Once again we are under attack by the right wing extremists who want to gut our ability to earn a decent wage, provide health and welfare benefits to our families and build up a modest pension that will provide for us during retirement. Let me be clear, we have some friends in the Progressive Conservative Party and many of our members vote for these upstanding Politicians. In fact, some of Ontario’s best labour laws were adopted by the Bill Davis government who realized that strong unions meant a strong Ontario. However, today’s PC’s in Ontario have been influenced by extremists much the same way as the Republican Party in the United States have been mislead by the infamous Tea Party. We are witnessing the same union-busting rhetoric here in Ontario as our Brother and Sisters south of the border have been facing for years. Campaigns such as “right to work” and “pay cheque protection” have very little to do with helping hard working people but are in fact, aimed at undermining the ability of your union to represent you. These “sound bites’ and what appear to be “common sense” slogans are designed to divide the membership so that,over time, unions are unable to provide essential services such as negotiating higher wages,organizing new companies and servicing members. Just look at the many states that currently have “right to work’ laws. States such as Florida, Texas,Georgia and Louisiana have lower average wages and income, lower health and welfare coverage, increase mortality rates and higher incidences of work place accidents.
The Conservative attack on workers’ rights is a major attack facing our union.
Please find below facts about the Conservative attack:
ONTARIO – Tim Hudak’s Anti-Worker Plan
A. Mandatory Union Dues
Existing labour law requires that, when mandated by the majority choice of workers in a bargaining unit, workers covered by a collective agreement must pay union dues. The principle is that workers enjoy the benefits of union membership and should therefore each contribute dues.
The Ontario Conservatives plan to make illegal any requirement that workers pay union dues.
B. Mandatory Union Membership
Existing labour law allows workers to negotiate with their employer a clause in their collective agreement requiring that workers covered by the collective agreement join the union.Beyond the responsibility of paying dues there are also the responsibilities of union membership – including collective action to defend and improve the collective agreement.
The Ontario Conservatives plan to strip workers of the right to act collectively.They plan to make illegal all clauses in collective agreements that would require workers to join a union.
C. Mandatory dues check-off
Existing labour law states that when requested by the bargaining unit employers must include a dues check-off clause in collective agreements. This clause obligates the employer to collect union dues on behalf of the union. Deducting dues from workers’ pay cheques costs employers almost nothing. For unions, however, collecting dues would be time-consuming and very costly.
The Ontario Conservatives plan to outlaw dues check-off in the public sector and leave it up to the discretion of private sector employers whether to include or ignore dues check-off requirements.
D. Strike votes and ratification votes
The Ontario Conservatives plan to interfere in the internal affairs of the union by requiring that strike votes and ratification votes be supervised by government.
E. Labour funding for social issues and community organizations
The Ontario Conservatives are considering measures limiting labour’s right to contribute to campaigns on social or political issues. There would be no such limits on corporations.
F. Arbitration
The Ontario Conservatives plan to increase government interference in the arbitration process.
G. Financial Reporting
The Ontario Conservatives plan to require extraordinary financial reporting. The reporting process would consume union resources and would provide the information needed to enforce restrictions on union support for campaigns on social or political issues.
H. Privatization of workers’ compensation
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) would continue to exist, in Tim Hudak’s words, only as “the insurer of last resort” – for companies unable to get coverage by private insurance companies. The Ontario Conservatives plan to place the fate of injured workers in the hands of private insurance companies.
CANADA– Stephen Harper’s Anti-Worker Plan
A. Union membership, union dues and dues collection
The Harper Conservatives have endorsed, for workers in federal jurisdictions,measures to those similar being promoted by the Hudak Conservatives.
B. Bill C-377: Financial Reporting
Bill C-377 requires financial reporting on every aspect of union activities including: lobbying, political activities, collective bargaining and organizing unorganized workers. This legislation governs all unions in Canada because it is an amendment to the Income Tax Act.
C. Bill C-525: Certification and decertification
Bill C-525 governs workers in federal jurisdiction. It eliminates credit card certification by adding a second step – a certification vote that is vulnerable to employer intimidation. Bill C-525 makes it harder to certify and easier to decertify a union because all workers who do not cast a vote are counted as voting against the union.
