Secondary Picketing, Consumer Boycotts and the Charter
Canadian Journal of Labour and Employment Law, Vol. 7, Iss. 1, 2000
15 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2008 Last revised: 4 Aug 2008
Date Written: 2000
Abstract
In this article, based on an earlier presentation, the author considers the treatment by Canadian courts and legislatures of peaceful labour picketing. The author argues that courts have preserved the right to picket only in an extremely narrow zone, and that this result is not supported by basic labour law principles or the spirit of the Charter. The fundamental nature of freedom of expression and association should provide presumptive protection for picketing, especially in light of the corresponding lack of constitutional protection for private property and freedom of contract. The author points to the liberal treatment of consumer boycotts as further evidence of this anomaly; and ends with a postscript on recent Supreme Court decisions that fail to decisively break with this tradition.
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