DISPROPORTIONATELY DISENFRANCHISED: GENDERED IMPACTS OF INTERFERENCE IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN CANADA

Abstract

Much has written about the growth of legislative interference in collectivebargaining and the right to strike in Canada in thelatter part of the 20thcentury.However, consideration of the specifically genderedimpacts of this interferencehas been largely neglected. This paper argues thatsuspension of collectivebargaining rights and the right to strike impacts women workers in unique anddisproportionate ways. Two cursory case studies from Ontario andNewfoundland and Labrador provide examples of how suspension of bargainingrights has a differential impact on women. The paper calls attention to the needfor a heightened focus on the specifically genderedimpacts of neoliberalgovernments’ growing propensity to suspend collective bargaining rights inCanada.