Chamber
ontario
Stage
Introduced
This Ontario bill bans employers from using replacement workers during strikes or lockouts, with limited exceptions for emergencies.
Key Changes
- Prohibits employers from using newly hired workers, contractors, or employees from other locations to replace striking or locked-out workers
- Protects employees who refuse to perform the work of striking colleagues from reprisals such as dismissal or threats
- Allows limited use of replacement workers only in genuine emergencies or to maintain specific essential services, and only to the minimum extent necessary
- Requires employers to notify the union before using replacement workers in emergency situations, and give the union a chance to supply bargaining unit employees instead
- Guarantees striking or locked-out employees the right to be reinstated to their former positions after a strike or lockout ends, with seniority-based rules if work is limited
- Allows unions to make payments to keep employee benefits (e.g., insurance coverage) active during a lawful strike or lockout
Gotchas
- The bill places the burden of proof on the employer to show they did not violate the anti-replacement-worker rules, which is a reversal of the usual burden of proof
- Managers who ordinarily work at the struck location are not prohibited from continuing their work there, but managers from other locations cannot be brought in to do bargaining unit work
- The emergency exceptions are broad enough to potentially cover a range of situations, and disputes about whether an emergency exists would be decided by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
- Employers and unions can negotiate written agreements in advance about how replacement worker rules will apply during a future strike or lockout, but such agreements cannot be made a condition of ending a strike or lockout
- The bill restores provisions that were previously in force in Ontario from 1992 to 1995, meaning this is not entirely new policy but a reinstatement of earlier law
Who's Affected
- Unionized workers in Ontario who go on strike or are locked out
- Employers in Ontario with unionized workforces
- Contractors and independent contractors who might otherwise be hired as replacement workers
- Workers in essential or emergency services sectors (e.g., residential care, ambulance dispatch, emergency shelters)
- Trade unions and employers' organizations in Ontario
Vibes
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Gotchas
- The bill places the burden of proof on the employer to show they did not violate the anti-replacement-worker rules, which is a reversal of the usual burden of proof
- Managers who ordinarily work at the struck location are not prohibited from continuing their work there, but managers from other locations cannot be brought in to do bargaining unit work
- The emergency exceptions are broad enough to potentially cover a range of situations, and disputes about whether an emergency exists would be decided by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
- Employers and unions can negotiate written agreements in advance about how replacement worker rules will apply during a future strike or lockout, but such agreements cannot be made a condition of ending a strike or lockout
- The bill restores provisions that were previously in force in Ontario from 1992 to 1995, meaning this is not entirely new policy but a reinstatement of earlier law
Summary
Bill 96, the Anti-Scab Labour Act, 2026, amends Ontario's Labour Relations Act, 1995 to prohibit employers from hiring or using 'replacement workers' (sometimes called 'scabs') to do the jobs of employees who are on a legal strike or locked out. This means employers cannot bring in newly hired workers, contractors, employees from other locations, or outside individuals to fill in for striking or locked-out workers. The bill restores rules that existed in Ontario from 1992 until they were repealed in 1995. The bill does allow limited exceptions where replacement workers can be used — but only to the minimum extent needed — in situations involving serious emergencies, such as preventing danger to life or health, stopping serious environmental damage, or maintaining essential services like custody facilities, residential care for vulnerable people, emergency shelters, and ambulance dispatch services. Even in these cases, the employer must first notify the union and give it a chance to have bargaining unit employees do the work voluntarily. The bill also protects employees who refuse to do the work of striking colleagues from being fired, threatened, or penalized. It guarantees that striking or locked-out workers have the right to get their jobs back after a strike or lockout ends, and it allows unions to make payments to keep employee benefits (like insurance) active during a work stoppage.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses