People's Voice Editorial
The Tory union‑bashing drive took another step on June 5, when Conservative MP Blaine Calkins (Wetaskiwin) introduced Bill C‑525. This Act aims to overturn decades of hard‑won collective bargaining rights, by changing the certification and revocation sections of the Canada Labour Code, the Public Service Labour Relations Act and the Parliamentary Employees Staff Relations Act.
Masked as giving workers the "choice" of whether to join a union, this private member's bill would actually remove the "card check" automatic certification of bargaining units. Adoption would mean that workers under federal jurisdiction will face the highest barriers to unionization in the country. Employers in the federal sector, on the other hand, would have full scope to intimidate such workers, making it nearly impossible to organize effectively. Just as significant, C‑525 also changes the rules for decertification, so that if a minority of members of a bargaining unit (45%) apply for revocation, a mandatory vote is called. For the unit to remain unionized, the majority of employees in the unit must vote in favour of continued representation, since all "no‑shows" would count against the union. As the Public Service Alliance of Canada warns, "this Bill stacks the deck against workers who wish to be represented by a union."
By sneaking C‑525 in as a Private Members' Bill, the Tories hope to avoid being seen as anti‑labour, despite their notorious record. It appears that the organization promoting these changes is Merit Canada, an employer lobby group which advocates for an end to unions in the construction industry.
The attack on labour rights is reaching a critical stage. Instead of more angry news releases, the Canadian Labour Congress and its affiliates need to get huge numbers of trade uniom members and their allies into the streets. Bill C‑525 can be stopped, but only through mass mobilizations, before another big chunk of labour rights is legislated out of existence.
(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)