The Canadian Labour Congress is urging Parliament to remove proposed restrictions on the right to strike from Bill C-39. In a statement issued Sunday, the federation said a legal analysis it commissioned found the bill would give Ottawa unusually broad powers to intervene in a lawful strike.

The CLC’s concern centres on a proposed national-interest power that, in its reading, could allow a federal minister to order work resumed and impose a binding resolution without the emergency threshold or independent guardrails it says apply elsewhere in the G7.

Those are the labour federation’s claims, not a court ruling. The bill has not passed, and its final wording may change through Parliament. The CLC says it would take its concerns to the International Labour Organization if the provisions become law unchanged.

The debate is about how to balance continuity in federally regulated services with collective bargaining rights. Readers should examine the legislative text and responses from government and employers as scrutiny proceeds. Source: Canadian Labour Congress statement and comparative analysis.

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