The federal jobs minister says she can’t give a “blanket answer” on when the federal government would move to end a strike or lockout under the new labour legislation tabled Monday.
According to the proposed Building Canada Strong Act, a work stoppage must be affecting the “national interest” before the minister can trigger Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end a labour disruption.
The existing tool allows a minister to refer two deadlocked parties to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to declare an impasse, end the work stoppage and move talks into binding arbitration.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said in an interview there’s no set timeline for federal government intervention in a strike affecting a critical industry….