Proposed Labour Law Bad for Canada, Bad for Workers

Thu Jan 11 13:49:12 2007
NCC Articles

By: Gerry Nicholls / Report Magazine

When it comes to politics I have a general rule of thumb: If the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois agree about an issue, then you know it’s bad for Canada.

Case in point is Bill C - 257, which the Bloc Quebecois is pushing through the House of Commons.

It’s a bad bill, which if enacted, would deny freedom of choice to unionized employees and drive away investment from Canada.

So what is Bill C - 257?

Well essentially it would make it illegal for federally-regulated companies to hire replacement workers during labour disputes.

And the bill’s definition of “replacement workers” includes unionized employees who may wish to defy their union bosses and cross a picket line during a strike.

The NDP supports this concept and is in fact sponsoring a similar bill. NDP leader Jack Layton says banning replacement workers will keep labour stoppages short and prevent violence from erupting on picket lines.

Of course, more to the point it will also make Layton’s big union boss allies very happy.

So let’s consider Layton’s arguments.

Will Bill C-257 really keep work stoppages shorter?

The evidence in Quebec, where they already have such a provincial law on the books, says no.

In fact, for four of the six years from 1999 to 2004, Quebec had work stoppages that were on average longer than those under federal jurisdiction.

And what about the stopping violence on picket line argument?

Well what causes violence on the picket line isn’t replacement workers, it’s the union bullies who man the picket lines and who threaten and assault people who are just trying to earn a living.

And we already have an institution to deal with that problem: the police. Instead of banning replacement workers why not just make sure the police do their job and protect employees who wish to cross picket lines.

Meanwhile, Layton has also chosen to ignore the negative economic impact of Bill C-257.

A recent study put out by the University of Minnesota’s Industrial Relations Centre, for instance, shows laws which ban workers from crossing picket lines result in reduced economic growth.

And it’s no mystery as to why that’s the case.

As the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has argued in the past, such laws give investors a “powerful incentive to either avoid or flee the jurisdiction.”

Indeed, the Montreal Economic Institute estimates that Quebec’s replacement worker ban has cost that province 30,000 jobs.

Imagine what would happen to our federal economy in this age of global mobility and international competitiveness if such a ban were imposed nation-wide.

Maybe that’s why the Bloc Quebecois supports this bill: they want to undermine the Canadian economy.

But of course, the other real problem with Bill C- 257 is that it denies an important freedom to unionized employees.

Simply put, every Canadian should have the right to earn a living and every Canadian should have the right to cross a picket line if they so choose.

Consider that another of my political rules of thumb.

Article originally appeared: January 2007