October 26, 2006

Statement on Bill C-257

Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President, PSAC

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I'm Patty Ducharme, the National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The PSAC fully supports the comprehensive brief presented today by the Canadian Labour Congress, of which we are an affiliated union. Given the timelines imposed on us today, I want to talk about a bitter strike that members of our union were recently a part of that might have been avoided had legislation preventing the use of replacement workers been in place.

Reality

Let me say at the outset that no union wants a strike, and no union member wants a strike. That's the reality.

A reality steeped in an understanding that a strike, any strike, affects personal health and relationships, reduces family income, and in Canada all too often, results in picket line incidents that leave working people injured and worse.

A reality steeped in an understanding that strikes cost the Canadian economy, inconvenience the consuming public, and undermine our competitive position.

That's the reality. A reality that cries out for action from parliamentarians and legislatures at the federal, provincial and territorial levels.

As legislatures, you can't really stop the frustration, lack of respect and the economic injustice that gives rise to strike action, but you can level the playing field and take away the incentive for employers to prolong strike action and the violence that it sometimes engenders.

It works in BC and Québec

You can, in short, follow the lead of Québec and British Columbia , and continue to support Bill C-257 ensuring that workers are respected; that strikes are resolved; that the Canadian economy loses fewer days to strike action; and, that workers are not injured and maimed in the name of corporate power.

Of the 160,000 workers the PSAC represents, fewer than 10,000 are certified under the Canada Labour Code. These PSAC members work in airports, at Canada Post, Nav Canada, Purolator, museums, northern housing and hamlet associations, the Royal Canadian Mint, Vieux-Port de Montréal and at the Ekati Diamond mine owned by BHP Billiton Diamonds to name a few. We have endured a number of strikes at many of these work locations. That's the reality. But it's also true that some of these strikes were more bitter than they should have been, lasted longer than they should have, divided families and communities and were more disruptive to both the public and the Canadian economy than they would likely have been if Bill C-257 had been the law of the land.

It is more than ironic that the 250 PSAC members who work for the Société du Vieux-Port de Montréal who went on strike in 2005 live and work in Québec, a place where the majority of strikes are not prolonged and exaggerated by the use of replacement workers. Yet, they, like their brothers and sisters who work for Vidéotron and other employers under the Canada Labour Code are treated to the spectacle of their employer enticing other workers to take their place during legal strikes over legitimate issues.

Ekati

I want to talk about the strike earlier this year by PSAC members who work at the Ekati Diamond Mine. This is a recent example of how the lack of anti-scab legislation resulted in a long and bitter strike that deeply divided workers, communities and families and continues to do so today. It is also an example of how the lack of anti-scab legislation allows multinational corporations to do business in Canada without respect for Canadian workers and their families.

On April 7, 2006 , 400 PSAC members at the Ekati Diamond Mine went on strike against their employer BHP Billiton, an Australian-based multi-national conglomerate, in order to secure a first collective agreement. PSAC members work as truck drivers, welders, process plant workers, crane operators, electricians and other occupations in the mine which is located more than 300 km northeast of Yellowknife and 200 km south of the Arctic Circle . Working in the mine can be dangerous, and its northern location subjects workers to extreme winter working conditions. Accessible only by plane, workers are flown into the mine site for two weeks' shifts.

Negotiations for the first collective agreement dragged on for 24 months with BHP dragging its heels through out the negations before the union finally as a last resort took strike action. Without anti-scab legislation in place, BHP Billiton had an advantage should a contract not be negotiated, and they knew it. The main issues were wages, job security and vacation leave. The strike lasted almost twelve weeks, resulted in picket line injuries, and deeply bitter divisions among the workers, their families and community. While the strike did not result in tragedy as great as the Giant Mine lockout in 1992 which, to this day, continues to divide families and the community, the lack of anti-scab legislation prolonged the Ekati strike, and entrenched a deep sense of betrayal and animosity in the workplace and in the community that will take years to heal.

With high levels of unemployment across the North, the opening of Ekati was a welcomed opportunity, and attracted a workforce primarily from Edmonton, Yellowknife and from three smaller communities in the Northwest Territories; Fort Simpson, Hay River and Rae-Edzo. Aboriginal leaders and elders also welcomed the opening of Ekati which was on land covered under Treaty 8 and Treaty 11. Impact benefit agreements or IBAs were signed with BHP Billiton and although confidential, IBAs essentially secure support for the mine operations by committing to employ Aboriginal workers and by providing monetary benefits to the aboriginal communities.

BHP Billiton is the largest mining company in the world with the Ekati mine producing 6% of the world's diamond supply by value and yielding 3 to 5 million carats annually. Recognized this year as a “Top 100 Company” in Canada , this Australian-based conglomerate saw profits of 7.5 billion dollars last year. It's well known that BHP Billiton was instrumental in a successful effort to change Australian labour legislation weakening collective labour rights. Their approach to staffing when the mine first opened was to negotiate individual and arbitrary agreements with each worker without a standard classification or approach ensuring equitable compensation. We knew that negotiating a first collective agreement with a notoriously anti-union multinational corporation would prove challenging, but anti-scab legislation would have brought some balance to the situation.

As part of its public relations strategy, BHP publicly maintained that it would not use replacement workers. We know that not to be the case. During the strike, BHP Billiton management phoned striking workers at home asking them to cross the picket line and return to work. They also offered to pay any fines the union might impose on those union members who agreed to cross the picket line and work. Unfortunately, some of them did. Contractors at the mine site also performed work of the bargaining unit during the strike.

Clearly, BHP Billiton could easily afford to reach a fair first collective agreement with its workers, yet it was determined not to from the onset. BHP Billiton simply did not want its workforce unionized. BHP Billiton also deliberately sets out to hide its profitability in order to reduce its environmental responsibility for the negative effects of the mine, to lower the value of compensation agreements reached with governments that regulate the mine, and to avoid paying its workers fairly.

While Bill C-257 does not address all of these issues, all Members of Parliament should understand that this strike, like so many strikes before, it would not have happened, or would have been less divisive in the community and in the workplace if the Canada Labour Code had prevented the use of replacement workers.

Again, and in closing, I want to thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee and assert that Bill C-257 is essential if Canada is to ensure that workers under federal legislation are protected during strike action and lock-outs.