MPs home for constituency week, demonstrations are taking place outside constituency offices across the country, including those of Prime Minister Mark Carney and several federal cabinet ministers.

“These changes will increase labour unrest across Canada,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “The government cannot credibly claim to be protecting labour stability while introducing legislation that will make disputes harder to resolve and more disruptive.”

Bill C-39 would give the federal labour minister sweeping new powers to end legal strikes based solely on the minister’s opinion that a work stoppage could be contrary to the national interest.

Nearly 95 percent of federally regulated labour disputes are resolved without a work stoppage. The CLC warns that giving employers reason to expect government intervention will encourage them to hold out at the bargaining table, making agreements harder to reach and increasing the likelihood of conflict.

Some of Canada’s largest unions have already pledged to defy the proposed restrictions if they become law and to stand behind other unions that do the same.

“Collective bargaining works because both sides have a reason to reach a deal,” said Bruske. “If employers believe the government will end a strike for them, that incentive disappears. And workers aren’t going to quietly accept having their rights taken away.”

Today’s National Day of Action follows weeks of growing opposition from unions across Canada, including grassroots mobilization, national advertising, direct lobbying of MPs, and international condemnation of the proposed legislation.

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Media opportunities: Rallies are taking place throughout the day at MPs’ constituency offices and other locations across Canada.

List of events:

• Guelph, ON: 9 a.m. – MP Dominique O’Rourke’s office, 350 Speedvale Avenue West
• Kelowna, BC: 9 a.m. – MP Stephen Fuhr’s office, 890 Clement Avenue
• North Bay, ON: 11:30 a.m. – MP Pauline Rochefort’s office, 375 Main Street West
• Sydney, NS: 12 p.m. – MP Mike Kelloway’s office, 850 Grand Lake Road
• Moncton, NB: 12 p.m. – MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor’s office, 272 St. George Street
• Montréal, QC: 12 p.m. – Complexe Guy-Favreau, 200 René-Lévesque Boulevard West
• Ottawa, ON: 12 p.m. – Prime Minister Mark Carney’s constituency office, 240 Kennevale Drive
• Saint John, NB: 12 p.m. – MP Wayne Long’s office, Market Square
• St. John’s, NL: 12 p.m. – Minister Joanne Thompson’s office, 120 Torbay Road
• Toronto, ON: 12 p.m. – Minister Evan Solomon’s office, 409 Parliament Street
• Prince Albert, SK: 12:15 p.m. – MP Randy Hoback’s office, 598 15th Street East
• Regina, SK: 12:15 p.m. – Scarth Street, across from Cornwall Centre
• Burnaby, BC: 1 p.m. – MP Wade Chang’s office, 4940 Kingsway
• Edmonton, AB: 2 p.m. – Minister Eleanor Olszewski’s office, 12220 Stony Plain Road NW
• Sudbury, ON: 4 p.m. – MP Vivian Lapointe’s office, 469 Bouchard Street
• Thunder Bay, ON: 4 p.m. – Minister Patty Hajdu’s office, 705 Red River Road
• Windsor, ON: 4 p.m. – MP Kathy Borrelli’s office, 9733 Tecumseh Road East
• Hamilton, ON: 4:30 p.m. – MP Lisa Hepfner’s office, 1394 Upper Gage Avenue
• Winnipeg, MB: 4:30 p.m. – MP Kevin Lamoureux’s office, 98 Mandalay Drive
• St. Catharines, ON: 5 p.m. – MP Chris Bittle’s office, 61 Geneva Street
• Pickering, ON: 5 p.m. – MP Juanita Nathan’s office, 1154 Kingston Road

Full list of events, times and locations: ⁠Workers Together National Day of Action map

To arrange an interview, please contact:
CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426