Kinew touts biggest labour law changes ‘in a generation’

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This article was published 19/03/2024 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP government is forging ahead with its plan to introduce single-step unionization and ban replacement workers despite labour and employer groups failing to find common ground on the contentious proposals.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the government will introduce legislation that will prohibit the use of replacement workers in legal strikes and lockouts and allow for a workplace to become unionized if a simple majority (50 per cent plus one) sign union cards.

“This will be among the biggest changes to labour law in Manitoba in a generation, but the reason behind it is simple: nobody should be able to take your job when you exercise your legal rights in the workplace,” Kinew told reporters on Monday, backed by dozens of union leaders and members who came to the legislature to see two bills amending the Labour Relations Act introduced.

The introduction of the proposed legislation was blocked by the Opposition Progressive Conservatives, who repeatedly stood on procedural matters to delay government business over the course of the afternoon. The NDP must introduce the bills before Wednesday if they are to pass into law before the legislature rises for the summer break on June 3.

Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino said delay tactics won’t deter the government. However, it’s unclear when Marcelino will be able to introduce the bills, which she is restricted from discussing in detail until they are presented in the chamber.

“We know that the march towards progressive labour laws that takes into account the most vulnerable of workers across Manitoba — we know that this kind of work doesn’t come easily,” she said.

“This legislation will pass. It’s got to because folks have been working for this moment for decades.”

Marcelino said the proposed amendments resemble what is happening at the federal level with Bill C-58, which bans replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces, and provisions already in place in British Columbia and Quebec.

The province’s labour-management review committee was asked to provide its take on single-step unionization and prohibiting employers from bringing in outside workers to do the jobs of striking or locked-out staff late last year. The committee was unable to reach a consensus on the two matters, Marcelino said.

“This legislation is thoughtful, this legislation is well considered, it takes a look at what’s going on in other jurisdictions and makes sure that we can protect Manitobans and that we will be able to continue with protecting the rights, health, safety of all Manitoban workers across the province,” she said.

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said changes to labour laws made by the former PC government tipped the scales in favour of employers.

In late 2016, the Pallister government passed Bill 7, which mandated a secret ballot to be held before a union could be certified. Prior to the change, if 65 per cent of workers voted to unionize by signing a union card, they qualified for automatic certification.

“Workers need to be protected from employer threats and intimidation when they’re trying to organize a union in their workplace,” Rebeck said.

Manitoba Employers Council chair William Gardner said employer representatives on the labour-management review committee advised the government to return to automatic certification after 65 per cent of workers sign union cards.

“Which was a compromise based on the theory, which would be mostly true, that if you hit a 65-per-cent threshold, you’re likely to have a majority of people who really want to be members of a union,” Gardner said. “No one, certainly not business, is arguing that employees shouldn’t have the right to unionize if that’s what they want.”

“It should be a true choice that they’ve made, and we don’t think 50 per cent plus one does it,” he said.

Gardner declined to comment specifically on the proposed replacement worker ban until the bill is public, but argued such a prohibition will make Manitoba a less attractive environment for business compared to neighbouring jurisdictions and is unnecessary in the private sector. Of recent strikes in the province, replacement workers have been used primarily in public sector settings, he noted.

Rather, employer representatives advised the government to adopt changes that would allow the union to apply for binding arbitration immediately if replacement workers are used in a strike or lockout, Gardner said.

“You get what you want, which is a deal, and it’s done by an impartial panel,” Gardner said. “It seemed to us to be a good compromise, which would be much more beneficial to Manitoba workers than simply banning replacement workers.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca