‘You won’t be here anymore’: Union president tells Labour Minister Bill 89 would be struck down in court

Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet rises in the legislature in Quebec City, Oct. 8, 2024. The Quebec government has tabled a new bill to limit the duration of strikes and lockouts. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The president of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), Magali Picard, told Labour Minister Jean Boulet his bill limiting the right to strike would be struck down in court.

“You know very well that it won’t stand up in court. The (legal) opinions you received all tell you that. On the other hand, the decision will be handed down in 10 or 12 years, and you won’t be around anymore,” said the president of the 600,000-member union at the National Assembly Wednesday.

“In the meantime, there are a lot of workers who will be frustrated, who will not have the working conditions they deserve, who will not keep up with the cost of living and who will continue to get poorer,” she added.

Picard was commenting on Bill 89, which allows the minister to impose arbitration after an unsuccessful conciliation or mediation process if they consider that a labour dispute threatens to cause “serious or irreparable harm to the public.”

The bill also proposes minimum services during certain labour disputes, such as “services ensuring the well-being of the population,” the interruption of which would disproportionately affect “the social, economic or environmental security of the population.”

This proposition goes well beyond the concept of “essential services,” which has prevailed for decades in Quebec. It is up to the Administrative Labour Tribunal to assess whether the health and safety of the public will be sufficiently protected.

Picard said she was open to discussing what should be considered essential services and whether they should be extended but he has not requested any meeting to discuss this issue.

‘One or two times a year’

Minister Boulet retorted that the notion of essential services “was not clear enough or broad enough to allow us to maintain minimum services.”

He defended his bill, saying that it would only “allow the use of tools in exceptional circumstances, on a case-by-case basis, once, twice, a few times a year, maybe not at all.”

The president of Quebec’s largest trade union centre has also promised to file a complaint with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) if the bill is adopted.

“On the first day, a complaint will be lodged,” she said.

The International Labour Organisation is a United Nations agency with 187 member states that aims to set international standards to promote decent work and workers' rights.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French March 19, 2025.