Loading ...Canada wide implications – BC Labour Board Rules Workers Can’t Refuse to Cross Some Picket Lines
A strike that paralyzed one of Canada’s largest shipyards was illegal, B.C.’s Labour Relations Board has ruled, setting a new precedent for future disputes.
The ruling, reversing an earlier decision, found other unions broke the law when they refused to cross picket lines at Seaspan’s North Vancouver shipyard last fall in solidarity with striking tugboat operators represented by the Canadian Merchant Services Guild.
labour lawyers say the board’s decision could have implications for future disputes where federally and provincially regulated workers overlap.
About 120,000 workers in B.C. are in federally regulated sectors like banks, air, rail and marine transportation, telecommunications and broadcasting.
Courts would be better off judging the legitimacy of individual strikes themselves rather than ruling on the legitimacy of all strikes in general or the right of other workers to support one side or the other. I think unions came about in the first place because the authorities neglected their obligation to govern and judge the workplace.