Wants law amended to include remote employees
A Quebec union is asking the provincial government to amend its replacement worker legislation following two recent disputes involving work done by third parties off-site.
The Confédération des syndicats nationaux labour federation (CSN) represents 253 employees, mostly journalists, photographers and office staff, at Le Journal de Montréal who have been locked out since Jan. 24, 2009.
The union claims publisher Quebecor Media has been successfully publishing for the past 20 months by using journalists and photographers who are filing their work electronically via the internet.
“It’s not fair and it’s not respecting the spirit of the law,” said Pierre Roger, general secretary of the CSN. “Because of technology, it’s not well balanced anymore between employees and employers.”
Under legislation enacted in 1977, employers in Quebec cannot use replacement workers to replace striking or locked-out employees. They law doesn’t, however, prevent an employer from having work carried out by a third party — as long as the third party is not doing work ordinarily done by the striking or locked-out employees in the location where the dispute is centered.
Roger said the definition of “establishment” needs to be broadened.
“In the past, if a company built bicycles and there was a labour dispute it couldn’t do as much work as it could before,” said Roger. “Now, in many businesses, with technology you can telework.”
The union met with provincial labour minister Lise Thériault in late September to press for an amendment that would broaden the definition of “establishment” to include work done outside a company’s physical building.
The issue has been simmering for a while now. A month before the lockout at Le Journal de Montréal, Quebecor was found guilty of violating the province’s replacement worker legislation during a lock-out at Le Journal de Québec.
In April 2007, the company locked out its journalists and photographers after unsuccessful negotiations. During the 16-month dispute, Quebecor published articles provided by Agence Nomade and photographs from Agence Keystone.
The Commission des relations du travail (Quebec Labour Relations Board) ruled the work performed by the journalists and photographers was controlled by the newspaper and they were, in essence, doing the same duties as those locked out.
However, the ruling was reversed by the Superior Court which said the work was not performed in the establishment where the lock-out had been declared. The Court of Appeal is expected to hear the case shortly.
Meanwhile, the union has made the same argument in the current dispute at Le Journal de Montréal. This time, Quebecor is using work done by Agence QMI, its suppliers and other websites, all of which are hosted on the company’s Canoe portal. The labour board ruled the newspaper was within its rights to use the “fruits of labour” of employees working for another employer. At a subsequent appeal, the Superior Court agreed with the labour board. This case is also going before the Court of Appeal.
Roger said the Quebec government needs to address the loopholes created by technology and warns labour disputes will drag on even longer without an amendment to the legislation.
“That’s why there’s still no resolution at Le Journal de Montréal after 20 months,” he said. “Picket lines used to mean something.”
B.C. is the only other province in Canada that bans replacement workers. The provincial Labour Relations Code speaks only to the type of work being performed, not the issue of duties performed outside the location of the dispute.
