Quebec court: anti-scab law can reach remote workers

Quebec’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the province’s anti-strikebreaker provisions can apply to people working from home in certain circumstances, according to The Canadian Press.

The court overturned a 2023 Quebec Superior Court ruling and reinstated an earlier decision by the province’s administrative labour tribunal. The case pitted the union Unifor against Groupe CRH, which operated a cement plant north of Montreal.

The Labour Code bars an employer from using replacement workers to do the duties of unionized employees at an “establishment” where a strike or lockout has been declared. The tribunal sided with the union, which argued the company broke that rule by using a non-unionized worker during a 2021 lockout, even though the worker did the job from home.

The Superior Court later found it unreasonable to stretch the word “establishment” to cover a worker’s home. The Court of Appeal’s decision restores the tribunal’s wider reading.

The question has been in play since pandemic-era remote work became common. Unions argued that a narrow reading would let employers sidestep the law during a lockout, a concern CTV Montreal reported while the case was before the tribunal.

The Canadian Press did not report whether Groupe CRH plans to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, or say whether the company had commented. Canada News Media has not yet seen the full text of the decision.

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