Absolutely. We see the right to strike as a charter right, and we believe the right to strike really is the right to reach a fair collective agreement. Again, as I noted right off the top, no worker goes to a bargaining table and says, “I want to go on strike because I think it would be nice to have a break from work.” Nobody says that.
The reality is that people want a fair deal so they can clothe, feed and house their families; so they can have a good workplace relationship with their employers; so they can address the issues that are at play within their workplace, whether they're health and safety, respect and dignity, hours of work, training or otherwise.
This legislation forces both parties to be very thoughtful about their approach at the bargaining table. It forces the parties to actually want to conclude a collective agreement and to deal with the issues at hand and to take the opportunity to have in-depth, longer conversations, rather than glibly saying, “no” or glibly saying, “We actually need this and we're pushing this agenda through.”
The right to strike, the right to collective bargaining and the right to representation as charter rights are critically important to us, and this is simply modernizing what needs to happen in labour relations in Canada.