NDP won’t be ‘baited’ as Tories attack Singh amid Liberal labour moves, says MP Green

With work stoppages in two parts of the country and in the House of Commons, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Pascal Chan believes binding arbitration may have been the Liberal government’s only safe port in a perfect storm of labour disruptions costing the Canadian economy over $1-billion every day. But sending the issue to binding arbitration is taking the “weasel route,” attempting to “pit workers against workers,” says NDP MP Matthew Green. On Nov. 12, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Que.) ordered an end to the work stoppages at Canada’s largest ports in British Columbia and Quebec, and ordered the negotiating parties to binding arbitration to impose a resolution on the years-long disputes. On Nov. 4, the B.C. Maritime Employers Association locked out 1,200 International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers—effectively halting all West Coast port activity—after union members voted down what the employer said was a final contract offer. Out east at the Port of Montreal, there have been seven strike notices and three employer actions—including a lockout—since Sept. 30, with negotiations stretching back more than a year to the beginning of September 2023. The longest of the three disputes, at the Port of Quebec, has been ongoing for more than two years. Since the work stoppage began in 2022, the employer has used replacement workers to maintain near-normal operations. During his press conference announcing the move, MacKinnon said the negotiating parties across the three disputes had demonstrated “an alarming lack of urgency” with negotiations not progressing towards new agreements. “These work stoppages … are impacting our supply chains, millions of Canadian jobs, our economy, and our reputation as a reliable and international trading partner,” MacKinnon said, noting that the stoppages cost the Canadian economy more than $1.3-billion in trade every day. While MacKinnon reiterated his government’s commitment to fair collective bargaining, he added that “there is a limit to the economic self-destruction that Canadians are prepared to accept.” “The best deals are always the ones that are negotiated. But when deals are delayed or never happen … there is an obligation to intervene,” MacKinnon said, noting it is his “duty and responsibility” as minister to “secure industrial peace … the national interest of all Canadians, and to promote conditions favourable to the settlement of the parties' disputes.” That particular language mirrors Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which MacKinnon invoked to refer the disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), order the resumption of operation at all three ports, and settle their collective agreements by imposing final and binding arbitration. Noting that this marks the second use of those powers this year following the first invocation to deal with the national rail strike between CN Rail and the Teamsters this past summer, MacKinnon said he expects and welcomes debate on its use. However, since the announcement, that debate has been particularly one-sided, at least in the political arena. While neither Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, Ont.) nor his party’s labour critic, MP Kyle Seeback (Dufferin–Caledon, Ont.), have released a statement on the decision, they've instead taken shots at NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (Burnaby South, B.C.) on social media for his party's support of the Liberal government. Neither Poilievre nor Seeback’s office responded to The Hill Times' request for comment. In Singh’s own statement, released shortly after MacKinnon’s press conference, he accused the Liberals of “overriding union rights,” adding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) had again made it clear “to the ports CEOs and all big corporations—being a bad boss pays off.” “The Liberal government will always cave to corporate greed and always step in to make sure the unions have no power,” Singh’s statement continues. “Unlike the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre, who hides when workers are in a fight, the NDP will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with working people and unions.” NDP MP Matthew Green says the Liberals have 'cut workers out at the knees' by sending the port disputes to binding arbitration. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Green (Hamilton Centre, Ont.), his party’s labour critic, told The Hill Times the Liberals have taken the “weasel route,” attempting to “pit workers against workers.” “Whether it's grain or potash handlers, they all know that if the Liberal government does that to people working on the ports and rails, they will absolutely do it to them, too,” Green said. “This is about a Liberal government that will continue to tip the scales in corporate interest away from the working class.” Green said the primary issue with forced arbitration is that it leaves tensions unresolved and ongoing while creating a culture where “management doesn't feel like they have to negotiate.” “ know they’ve got a weak Liberal government that’s going to buckle every time there’s even a little pressure on the economy,” Green said. “Why would they bother actually bargaining when you can just have the Liberals cut the workers out the knees and send them into forced arbitration?” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, right, and MP Matthew Green arrive with Tim Hortons donuts to show support to striking CUPW workers in Hamilton, Ont., on Nov. 16. Photograph courtesy of the CUPW While Green said the NDP won’t be “baited” by the Conservatives into bringing down the government, he added that the Liberals’ decision won’t do them any favours if they are looking for support to end the current logjam in the House of Commons, much less anything else beyond that. “This was the trouble that we were having coming out of the summer,” Green said. “We knew that over the last couple of months that they were dragging their heels, and they just weren't adhering to the spirit of the agreement.” Green said the Liberals have once again demonstrated that “in the struggle between working-class people and corporate bosses, CEOs, big corporations, the Liberals will always take the side of management.” “They can talk about the middle class all they want, but know that the only way for people to actually get into the middle class is with unionized support, collective bargaining, and democratic workplaces,” Green said. Chan, a senior director for the transportation sector at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told The Hill Times that, considering how long the federal government had allowed the stoppages to continue, MacKinnon had given the parties plenty of time to reach their own agreements. Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Pascal Chan says the federal government had a duty to step in to protect the public interest. Photograph courtesy of Pascal Chan “The strike action in Montreal began on Oct. 31, at the ports of British Columbia on Nov. 4, but the government didn’t intervene until Nov. 12,” Chan explained. “That is a pretty long time to let things go on, and to let that trade be disrupted.” Chan added that similar to the rail strikes, which cost an estimated $341-million per day to the Canadian economy, it was imperative for MacKinnon to “step in to protect the public interest.” “We’re talking about a massive amount of trade disruption; it really was a perfect storm,” Chan said, referring to the more than $1-billion in trade being lost per day across the three port disputes. Chan also said that the Liberals’ decision isn’t dissimilar to the previous use of back-to-work legislation to resolve other large labour disputes, but noted that isn’t likely to happen given the current situation in the House of Commons. “The government had to intervene using one tool or another to protect the Canadian national interest, and this is the tool that they had at their disposal,” Chan said, noting that there have also been many more disputes that have been resolved on their own, without government intervention. However, he said that in the past few years, the chamber has observed the negotiation process becoming more complicated and contentious, with a large spike in work stoppages beginning in 2023. According to Employment and Social Development Canada data, there were 778 work stoppages last year across the public and private sectors, involving 540,951 workers, with an average duration of 25 days, for a total of more than 6.5-million lost work days. Of those stoppages, only 174 were terminated during the 2023 calendar year. In comparison, there were only 176 work stoppages in 2022, averaging 58 days in duration across 206,649 works and 1.89-million lost work days. Chan said that despite those complications and the increased instances of work stoppages, the vast majority can still be resolved at the negotiating table without government intervention. Of the 729 work stoppages in effect between January and August of this year—including those not resolved in 2022, but not inclusive of this summer’s rail strike—625 of those have been resolved. Additionally, the average duration of those stoppages has been reduced to eight days, with 974,659 work days lost between 418,345 striking workers. “We really want to see these negotiations come to an agreement, and when they do, we’re thrilled because that’s the best outcome for everybody,” Chan said. “But with a country like Canada that is so dependent on trade, you can't let these things go on and let massive disruptions shut down the economy and risk Canadian businesses, jobs, and communities." Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske told The Hill Times that while she appreciates the economic and business impact of the port strikes, “the reality is that we are training employers not to take the bargaining table seriously.” Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske holds a press conference in West Block on Jan. 29. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade “It’s important to note that all three of these were lockouts in which the employer locked out their workers,” Bruske said. “Workers didn't choose to walk the picket line.” Additionally, Bruske said that in the case of the Quebec City port, the employer had been using replacement workers for the duration of the job action, which had severely reduced its incentive to negotiate a fair deal. Bruske said that the Liberals’ “biggest misstep” was “allowing that situation to fester for 26 months,” rather than its decision to send it to the CIRB. “ could have notified the employer through the that scabs were no longer welcome, and that would have forced the employer to get back to the bargaining table and get serious,” Bruske said. “That would have signalled to the other ports that they would not have a government willing to bail them out.” While Bruske said she understands the economic argument, she added that “the whole point of a strike is to have an impact so you can get to a resolution quicker.” “There's no value in having a strike when there's no impact because then there's no pressure to get back to the bargaining table,” Bruske said, noting that the same criticisms have already begun to be levelled at striking Canada Post workers who walked off the job Nov. 15. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issued a 72-hour strike notice on Nov. 12—the same day as MacKinnon's announcement—for both its Rural Suburban Mail Carriers and Urban Operations bargaining units to begin a nationwide strike on 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 15. The union is demanding wage increases in line with inflation, cost of living adjustments, increased short-term disability payments, additional paid medical days, and several other improvements to benefits and conditions, including those specific to their rural and urban workers. Canada Post workers picket outside the postal service’s Station T in Ottawa on Nov. 18. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Bruske said that while the strike will pose a challenge to businesses and Canadians looking to do some online holiday shopping, “there’s still a lot of runway between now and Christmas.” “The parties have an obligation to get back to a bargaining table and to get a fair deal, but the only way that unions can do that is by withdrawing their labour,” Bruske said. “This is what unions do to stand up for their workers, we don’t have another mechanism.” Bruske said that an arbitrated settlement is unlikely to fully resolve the majority of the issues in contention between the port strikes, nor would it resolve the challenges faced by Canada Post and the “massive concessions” it is demanding of its workers. “Arbitrated settlements basically put a Band-Aid on a festering situation,” Bruske said. “When you don't actually force the parties to sit down and meaningfully address the challenges at the table, it just amplifies them at the next time round of bargaining.” sbenson@thehilltimes.com The Hill Times

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