Secondary Picketing Supreme Court Decision

In a far-reaching decision, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that secondary picketing is legal. The court ruling occurred after a long labour dispute between Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Local 558 in Saskatoon and Pepsi Cola, which started in 1997. RWDSU members began to picket several retail outlets and a hotel. Pepsi obtained an injunction to halt the secondary picketing, but the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the injunction. The legal dispute finally ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada, which in a precedent-setting decision in 2002 unanimously ruled that secondary picketing is now legal in Canada. This means that workers can not only picket their employer, but can also engage in secondary picketing against their employer's customers.

George Manz