“Ontario workers have been down this road before,” said Walton. “When governments try to legislate away our rights, we fight back. We have done it before, and we will do it again.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is warning the federal government that workers will not stand by while Ottawa doubles down on a mechanism that allows the government to shut down legal strikes & weakening workers’ power at the bargaining table.

The federal government says it is protecting the right to strike. But Bill C-39 would still allow the government to intervene in a legal strike and direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order operations to resume or impose a binding process to settle the dispute. No government should be able to override workers’ fundamental right to strike – whether through back-to-work legislation or any other mechanism. Bill C-39 compounds that attack by allowing a single minister to intervene without requiring Parliament to debate and vote on ending that strike.

“Workers in Ontario know exactly what it looks like when governments decide our rights are inconvenient,” said Laura Walton, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Ontario workers have seen governments use legislation to interfere with collective bargaining before. Doug Ford’s government used Bill 28 to impose a contract on education workers, outlaw their strike and invoke the notwithstanding clause. Workers organized, mobilized and the legislation was repealed.

The Ford government also used Bill 124 to legislate limits on compensation instead of allowing workers to bargain freely. Workers and their unions challenged that law and won.

Creating pressure is precisely what gives workers power at the bargaining table.

Employers already have enormous power over workplaces, investment and jobs. Workers balance that power by acting collectively and, when necessary, withdrawing their labour.

If employers believe government will eventually intervene when a strike becomes disruptive enough, they have less incentive to reach a deal at the bargaining table.

At a time when governments are calling on workers to help defend Canadian jobs, build critical infrastructure and strengthen the Canadian economy, workers cannot be asked to put our elbows up for Canada while having our hands tied at the bargaining table.

“Our message to the federal government is simple: change this legislation,” said Walton. “If the government truly believes in the right to strike, it must protect workers’ ability to exercise that right without political interference. Ontario’s labour movement will oppose any attempt – federal or provincial – to weaken workers’ power at the bargaining table.”

Cope343

PREVENTION LINK. DEADLINE TO APPLY – SEPTEMBER 30, 2026, 4:00 P.M. EST