PHILLIPS: Notwithstanding the Teachers and Section 107

The frequent use of Section 107, and now Alberta’s use of the notwithstanding clause poses a fundamental challenge to collective bargaining, labour must consider what this means. 

Key Points: 

• The use of Section 107 and now the notwithstanding clause in Alberta threatens collective bargaining and could lead to increased labour unrest and challenges to workers' rights.
• The Canadian government has increasingly used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end strikes and lockouts, which unions argue undermines workers' rights and bypasses parliamentary scrutiny.
• Given the unlikelihood of a full repeal of Section 107, unions should prioritize developing contingency plans that include formulating understandable public-facing "asks" and exploring viable fallback positions to navigate potential government intervention in labour disputes.

The Government of Canada has made unprecedented use of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code in the past year, invoking it at least eight times since 2018 to end strikes and lockouts in federally regulated industries such as airlines, railways, ports, and Canada Post.