BILL NO. 435
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
2 Charles III, 2024
Private Member's Bill
Strike Integrity and Worker Protection Act
Kendra Coombes
Cape Breton Centre–Whitney Pier
First Reading: March 19, 2024
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
Explanatory Notes
Clause 1 sets out the short title of this Act.
Clause 2 makes the prohibitions created in Clause 3 apply to the Crown in right of the Province and employees of the Crown. Clause 3(a) prohibits employers from using the services of a person, whether paid or unpaid, to perform the work ordinarily done by workers who are on strike or locked out;
(b) prohibits reprisals for workers refusing to do such work; and
(c) allows for agreements between employers and unions to include specified work for the purpose of health and safety.
Clause 4(a) provides an offence for failure to comply with the prohibitions established in Clause 2; and
(b) creates a system of administrative penalties for violations of those provisions.
An Act to Amend Chapter 475
of the Revised Statutes, 1989,
the Trade Union Act,
Respecting Strike Integrity and Worker Protection
1 This Act may be cited as the Strike Integrity and Worker Protection Act.
2 Subsection 4(3) of Chapter 475 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Trade Union Act, as enacted by Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2005, is amended by striking out "Sections 46A," and substituting "Section 46A, subsections 53(4) to (6), Sections".
3 Section 53 of Chapter 475 is amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following subsections:
- (4) Subject to subsection (6), no employer and no person acting on behalf of an employer shall, during a strike or lockout, use the services of a person, whether paid or unpaid, to perform work ordinarily done by an employee in a bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out.
(5) Subject to subsection (6), no employer and no person acting on behalf of an employer shall, as a result of a person's refusal to perform work ordinarily done by an employee in a bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out,
(a) refuse to employ or continue to employ the person;
(b) threaten the person, including a threat of dismissal; or
(c) intimidate, coerce or impose a penalty on the person.
(6) Subsections (4) and (5) do not apply if
(a) the employer and the trade union that is the representative of the bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out have agreed in writing to specified work that may be performed during a strike or lockout for the purpose of preventing hazards to health and safety; and
(b) the action taken by the employer or person acting on behalf of the employer is with respect to the work specified under clause (a).
4 Chapter 475 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 85 the following Sections:
- 85A Every employer and every person acting on behalf of an employer who fails to comply with subsection 53(4) or (5) is liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars for each day during which the failure to comply is committed or continued.
85B (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations establishing a system of administrative monetary penalties for the purpose of promoting compliance with subsections 53(4) and (5), including regulations
(a) designating an act referred to in subsection 53(4) or (5) as a violation for the purpose of this Section;
(b) respecting the administrative monetary penalties that may be imposed for a violation, including in relation to
- (i) the amount, or range of amounts, of the administrative monetary penalties that may be imposed on employers, classes of employers or persons acting on behalf of an employer,
(ii) the factors to be taken into account in imposing an administrative monetary penalty,
(iii) the payment of administrative monetary penalties that have been imposed, and
(iv) the recovery, as a debt, of unpaid administrative monetary penalties;
(c) respecting the persons or classes of persons who are considered a party to the violation and the amount, or range of amounts, of the administrative monetary penalties for which they are liable;
(d) respecting what constitutes sufficient proof that a violation was committed;
(e) respecting the powers, duties and functions of the Board and of any person or class of persons who may exercise powers or perform duties or functions with respect to the scheme, including the designation of such persons or classes of persons by the Board;
(f) respecting the proceedings in respect of a violation, including in relation to
- (i) commencing the proceedings,
(ii) the defences that may be available in respect of a violation, and
(iii) the circumstances in which the proceedings may be brought to an end;
(g) respecting reviews or appeals of any orders or decisions in the proceedings.
(2) The exercise by the Governor in Council of the authority in subsection (1) is a regulation within the meaning of the Regulations Act.
(3) Where an act or omission may be proceeded with as a violation or as an offence, proceeding with it in one manner precludes proceeding with it in the other.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2024 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created March 19, 2024. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.