Non-union employers, CLAC urging gov’t to loosen certification rules, curb union power
The Alberta government has launched a review of its labour laws to mixed reactions in the construction industry.
Employment and Immigration minister Thomas Lukaszuk has asked two Edmonton lawyers to look at the current code and its impact on the province’s competitiveness.
The Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) is one of the groups advocating for reform.
According to Wayne Prins, Prairies director for the CLAC, the priority issue is the current labour relations model recognized by the code. Under it, unionized construction workers must be represented trade by trade in collective bargaining.
“This doesn’t allow other models to realize efficiencies,” he says, noting the CLAC model sees all workers represented by one union within a single collective agreement. But under the current code, the CLAC must still gain recognition trade by trade in the bargaining process.
“This is an efficiency issue in how we conduct our labour relations,” he says.
The CLAC and non-union employers are also recommending the province restrict unions from fining members when they work for non-union companies. Prins says the practice is creating an artificial labour shortage because many workers would rather stay home than risk fines of $5,000 to $10,000.
“It’s a public policy issue because some of them are also collecting employment insurance,” he says. “In some cases, Canadians are sitting at home and they’re flying in workers from outside the country because there is a shortage.”
There are also issues around raiding and organizing that need to be addressed, according to Prins. The CLAC wants the province to demand ‘fresh evidence’ — proof that members support a union today — rather than relying on old membership cards as proof of support for a new application.
Prins says the province is also being harmed by unions and their contractors subsidizing bids on smaller projects with market enhancement recovery funds from bigger deals.
“The cost of the project is not actually lowered,” he says. “It’s artificially kept high.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of non-union companies has also made several recommendations, including allowing companies to complete projects under the terms that existed prior to certification by a union, limiting the time workers can delay people crossing their picket lines, and prohibiting unions from using dues for political activities without the consent of members.
The review comes on the heels of a four-year agreement signed by 18 of the province’s 24 trades that ties wages to the price of oil and the consumer price index.
Neil Tidsbury, president of Construction Labour Relations Alberta — the industry body that negotiated the deal — calls the review “a distraction.”
“It’s very appropriate to look into anything that could impact our competitiveness negatively,” he says. “What’s inappropriate is for public policy makers to explore legislation that would make one company more competitive than another.”
Bob Barnetson, an Edmonton-based associate professor of labour relations at Athabasca University, says in the past the province has been reluctant to make major changes to labour laws that might destabilize labour relations in the tar sands.
“My sense of this review is that the government is throwing (non-union employers) and the CLAC a bone,” he says. “In the next two months there will be a new premier, a new cabinet and likely a new minister. These changes will allow the government to ignore recommendations to change.”
