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The perverse effects of anti-scab measures

In 1977, the Quebec legislature amended the Labour Code to introduce measures prohibiting employers at establishments affected by legal strikes or lockouts from replacing the striking or locked-out workers. According to the government then in power, these measures were introduced with the twin goals of preventing violence and making labour conflicts shorter. These arguments are still raised today, even though studies show that strikes have generally not been shortened. Moreover, these anti-scab measures have had effects that are far from positive, whether for the workers they were intended to protect or for the economy as a whole.

Links of interest

Media release: Anti-scab measures harm Quebec and B.C. workers, says the MEI

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