Editing Strike action (section)

=== Canada ===
On 30 January 2015, the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] ruled that there is a constitutional right to strike.<ref>''Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v Saskatchewan'', 2015 SCC 4</ref> In this 5–2 majority decision, [[Rosalie Abella|Justice Rosalie Abella]] ruled that "[a]long with their right to associate, speak through a bargaining representative of their choice, and bargain collectively with their employer through that representative, the right of employees to strike is vital to protecting the meaningful process of collective bargaining…" [paragraph 24]. This decision adopted the dissent by [[Brian Dickson|Chief Justice Brian Dickson]] in a 1987 Supreme Court ruling on a [[reference case]] brought by the province of [[Alberta]] (''[[Reference Re Public Service Employee Relations Act (Alta)]]''). The exact scope of this right to strike remains unclear.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slaw.ca/2015/02/01/finding-more-meaning-in-the-future-of-labour-law/|title=Finding More "Meaning" in the Future of Labour Law – Slaw|last=Ha-Redeye|first=Omar|date=1 February 2015|language=en-US|access-date=3 July 2019}}</ref>

Prior to this Supreme Court decision, the federal and provincial governments had the ability to introduce "back-to-work legislation", a [[special law]] that blocks the strike action (or a lockout) from happening or continuing. Canadian governments could also have imposed [[binding arbitration]] or a new contract on the disputing parties. Back-to-work legislation was first used in 1950 during a railway strike, and as of 2012 had been used 33 times by the federal government for those parts of the economy that are regulated federally (grain handling, rail and air travel, and the postal service), and in more cases provincially. In addition, certain parts of the economy can be proclaimed "[[essential services]]" in which case all strikes are illegal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/faq-back-to-work-legislation-1.1000525|title=FAQ: Back-to-work legislation}}</ref>

Examples include when the government of Canada passed back-to-work legislation during the 2011 [[Canada Post]] lockout and the 2012 [[CP Rail]] strike, thus effectively ending the strikes. In 2016, the government's use of back-to-work legislation during the 2011 Canada Post lockout was ruled unconstitutional, with the judge specifically referencing the Supreme Court of Canada's 2015 decision in ''[[Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v Saskatchewan]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canliiconnects.org/en/summaries/42968|title=Ontario judge finds back-to-work legislation aimed at postal workers violates Charter|website=canliiconnects.org}}</ref>