The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that a Senate report is recommending stricter rules for workers' strikes in the rail and marine sectors, urging Ottawa to create a dispute resolution mechanism to prevent work stoppages. The Globe's Vanmala Subramaniam writes that the report by the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications suggests establishing a supply chain tribunal to evaluate labour disputes in ports and railways. If a strike threatens the national interest, an arbitrator should be involved to negotiate a new contract.
The report "Keep Canada Moving" has sparked anger among unions over Ottawa's review of the right to strike, following an April consultation document proposing changes to the Canada Labour Code that could make striking harder for workers.
The Canada Labour Code governs federally regulated workers, which make up about 7 per cent of the country's labour force. They include workers in banking, telecommunications, railways, ports and airlines.
Unifor condemned the report on Thursday, with the union's national president Lana Payne saying that its conclusions are "shocking, radical and only add confusion to the already rushed consultations to amend the federal labour code."
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