Liberals set to table anti-scab labour legislation today, fulfilling a key NDP demand

The NDP is seeing one of the key demands of its agreement with the Liberals fulfilled today as the government tables long-anticipated anti-scab legislation.

Sources with knowledge of the legislation tell CBC the government will table a bill that would prevent employers in federally regulated workplaces from bringing in replacement workers during a strike. The sources are not being named because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

More than 900,000 employees work in the federally regulated private sector, in workplaces such as airlines and banks and in the telecommunications sector. Not all employees in this sector are unionized.

British Columbia and Quebec have similar legislation. New Democrats have attempted to bring in a bill of their own more than eight times over the past 15 years. The last time an NDP anti-scab bill went to a vote, in 2016, both Liberals and Conservatives voted against it.

An anti-scab bill was one of the NDP's demands when it signed an agreement with the Liberals promising the government support on key pieces of legislation in exchange for progress on New Democrats' policy priorities.

The agreement specifically calls on the government to introduce "legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers ... when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees or is in a strike."

Details of the legislation are expected to be released later today when it is tabled in House of Commons. Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan is holding a news conference today to discuss legislation to amend the Canada Labour Code.

Sources said New Democrats and Liberals worked closely together on developing the bill. A source with knowledge of the negotiations said they were tense at times, with the New Democrats threatening to be less co-operative in the House of Commons and to refuse to fast-track Liberal legislative priorities.

A source within Canada's labour movement confirmed they're expecting the government to table legislation to boost workers' rights during a cost-of-living crisis.

The source said the labour movement believes the legislation will receive pushback from businesses. But several sources who support the legislation say it could help prevent labour disruptions by forcing both sides to come to a deal sooner.

The labour source said the bill that will be tabled today could have been stronger.

The source said the legislation requires that all unionized federally regulated workplaces come up with agreements detailing when replacement workers can be used in the event of a strike or lockout.

The labour source said such agreements, known as "maintenance of activity" agreements, are only required for hazardous workplaces that have to keep running during a walkout for safety reasons, such as steel or chemical plants.

Because of the timing of the bill's introduction, it could be several years before workplaces have to comply with the new law.