[asia-apec 469] Re: Urgent Appeal from Ontario Federation of Labour

[Gatt Watchdog]

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Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 11:27:57 -0700
To: ccpa at policyalternatives.ca
From: Sid Shniad <shniad at sfu.ca>
Subject: Urgent Appeal from Ontario Federation of Labour
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>Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 09:47:20 -0400
>
>URGENT APPEAL FROM ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR
>(please forward to your contacts)
>
>From: Chris Schenk <chris.schenk at SYMPATICO.CA>
>
>STOP PROPOSED ANTI-LABOUR LEGISLATION
>URGENT APPEAL BY THE ONTARIO FEDERATION OF LABOUR
>
>Over the course of the last several weeks, the Harris Conservative
>government in Ontario has tabled two new anti-labour Bills. Both Bill 22 &
>31 propose measures which the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)
>believes are anti-labour in the extreme and in certain cases violate the
>basic democratic right of freedom of association. We are asking for your
>help in stopping these attacks on labour rights in Ontario. We are
>urging you to send a message immediately to the Premier of Ontario as the
>legislation may well be given final reading in the next few days.
>
>Bill 22 concerns the Act to Prevent Unionization with Respect to Community
>Participation under the Ontario Works Act, 1997. It requires welfare
>recipients to be engaged in workfare programs which in many
>cases will involve being employed in private and public sector workplaces
>alongside unionized and non-unionized employees  in order to maintain their
>eligibility benefits.
>
>The government previously denied workfare participants the protection of
>Ontario's Employment Standards Act which provides minimum employment
>benefits. Now, under Bill 22  participants are denied the right to join a
>union and to be covered by a collective agreement under Ontario's Labour
>Relations Act.
>
>Bill 31, with the Orwellian name of Economic Development and Workplace
>Democracy Act, goes even further in its anti-labour impacts. It eliminates
>entirely the power of the Ontario Labour Relations Board
>(OLRB) to grant certification to a union without a vote where the employer's
>contravention of the Act is such that the true wishes of the employees would
>not be reflected in a further representation vote.
>
>A further amendment that will also have a chilling effect on organizing can
>be seen in the curtailing of interim orders which allow the OLRB to
>reinstate employees, fired during an organizing drive, on an interim
>basis pending a full hearing.
>
>Whether or not 40% or more of the individuals in a proposed bargaining unit
>appear to be members of the union (by signing union membership cards) at the
>time of a certification, application can, under the
>proposed amendments, be subject to employer initiated litigation. The
>objective seems to be to further drag out the process and increase union
>costs.
>
>Further amendments to the construction industry provisions of the Act will
>terminate existing bargaining rights amongst so-called non-construction
>employers even where such an employer employs construction employees in
>construction work. Further, the Act will allow for "project agreements" in
>order to permit employers to force concessions on trade unions on a
>project-by- project basis.
>
>Full details on Bill 31 are available at the OFL web page listed below.
>
>Given the government's attempts to railroad these Bills through the
>Legislature in a matter of weeks without any consultations or hearings, the
>OFL urgently requests messages of protest.
>
>Messages should be sent to Premier Mike Harris, e-mail webprem at gov.on.ca or
>through http://www.gov.on.ca.
>
>It is important to send copies  to the Ontario Federation of Labour, e-mail
>info at ofl-fto.on.ca or through
>http://www.ofl-fto.on.ca. You can alternatively mail your views  to the
>Ontario Federation of Labour,  c/o  of Chris Schenk , Research Director, at
>15 Gervais Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3C 1Y8. Phone: (416)
>441-2731. Fax: (416) 441-1893.
>
>Please pass this appeal to all of your contacts.