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30 October, 2006
A little-noticed, but monumental vote in the Canada’s House of Commons on 25 October was won by the Canadian labour movement. Hundreds of trade unionists, including members from ICEM affiliates Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union of Canada and the United Steelworkers (USW), flooded the Parliament in Ottawa to assure passage on this historic vote.
The vote came on the second reading of a “private member’s bill” to ban, under the Canadian labour code, replacement workers or scabs during strikes and lockouts. Labour law in Canada is generally regulated by the provinces. But when an industry such as telecommunications, mining, or transportation crosses provincial lines, the Canadian national code takes effect.
The second-reading vote passed by an overwhelming margin, 167-101, with all New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois parliamentarians voting in favour. The fact that most members of the Liberal Party, and even a few Conservatives voted for the measure, Bill C-257, is a tribute to the trade unionists who moved this legislation forward.
A scab ban across Canada’s federally-supervised work areas had been attempted over 10 times before, the latest in April 2005 when it was defeated by 12 votes. What’s more, Bill C-257 is a “private member’s bill,” introduced by a Bloc Québécois delegate, and such bills traditionally are extremely hard to pass in Canada’s legislative system.
If passed, a federal scab ban law would impose a C$1,000-a-day fine on employers who utilise replacement workers during labour disputes. Efforts to pass the bill have been boosted by two provincial statutes that ban replacement workers, one on the books in Quebec since 1977, the other enacted in British Colombia in 1993. Research shows that not only the length of strikes and lockouts in these two provinces has been shortened compared to the average, but that neither capital investment nor job creation has been hindered by the laws.
“There is an understanding among the majority of Members in Parliament that this proposed ban on replacement workers – scabs – is a modern and enlightened method of reducing the length and impact of labour disputes, whether they be strikes or lockouts,” said USW Canadian National Director Ken Neumann, an ICEM Vice President.
ICEM Vice President Ken Neumann
“Our union represents 15,000 Canadians working in the federal jurisdiction,” he added. “This legislation is important for those workers and employers directly, and will become a fair and balanced model for provincial jurisdictions that do not have it in their labour codes.”
At the CEP’s Convention a week before the 25 October second-reading passage, delegates were lined up to take on lobbying assignments in the final push for passage. Those efforts, and the efforts of all Canadian trade unionists, paid off in the 167-101 vote.
“Canadians who work under the federal labour code are now a little closer to the fairness and balance that exists in labour relations in Quebec and in British Columbia,” said Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Ken Georgetti. The CLC, which headed the lobbying effort, maintains that scab labour is an outdated practice that does more harm than good.