Replacement workers prohibition

A buyer of a unionized business meets the term when a strike or lockout is possible and the question is who may cover the work. Under the Canada Labour Code, s. 94(4), subject to s. 94(7), during a strike or lockout not prohibited by Part I, no employer or person acting on behalf of an employer may use the services of listed people to perform all or part of the duties of an employee in the bargaining unit on strike or locked out. The list includes certain staff hired after notice to bargain, contractors other than dependent contractors, employees of another employer, and volunteers, students or members of the public. Under s. 94(5), contractor services used before notice to bargain was given may continue in the same manner, to the same extent and in the same circumstances.

British Columbia

Under s. 68(1) of the Labour Relations Code, during a lockout or strike authorized by the Code an employer must not use the services of a person, paid or not, who was hired or engaged after the earlier of the notice to commence bargaining or the start of bargaining, who ordinarily works at another of the employer’s places of operations, or who is employed, engaged or supplied to the employer by another person, among others, to perform the work of the striking or locked-out employees. Section 68(2) bars the employer from requiring any person who works at the struck place of operations to do that work without the person’s consent.

What to ask

• Whether the business falls under federal or provincial labour law
• Whether the agreement is near expiry
• Which contractors or agencies currently do bargaining-unit work

See What are the key considerations when buying a unionized business? and legal strike or lockout position. This entry covers federal and British Columbia rules only.