Statement from Jim Dinn on Liberal call for back-to-work legislation

August 18, 2025

Statement from NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn on NL Liberal government calling for back-to-work legislation

The  Liberal government’s call last week to the federal government to intervene – forcing binding arbitration after less than 12 hours of a workers’ strike – is nothing short of a betrayal of the hard-won rights of everyday workers.

We’re in a cost-of-living crisis. People are struggling to pay their grocery and power bills. By effectively siding with Air Canada and applying back to work pressure, the Liberals have shown that they favour the interests of profitable corporate employers over the fair and constitutional negotiation process that working people deserve. This intervention undermines collective bargaining and sets a dangerous precedent: if one employer knows the government will bail them out, they have no incentive to bargain in good faith.

Our party urges Premier Hogan and his government to withdraw its thinly veiled call for forced arbitration and instead stand with workers by facilitating a deal at the bargaining table.

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