Less ‘labour strife’ allowed cuts in conciliation staff, says Pederson

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This article was published 10/04/2018 (2768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is reducing labour relations staff and spending because management and workers are solving their own disputes without strikes and government intervention, Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen said.

Pedersen told the estimates hearing into his department’s budget Monday that he’s been able to make cuts, because strikes and “labour strife” are down.

Management and labour are working out their differences without involving government, Pedersen told NDP labour critic Tom Lindsey. Pedersen said there’s far less need for conciliation officers, whose ranks have been cut in half.

The employment standards office is facing one-third of the disputes it used to handle, said the minister. 

The official government transcript Hansard quotes Pedersen: “Good news is labour and management are sorting out their differences without coming to Employment Standards. In the early 2000s there would be upwards or over 3,000 claims coming in on an annual basis. In this past year, there’s 2,000 claims that Employment Standards dealt with…33 per cent reduction in the amount of claims,” Pedersen said.

But academic specialists cautioned today that the Pallister government shouldn’t be cutting back. 

“There’s no evidence to suggest that there’s less need for government conciliation services,” University of Manitoba history and labour studies Prof. Julie Guard said today. “Strikes rates have certainly declined; it might mean that conciliation is working. One would need data to determine that.”

“There is extensive evidence from research in Ontario that employers today frequently violate these basic rights. What’s needed is the spending of more money on pro-active enforcement as well as public education about these rights,” said U of M labour studies and sociology Prof. David Camfield.

Pedersen said that the conciliation and mediation office has had its budget cut in half to $300,000 — gone are the executive director and two conciliation officers. The Manitoba Labour Board underspent $212,000 in 2016-2017, and employment standards was $500,000-plus under budget in 2016-2017.

The worker advisor office was underspent by $143,000 in 2016-2017 and now has had its budget cut by $34,000. The minister says it’s because the Workers Compensation Board is performing better than it did under the NDP.

Asked Guard: “I suspect that, if the Employment Standards agents could talk to you, they would say they hear from workers every day who have been denied their rights by employers. If things in the province are working out as well as the Conservatives say they are, why change the apparatus that’s working so well?

“The overall reality is that unions are less able to negotiate good contracts, so perhaps, since the likelihood of significant gains is low, unionized workers are less likely to want to strike,” Guard said. 

“Strikes are costly; workers almost never do better financially as a result of a strike when lost wages are compared with wage increases,” she said. “Conciliation isn’t usually about money; conciliators help the parties sort out other problems.”

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said it’s the Tories who are threatening to end the peaceful labour relations Manitoba has enjoyed for the past two decades.

“Manitobans want labour peace and they expect their government to support a labour relations system where both sides can come to the table and negotiate fair deals with minimal disruptions to the services families count on,” Rebeck said.

“In talking about the labour unrest of the 1990s, the minister conveniently leaves out the fact that this was a time when the Filmon Conservative government was attacking public sector workers and the vital services they provide and forcing thousands of nurses, home care workers, and others out on strike. Since then, there had been a recognition on the part of government, labour, and employers that maintaining labour peace was desirable, with respect for free and fair collective bargaining,” he said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca