(OTTAWA) The New Democratic Party (NDP) again tabled legislation on Thursday to establish anti-scab legislation for businesses under federal jurisdiction, hoping this time to lay the groundwork for a minimum to be included by the Trudeau government in legislation to that effect.
Posted at 10:44 a.m.
This is the 10e attempt by the NDP in 15 years with a new version of its bill sponsored by the deputy leader of political training, Alexandre Boulerice.
Last week, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals launched a consultation with the aim of tabling their own bill on the subject by December 2023.
“For us, it was important to set the bar and to say: ‘here are the important elements that we would like to find in the government’s bill'”, summed up Mr. Boulerice, saying he was happy with the consultation initiated.
When the latter was announced, Labor Minister Seamus O’Reagan stressed that a possible ban on the use of scabs or replacement workers is a commitment included by his party in the agreement he concluded with the New Democrats. Moreover, Mr. Boulerice was present alongside Mr. O’Reagan.
The piece of legislation proposed by the NDP includes the protection of the rights of employees in the event of a labor dispute in the event of a lockout as well as in the event of a strike.
Mr. Boulerice also noted that the bill includes provisions for cases where employees telecommute, noting that the federal government has several call centers.
“With the pandemic, it got worse. […]. Telecommunications are [aussi] under federal jurisdiction. So we want to make sure there’s no loophole with online work,” he said.
In the country, only Quebec and British Columbia have laws that restrict the use of replacement workers, also called scabs, in their area of jurisdiction.
Mr. Boulerice mentioned that his bill wanted to correct certain “shortcomings” observed at the provincial level.
“When the union asks for an inspection to verify that there is no use of replacement workers, if there are delays in this inspection, […] it often allows the employer to hide or disguise the use of replacement workers,” says the MP for Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie.
The NDP has the support of several labor groups, such as the United Steelworkers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Union leaders will also accompany Mr. Boulerice during a press briefing, a little later Thursday.