Minister O’Regan tables his anti-scab bill

(Ottawa) Hailed by unions, criticized by employers, the anti-scab bill tabled Thursday by Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan will prohibit the use of replacement workers in federally regulated industries. Ottawa will thus make up for a 46-year delay in Quebec.

“This is the most important event that has happened to collective bargaining in Canada in decades,” Mr. O’Regan said at a press briefing. He was surrounded by union leaders and New Democrats, who spoke of a historic day. “Some have told me that the Canadian labor movement has been calling for this for longer than Canada itself, during the era of Lower and Upper Canada,” he added.

Bill C-58 is one of the most important demands of the agreement between the Liberals and the New Democrats which allows Justin Trudeau’s team to govern as if he were in the majority. It was also a Liberal election promise. The two parties negotiated for more than a year.

Jagmeet Singh made a triumphant entry into the foyer of the House of Commons to the applause of some of his MPs and union leaders. “After decades of battle, we finally forced the government to present an anti-scab bill,” said the New Democratic leader.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents dock workers at the port of Quebec locked out since September 2022, was delighted. He attributes the length of this dispute to the lack of federal legislation regarding replacement workers. The deputy leader of the NDP, Alexandre Boulerice, recalled that he began his career as a unionist at the start of the Videotron employee lockout in 2002 which lasted 10 months.

According to Unifor, the average duration of a labor dispute when an employer uses scabs is 265 days, compared to 42 days when they are not used.

The bill aims to prohibit the use of replacement workers during a labor dispute in sectors under federal jurisdiction, such as banking, telecommunications and transportation. More than a million people will be affected. The government wants to prevent an employer from hiring workers to carry out the tasks of union members once collective negotiations have begun.

“This means that no new contract workers, no members of the bargaining unit are crossing the picket line,” said Minister Seamus O’Regan.

It will also be impossible to circumvent the legislation with the use of teleworking, as revealed The Press Wednesday. Any employer who contravenes the law would face a financial penalty of $100,000 per day.

Exceptions would apply in the event of situations that pose a risk to health and safety or if there was a risk of significant damage to the environment or the employer’s property. They cannot be used to maintain production.

“We really wanted to avoid the notion of establishment and the notion of essential service, national security or economic security,” Alexandre Boulerice explained in an interview. It’s not in the bill. »

Both parties will have 15 days to agree on the tasks to be maintained in the event of a strike or lockout. If they fail to do so, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) will have 90 days to decide. This mechanism will bring “more certainty and stability in collective negotiations”, argued the minister. The government plans to increase its resources so that it can hire more inspectors, but it has not specified to what extent.

Currently, it takes an average of 212 days before the CIRB can review an application, and it renders its decision within 17 days.

Wrong Way

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce believes that the government is on the wrong track because it favors the union side to the detriment of the management side. An imbalance which, according to her, risks causing more strikes which will last longer. Enough to destabilize the economy and harm international trade.

Mr. O’Regan hopes to have unanimity from all parties in the House of Commons for rapid adoption. However, the law would not come into force until 18 months after royal assent. The Bloc Québécois said it was ready to support the bill. The Conservatives, whose leader Pierre Poilievre is trying to get closer to the workers, have not yet taken a position. They have voted against similar bills in the past.

“If he is serious about the fact that he is for workers, why would he oppose a bill that will help their balance of power during negotiations? asked Alexandre Boulerice. If he votes against, we will see his true colors. »

The tabling of the bill was welcomed by all unions, including the Confederation of National Unions (CSN) and the Federation of Quebec Workers (FTQ). They hope that Quebec will follow in Ottawa’s footsteps and include teleworking in its anti-scab law, which dates from the late 1970s. British Columbia is the only other province to have such a law.