The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has rejected the Canada Post workers union’s argument that a government-imposed back-to-work order was unconstitutional. On December 13, 2024, federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon utilized his authority under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to instruct the CIRB to halt the postal workers’ strike and assume control of the labor dispute arbitration process. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) contended that compelling an end to the strike through Section 107 was unconstitutional and raised concerns about potential violations of the workers’ Charter rights.
Following a hearing, the CIRB determined that while the right to strike is crucial, it is not absolute. The board concluded that the use of Section 107 did not contravene the Charter and clarified that it lacked the jurisdiction to review the minister’s directive suspending the workers’ right to strike. One member of the three-member board dissented, with Member Paul Moist expressing disagreement and aligning with the union’s position. Moist criticized the minister’s utilization of Section 107 as a form of political maneuvering, labeling it as “reverse engineering of the highest order.”
Moist argued that the issuance of the back-to-work order impeded the workers’ right to strike and undermined their Charter right to a fair collective bargaining process. CUPW also sought judicial review, but as of now, no decision has been reached by the federal court. The CIRB disclosed that the involved parties were notified of the decision on August 13, with the public release occurring after a translation was completed.
The government’s deployment of Section 107 in labor disputes has been heavily contested by unions, who view it as a troubling precedent regarding workers’ right to strike. They assert that the repeated use of this provision by the Liberal government discourages meaningful bargaining by employers in federally regulated sectors and hampers the government’s ability to resolve strikes effectively. While Section 107 has been part of the labor code since 1984 and was seldom invoked in the past, the Liberal government has increasingly utilized it in recent years.
This tool was prominently spotlighted when then-Labour Minister Patty Hajdu intervened in the Air Canada flight attendants’ strike shortly after it commenced—an order that the union defied. In addition to the Air Canada case, the government has applied Section 107 in disputes involving workers at Canada’s two major railway companies, ports in Montreal and Vancouver, as well as at Canada Post.