Job descriptions for a telecom worker and a teacher don't have much in common, but both have a right to be heard at work.
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| Local 213 Business Representative Manny Randhawa greets Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was during that visit to Local 213 in March 2013 that Trudeau pledged to introduce anti-scab legislation, which eventually became law.
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| Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the crowd at Vancouver Local 213’s training center.
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Bill C-58 prohibits employers from hiring scabs to replace union-represented workers during strikes or management-initiated lockouts in federally regulated industries.
"This is one of the most seminal moments in Canadian labor history," said Seamus O'Regan, the minister of labor and seniors at the time. "Thanks to all the labor leaders, activists and workers who worked so hard over many decades to finally make this happen."
He'll get no argument from First District International Vice President Russ Shewchuk, who said the IBEW joined forces with other unions for many years to make an anti-scab law a reality.
"Now there isn't a hammer hanging over the head of either party during contract negotiations," he said. "This is the biggest feather you can put back in the cap of the Canadian worker."
Vancouver, British Columbia, Local 213 was one of the Canadian locals that sent members to Ottawa — or wherever they needed to be sent — during the last several years to lobby for the bill.
"I'm quite pleased," Business Manager Jim Lofty said. "We want to see it in action, we want to see it in play, and we want to see it enforced. We want to see a picket line with no scabs."
Added Shewchuk: "Workers having to worry about their jobs was unfair. It was a totally unbalanced scale. Now that scale has been equalized."
Local 213 served as the launching pad for the bill. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear during a town hall meeting at the local's training center on March 1, 2023, that anti-scab legislation was a priority.
"I have made a commitment, and I am going to hold to that commitment, that we are going to introduce anti-scab legislation before the end of this year," Trudeau told the crowd, setting off a round of applause.
Royal assent is the final step before a federal bill becomes law in Canada, similar to the president signing a bill in the U.S. It is given by the governor general or one of their deputies.
The anti-scab law doesn't go into effect for 12 months, so it likely won't be enforced until the end of June 2025. Employers will be able to request that workers stay on the job if they believe a labor action will result in threats to public safety or potential damage to the employer's property.
But the new law requires labor and management to come to an agreement on what those positions will be early in the bargaining process. If they can't, the Canada Industrial Relations Board will decide within 82 days what activities must continue. The board is an independent tribunal that resolves labor-management disputes.
"It helps all unions in their collective bargaining," said Ottawa Local 2228 Business Manager Paul Cameron, whose local has jurisdiction across the entire country and represents employees of NAV Canada, the private, nonprofit corporation that operates the country's civil air navigation system, along with others.
The IBEW's railroad sector in Canada, which is represented by System Council 11, may be most affected by the new law.
Steven Martin, an international representative servicing System Council 11, cautioned that it's too early to judge C-58's full impact, but added that it is an excellent bargaining tool that should help the IBEW during negotiations. Even when companies didn't specifically mention replacement workers, the specter often hangs over negotiations.
"There's always been a presence at the table that they could do that," Martin said. "But regardless of the legislation, the whole intent is to get a fair and reasonable agreement without a work stoppage. We've been pretty successful in that over the years."
System Council 11 had not had a strike among its members in over 30 years, until 2022 with Canadian National Railway and Toronto Terminals Railway. In both strikes, the employers used replacement workers. The council is scheduled to begin negotiations next year on a new contract with Canadian Pacific Kansas City, one of its largest employers, and it's unclear how the new legislation will affect bargaining at that point.
Martin said he wouldn't be surprised if CPKC and other rail companies insist on using a maintenance activities agreement going forward. Under Canadian law, such an agreement is a contract between an employer and trade union that outlines services that will continue to protect public safety.
On the other hand, the new law could bring railroad members closer together and promote solidarity because they know their job isn't in any danger from scabs, he said.
"That's a huge point when it comes to promoting solidarity and avoiding animosity and bitterness within the membership," he said.
The bill was tabled in November, and passage was likely from the beginning. The bill had overwhelming support from the Liberals, who lead a minority government, and the New Democratic Party, traditionally the Canadian party most aligned with union objectives. The NDP and the Liberals formed a strategic alliance just after the last federal elections in September 2021.
"I need to give the NDP a lot of credit for getting this over the hill," Lofty said.
Expected resistance from the Conservatives never materialized. The bill sailed through the House of Commons by a vote of 317-0, and there was no opposition in the Senate.
A national election is expected to be held in 2025, and some observers suspect the Conservatives — who were notoriously anti-union when they controlled the government from 2005 to 2015 — didn't want to antagonize middle-class votes.
"They are trying to move to the center and capture unionized voters," Shewchuk said.
Canadian labor leaders now hope to persuade provincial governments to adopt similar legislation. British Columbia and Quebec are the only two provinces with anti-scab protections for striking workers. Shewchuk noted that such legislation is being considered in Manitoba, where the NDP gained control of the provincial government last year.
"We hope that not only we make sure this is banned at the federal level, but we can inspire provinces and territories to put in place similar legislation so that we can, once and for all, ban scab workers at every level across this country," NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told Global News. "That's our ultimate goal."