Unions, employers split on government intervention in labour disputes

OTTAWA — The federal government says employers and unions are divided over how much power Ottawa should have to intervene in labour disputes.

Employment and Social Development Canada released a report Wednesday documenting what it heard from stakeholders over the spring and summer about the state of labour relations in the country.

That review will inform future legislative changes to the Canada Labour Code with the fall session of Parliament just around the corner.

The report said employers and labour groups both felt the existing system for collective bargaining functions well in the vast majority of situations and any reforms should be targeted, not sweeping.

But participants in the review said that framework is not well suited to handling highly complex disputes that can result in sprawling economic disruptions beyond a particular industry.

The department said most employers asked for stronger government powers to intervene when labour disputes in federally regulated industries threaten the national interest.

They argued work stoppages at major railways and ports can affect Canada’s reliability as a trading partner at a time when U.S. trade restrictions are escalating and Prime Minster Mark Carney is looking to reorient Canadian exports to overseas markets.

Unions, meanwhile, opposed any measures that would curtail workers’ right to strike in pursuit of a deal.

“While generally supportive of measures that strengthen bargaining relationships and help parties reach negotiated agreements, they expressed significant concerns regarding proposals that could prolong the bargaining process, infringe on workers’ right to strike, or increase government intervention in labour disputes,” the report said of unions’ feedback.

Both sides were in favour of measures that increase certainty in the collective bargaining process.

Employers and unions diverged strongly on the use of Section 107 of the labour code. This contentious measure has been used increasingly often to curb work stoppages in key industries by referring disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The federal government has leaned on Section 107 in recent years to get workers off the picket lines at Canada Post, the CN and CPKC rail companies, and at the B.C. and Montreal ports. Air Canada flight attendants defied an attempt to use the measure to end their strike in 2025.

While employers were broadly supportive in the review of having a tool like Section 107 available to the government, labour groups strongly opposed it as overreach. Some unions felt the section should be repealed entirely or restricted to apply to only narrow circumstances.

There was some mixed reaction to the idea of introducing a new special mediator role to the collective bargaining process that could provide a neutral party’s opinion to the government, employers and workers before a dispute escalates.

Employers were broadly in favour of such a role, while some unions endorsed the idea with reservations. There were fears on the labour side that the mediator’s report could create the basis of a collective agreement that would hold employers’ back from negotiating in good faith.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2026.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press