Teleworking undermined Quebec’s anti-tax law

These provisions prohibit an employer from using substitutes for the performance of employees’ work during a strike or lockout. It was adopted by the government of Rene Levsk in 1977 after several heated labor disputes.

However, since insurance operations in Quebec Magazine and on Montreal Magazine In the late 2000s, the court ruled that employees whose texts were published in these daily newspapers, but did not work in the building The employer, cannot be considered a strike-breaker.

Conceptinstitution The employer thus becomes important in a context where remote work has become widespread due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

idea anachronism

What will happen today in the event of a strike and telecommuting?

What worries me. judgments Glucose antagonists They risk losing their teeth if this explanation [des tribunaux de l’époque] has been resumed, comments Jill Trudeau, Professor of Labor Law at the University of Montreal Law School.

We are stuck with an outdated idea, the idea of ​​enterprise Business owner, Trudeau says.

With remote work today, In the event of a strike, I don’t know how the courts will receive it. It’s very absurd as a result. This is against the spirit of the lawProfessor fired.

Required modifications

In an interview, FTQ President Daniel Boyer estimated thatWe must correct the shootingEspecially with remote work that has become widespread. Telecommuting has increased the number of places where people work outside the organization From the business owner, he said.

We want it to be adjusted according to the new reality. We don’t want more than he had at the time. We want what was agreed upon, identifies the head of the largest duty station in Quebec.

If not, it would be easy for employers, in the context of the balance of power being exercised at the negotiating table, to say: “I, I put you on lockdown and I’m going to hire other people.” See, there is something meaningless. It can’t work like that. It didn’t work that way for 40 years in Quebec. We have to adapt to that, or else we get to undo what we did so well 40 years ago, pleads Mr. Boyer.

The head of the 600,000-member Central Council argues that the provisions Glucose antagonists It had the effect of reducing tensions near the picket lines.

This prevents conflicts from escalating and taking too long. It is equal to the balance of forces. This is one of the reasons why Quebec has industrial peace., He says.