Second Session, Forty-third Parliament, 69 Elizabeth II, 2020

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-258 An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (replacement workers)

FIRST READING, December 3, 2020

This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to make it an offence for employers to use replacement workers to perform all or part of the duties of employees who are on strike or locked out.

2nd Session, 43rd Parliament, 69 Elizabeth II, 2020

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-258

An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (replacement workers)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Reinstatement of employees after strike or lockout

87.‍6 At the end of a strike or lockout not prohibited by this Part, the employer must reinstate employees in the bargaining unit who were on strike or locked out in preference to any Insertion start other Insertion end person.

Prohibitions relating to replacement workers

(2.‍1)  Insertion start Subject to section 87.‍4, for the duration of a strike or lockout declared in accordance with this Part Insertion end , no employer or person acting on behalf of an employer shall

• Insertion start (a) Insertion end  use the services of a person to perform all or part of the duties of an employee Insertion start who is a member of Insertion end the bargaining unit on strike or locked out, Insertion start if that person Insertion end was hired Insertion start during the period commencing Insertion end on the Insertion start day Insertion end on which notice to bargain collectively was given Insertion start and ending on the last day of the strike or lockout Insertion end ;

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  (b) use the services of a person employed by another employer, or the services of a contractor, to perform all or part of the duties of an employee who is a member of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out;

• (c) subject to section 87.‍4, use, in the establishment where the strike or lockout has been declared, the services of an employee who is a member of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out;

• (d) use, in another establishment of the employer, the services of an employee who is a member of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out;

• (e) use, in the establishment where the strike or lockout has been declared, the services of a person employed in another establishment of the employer; or

• (f) use, in the establishment where the strike or lockout has been declared, the services of an employee employed in that establishment to perform all or part of the duties of an employee who is a member of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out.

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Protections

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(2.‍2) Despite subsection (2.‍1), the employer may use a replacement worker to perform all or part of the duties of an employee who is a member of the bargaining unit on strike or locked out to the extent necessary to enable the employer to prevent

• (a) a threat to the life, health or safety of any person;

• (b) the destruction, or serious damage to, the employer’s machinery, equipment or premises; and

• (c) serious environmental damage affecting the premises.

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Conservation measures

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(2.‍3) The measures referred to in subsection (2.‍2) shall exclusively be conservation measures and not measures to allow the continuation of the production of goods or services otherwise prohibited by subsection (2.‍1).

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Exceptions

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(2.‍4) The prohibitions set out in subsection (2.‍1) do not apply to

• (a) a person employed as a manager, superintendent or foreman or as a representative of the employer in relations between employers and employees; or

• (b) a person serving as a director or officer of a corporation, unless the person has been designated to serve in that capacity for the person’s employer by the employees or by a certified association.

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• (b.‍3) in respect of a failure to comply with subsection 94(2.‍1), by order, require the employer to stop using, for the duration of the dispute, the services of any person Insertion start described in any of paragraphs 94(2.‍1)‍(a) to (f) Insertion end ;

Unlawful use of replacement workers

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(5) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with subsection 94(2.‍1) is guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues.

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