LEGISLATION WILL BRING INTIMIDATION TO WORKPLACE:
RUNCIMAN
QUEEN’S PARK –
The McGuinty Government is bringing intimidation
back to the construction industry workplace
with Bill 144, an amendment to the Ontario Labour
Relations Act, says Bob Runciman, MPP for Leeds-Grenville.
With passage of this bill due Monday, the Liberals
are taking away the right of construction workers
to decide through secret ballot if they want
to join a union, said Runciman. The previous
Progressive Conservative Government believed
it was the democratic right of employees to
decide on union membership through secret ballot.
Under the new legislation, a union can become
certified on a construction worksite simply
by signing 55 per cent of the members to union
cards. Workers have no right to request the
Ontario Labour Relations Board hold a secret
ballot.
“A group of guys walking around a worksite
with union cards can be pretty intimidating,”
said Runciman. “I’ve seen numerous
cases where a subsequent secret ballot of workers
fails to support certification of a union. Under
this new Bill, workers in the construction industry
are denied the right of a secret ballot.”
Runciman spoke out against the legislation
Thursday just before the Liberals ended the
debate with a time allocation motion.
The Leeds-Grenville representative believes
the McGuinty government excluded construction
workers from the secret ballot process as a
reward for their support during the last election
campaign. Construction unions spent thousands
of dollars in support of the Liberals during
the campaign.
“Even more hideous, these same unions
held a “Thank you Dalton McGuinty”
fund-raiser between second and third readings
of this bill that pumped $250,000 into the coffers
of the Ontario Liberal Party,” said Runciman.
“How more blatant can it get?”
The big losers in all this are construction
workers, continued Runicman.
“They will be pressured to sign these
cards on the worksite and becoming union members
can limit job opportunities for many of these
people, especially for the ones from smaller
centres.”
Media Contact:
Bob Runciman
(416) 325-1522
(613) 342-9522
