Charlottetown partner Murray Murphy, QC, CHRP, quoted in Lexpert article on the right to strike
In the February 2016 issue of Lexpert Magazine, partner Murray Murphy, QC, CHRP, was interviewed by Julius Melnitzer for the article, The right to strike: Supreme Court’s labour trilogy has wide ranging impacts.
This piece looks into the three Supreme Court of Canada decisions which held that the right to strike is an “indispensable component” of collective bargaining. Murray states that this trilogy, “[calls] into question the extent to which the government can create orderly arrangements for collective bargaining.” These decisions impact union organization and collective bargaining from both a legislative and dispute resolution perspective, and Murray also believes that the economy could be affected, if governments continue to focus on the need to lower deficits. In addition, this trilogy could influence other emerging developments in labour and employment law, and shift union mentality; Murray notes, “if some members become unhappy with their union and think they can do better with another one, they might challenge those aspects of the legislation that restricts their right to choose their union.”