Workers' Rights

During Statements by Members, the NDP raised the subject of workers’ rights, focusing on enforcement of the law banning replacement workers during federal strikes and lockouts. Jenny Kwan said Parliament passed that prohibition last year in Bill C-58, but the Canada Industrial Relations Board found the Bank of Canada had used replacement workers. She argued that a law left unenforced amounts to a broken promise and called on the government to hold employers accountable and protect workers. No other parties’ statements on the topic appear in this segment.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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1 statement

Jenny Kwan, Vancouver East

NDP
“Parliament passed a law banning replacement workers during strikes, but employers like the Bank of Canada are still using them. A law that is not enforced is a broken promise. The government must hold these employers accountable and protect workers.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Parliament passed Bill C-58 last year, prohibiting the use of replacement workers during federal strikes and lockouts, yet the Bank of Canada, steps away from Parliament, where the Prime Minister was the governor for five years, was found by the Canada Industrial Relations Board to have violated Canada’s Labour Code not once but twice during the security officers’ strike. To add insult to injury, it used scabs from Garda and Pinkerton, known for their anti-union tactics and questionable human rights record. PSAC workers have been on strike for 119 days. Tom Doran, the president of ILWU Canada, said that scabs are being used at one of their job sites. A law that is not enforced is a promise broken. Employers must be held accountable, and the hard-working rights of workers must be respected. Passing Bill C-58 must mean what Parliament intended for it to mean, and that is to protect workers.

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