Union wants labour and safety laws amended
With the strike by 3,000 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) at Vale Inco in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario now in its 10th month, union members next door in Manitoba say they are taking preemptive action against the use of replacement workers in their province.
Vale Inco has used replacement workers to restart some of its Sudbury operations, despite protests by union leaders and local MPP France Gelinas to ban them. Last week, Ontario’s premier and labour minister both said they would like to see the dispute resolved through negotiation and have no plans to prevent Vale Inco from replacing striking workers.
Ed Hinsburg, president of the USW Southern Manitoba Area Council, says Steelworkers there are concerned the replacement worker issue could spill over into Thompson, Manitoba, where Vale Inco and the Steelworkers are set to negotiate a new contract next year.
“What we fear right now — we’re watching what’s going on in Sudbury — is that we’ve got multinational, global corporations owning these companies,” he says. “They don’t seem to want to follow Canadian law. It’s a real threat on our traditions and cultures here where workers have these rights.”
The USW in Manitoba has stepped up its lobby for provincial legislation banning the use of outside workers. The union has met with several MLAs from all parties and put more resources into pressuring for a ban on replacement workers.
Hinsburg says the union is concerned the fabric of Thompson would be torn apart if a future strike ever reached the point it has in Ontario.
“It’s a whole different area (in Thompson),” he says. “There’s one road in and an airport. Basically, it’s a labour town and when you have a dispute in the community it affects the whole community. If you start having replacement workers come in, it affects that whole area.”
Hinsburg says the provincial government has been “quite receptive” but offered no commitments.
“Some MLAs are interested in introducing the bill but they don’t want to jeopardize (their party) being in power, so they’re not committing to us fully at this time,” he says.
The union also wants the province to amend labour laws to allow for certification with a 50 per cent plus one formula; the current threshold is 65 per cent. Hinsburg says Steelworkers recently lost a certification vote at Buhler, a farm implement manufacturer in Morden, despite signing 58 per cent of workers.
“Had we had 50-plus-one law, we would have had a union there,” he says. “65 per cent is extreme.”
The union’s recent round of provincial lobbying has also extended into workplace fatalities. Steelworkers are also pressing provincial politicians for improvements to the Fatalities Inquiries Act. The Steelworkers are asking for shortened timelines between deaths and the coroner’s inquiries aimed at preventing similar accidents in future.
“If you’re out on a highway and you’re in a collision and there’s a death, the RCMP investigate it. Within two years, the whole matter is resolved — whether there are charges or not,” says Hinsburg. “The issue is before the court and is resolved. With a workplace fatality, we don’t have that.”
He cites a case in Flin Flon, Manitoba, where one worker died and 13 were injured at a smelting plant in 2000. The coroner’s inquiry and recommendations wrapped up almost nine years later.
“It’s more for closure of the grieving family and the community of that workplace,” he says. “The current system really jeopardizes that process.”
Hinsburg says based on meetings with politicians, the USW is “fairly confident” parts of its proposal on fatalities will eventually make it into legislation.
