Union describes federal labour relations review as ‘fundamentally flawed’
In its submission to the Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) 35-day consultation on modernizing the federal labour relations framework, Unifor said the review revealed the federal government’s misunderstanding and mistaken assumptions about how the existing structures work in practice.
“Unifor has and will engage in good faith in this flawed process, but we can hear the dog whistles of union-busting weaved throughout the government’s questions and reference documents,” said Lana Payne, Unifor national president, in a news release.
“The underlying premise of this consultation document, that the national interest requires that ‘certainty’ should be prioritized over free collective bargaining and that strikes are to be avoided at all costs, is fundamentally flawed,” Unifor stated in its submission.
The union explained that the current legislative scheme sufficiently safeguards the public from serious harm arising from contentious labour disputes.
“Any amendment to the Code which would restrict the right to strike and thereby the right to bargain collectively in the name of ‘national interest’ ought to be rejected as constitutionally unsound and an affront to the fundamental rights of workers,” Unifor’s submission stated.
“Free and fair collective bargaining drives social, economic and political change in Canada, values which are more core to ‘national interest’ than companies being temporarily inconvenienced due to the rare instances of labour disputes,” Payne said.
Unifor noted that a significant majority of negotiations end with successfully bargained collective agreements. The union added that the International Court of Justice in The Hague recently confirmed the right to strike as protected trade union activity under international law.
“The power of workers to take strike action is what makes employers negotiate, and firm deadlines help both parties reach a deal,” Payne said in Unifor’s news release.
The union shared that 16 of its locals across the road transportation, rail, airlines and marine transportation, energy, and telecommunications and media sectors also provided submissions from the perspectives of workers in these industries.
Unifor’s other issues
Unifor’s submission criticized ESDC’s overbroad consultation document on potential changes to fundamental processes and structures under the Canada Labour Code, 1985. The union pointed out that the review covered over 60 questions and 13 general themes, including:
- collective bargaining and strike timelines
- the use of s. 107 of the Labour Code
- health and safety
- artificial intelligence and automation
- employee misclassification
- contract flipping
The union noted that each of these open-ended topics could merit a distinct consultation.
Unifor called attention to breaches of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms through the recent utilization of s. 107 to wrap up lawful strikes, enforce binding arbitration, and impose a contract that workers did not negotiate.
In its submission, the union noted that the insufficient period for providing input – from Apr. 17 to May 18, subsequently extended to May 25 – prevented meaningful engagement with the foundational questions raised.
