Strike Three for the Liberals
Never forget: there is power in a union
The federal Liberals love trampling on worker's rights to strike. Section 107 of Canada's labour code allows the cabinet minister in charge of workers the ability to end work stoppages in order to "maintain or secure industrial peace." Most of the time this forces striking workers into binding arbitration at the behest of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). Federal Liberals have used Section 107 time and time and time again. Patty Hadju, the current Minister of Jobs (not labour) also presented a bill forcing striking postal workers back to the job in 2018 when she was Labour Minister under Trudeau. It passed.
Flight attendants do not get paid for work done while not in the air. Helping passengers to their seats, safety checks, helping with luggage– All is unpaid labour. This remained a sticking point in negotiations. So it's no surprise that CUPE, the union representing Air Canada flight attendants, issued a strike notice after months of negotiations going nowhere. Perhaps it's even less surprising that, in response, management got nasty. They issued a lockout notice the day the strike was supposed to start. They also didn't plan for the strike to actually take place for long. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, president and CEO of Air Canada Michael Rousseau admitted that they made no provisions because they expected the government to step in. "Well we thought honestly that Section 107 would be enforced," Rousseau said. Why would they negotiate in good faith if the government is going to step in?
Indeed, as everyone predicted, the Liberal government once again hoped to feed striking workers to the wolves. Hadju invoked Section 107... and to the shock of the government and management, CUPE said they would not abide by it. The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled the defiance as "unlawful." Still, CUPE National president Mark Hancock said he would risk jail time and fines to continue the strike. It was reported the next day that a tentative deal with Air Canada had been reached; It included a minimum of 60 minutes of ground pay.
This historic moment is not the only existence of worker power succeeding against government threats in recent years. In 2022, Ontario premier Doug Ford's promise to use the notwithstanding clause to trample CUPE education workers was thwarted by threats of a general strike.
Defiance from CUPE workers was not the only unexpected result of the Liberal government's intervention. PressProgress obtained online polling data, commissioned by CUPE and conducted by Abacus Data that surveyed 1,303 Canadians. Results were indicative of a favourable public view of the strike, with 66 per cent of respondents siding with flight attendants. Further, intervention in the Air Canada dispute harmed impressions of the federal government, with impressions declining 13 per cent.
Abacus Data CEO David Coletto stressed to PressProgress that this may be dire for the Liberal government. "More Liberal voters think it was the wrong decision than the right one..."
Now those in the labour movement are pushing the government to repeal Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. President of the Canadian Labour Congress Bea Bruske said to the Toronto Star "I've never seen the labour movement this angry and this united at one moment in time."
Liberals, now under Carney, have relied on breaking strikes for far too long. Workers have had enough. Unless a different track is taken by the federal government to appease the working-class, their unmasked reactionary approach to workers will be a continuous thorn in their side.
Scott Martin
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made it clear that his government has shifted to the right in every respect. Now that this shift has been revealed even more nakedly in the labour arena, this has become crucial moment for working class Canadians. Remember, illegal strikes forced the Canadian government to recognize unions in 1872. Picketing was considered a criminal offence in Canada until 1934. The legality of strikes is not the point of action. Improving working conditions by flexing worker muscle is the point. Carney and the Liberal government just proved it.
What CUPE and the flight attendants have shown is that resolve and solidarity is what drives the workers movement. In such bleak times, it's important to recognize what they've achieved, and to not rest on our laurels. After months of stalled negotiations, hampered by a capitalist class that expected their allied government to rush to their aide, working people have shown that they have power. That power is imbued by the mere fact that they are workers. Those working across public and private sectors, unionized or not, have now seen what can be achieved. If we can all learn to wield this knowledge effectively, the future looks very bright.
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