‘Section 107 needs to go’: What CUPE’s defiance of labour code could mean for future strikes

What could CUPE’s defiance of Section 107 mean for future strikes in Canada? Rachel Aiello has the latest.

The federal government invoking a contentious labour provision, and Air Canada indicating it expected the law to be enforced, has riled unions and workers, prompting predictions that the way the dispute played out could set a precedent.

On Saturday, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered flight attendants back to work, less than a day after they went on strike. She did so using Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, a measure that gives the government the power to end a work stoppage to “maintain or secure industrial peace.”

But, in an act of defiance the major airline’s CEO told BNN he hadn’t anticipated, flight attendants rebuffed the federal order and remained on the picket line, with the full backing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The two sides later reached a tentative deal early Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, Canadian labour leaders said they’ve been emboldened by flight attendants’ fight, and the fact that they managed to make a deal at the bargaining table with Air Canada after all.

“I very strongly hope that the message that this sends to employers and to our federal government, is stay out of interference and collective bargaining, and do not expect government to ride to your rescue,” said Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Bea Bruske.

Bruske, speaking to CTV News in her Ottawa office on Tuesday, described Section 107 as “a crutch” that employers, and lately the federal government, have relied on during rail, port and postage labour disputes.

“Over the weekend, the flight attendants made sure that crutch snapped,” she said. “Every other union going forward is also going to question themselves very strongly as to whether or not they will adhere to any kind of ruling that comes out as a result of the invoking this particular section.”

The CLC is now gearing up for a fall lobbying effort on Parliament Hill to push Prime Minister Mark Carney to scrap Section 107 from the federal labour code, and it’s expected to have the backing of other union and labour leaders.

“Not allowing workers to withdraw their labor is a huge problem. It is a constitutionally protected right. It is the only avenue that workers actually have … in order to demand better for them from the employer,” she said. “It’s critical that employers be forced to get to that bargaining table and be serious and not wait for government intervention.”

‘Misunderstood the public mood’

Recent polling commissioned by CUPE suggests the Liberal government may have misread the public in making this move.

“I think it had the effect of really riling up the entire labour movement,” said Abacus Data CEO David Coletto. “And (Carney) set a precedent now that employers are going to face more conflict than less in the future.”

Coletto added that the move seemed to go against “what the Carney brand is built on,” of being focused, thoughtful and competent.

“I think they misunderstood the public mood a little bit.”

‘Maybe hit a wall’

Labour expert Steven Tufts said the directive only has power when workers comply with it.

“I think what is going to happen over the next little while is Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, that some people argue have been has been abused in recent years by the federal government, has maybe hit a wall,” Tufts said.

CTV News asked Hajdu for her response to unions who say the federal government was “heavy handed” in its use of Section 107, and whether she was concerned that CUPE’s defiance of it has laid the groundwork for it to no longer be a viable tool in future labour disputes.

Her office did not provide comment by deadline.

In a general statement about the tentative agreement between Air Canada and its flight attendants, Hajdu called the resolution “good news for workers and Canadians.”

The question that remains is whether other unions will take a similar approach when contract talks break down. With Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) heading back to the bargaining table, CTV News asked CUPW for comment, but did not hear back by deadline.

“I think all of labour has been emboldened by this decision of flight attendants to just say no and to stay out,” Bruske said. “I would anticipate that this decision … is going to inform many other rounds of bargaining that we have yet to see.”