Bill C-525 (Historical)

Employees' Voting Rights Act

An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act (certification and revocation — bargaining agent)

This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act to provide that the certification and decertification of a bargaining agent under these Acts must be achieved by a secret ballot vote-based majority.

Employees' Voting Rights Act

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today about the member for Wetaskiwin's private member's bill, the employees' voting rights act. This bill aims to amend the rules for union certification and decertification in federally-regulated workplaces, to ensure that all individuals have access to secret ballot voting. I commend my hon. colleague for raising and pursuing this issue.

Democracy is fundamental to Canadian society and all employees should have the right to vote on whether they wish to form a union or not. Canadian labour laws are in place to protect the rights of workers, while ensuring a fair and productive workplace environment for businesses to maximize Canada's economic potential. One of these rights is, again, to join or not join a union and participate, or not, in the collective bargaining process.

In Canada, including provincial and federal jurisdictions, about 30% of the workforce is unionized. This includes occupations like transportation workers, manufacturers, miners, electricians and workers in other construction trades. It also includes professionals, such as engineers, nurses and employees in federal, provincial and municipal public administrations, schools and hospitals. All in all, there are about 4 million unionized workers in over 100 different unions.

Some workers are of the view that unions help them to negotiate collective agreements with their employers, protecting them against what they feel are arbitrary changes in work rules, discrimination, unfair treatment and unequal pay for similar work. Obviously, others are flat out opposed to unionization. What both of these groups of workers have in common is that they do have the right and the freedom to choose to be, or not be, part of a union. This bill is designed to extend that principle. It would help to ensure that all employees would have the opportunity to express their wishes about forming or decertifying a union.

Currently, a card check system can be used to form a union. If the majority of employees sign membership cards, they can automatically be certified as a union. When the level of employee support is insufficient for automatic certification but meets a minimum threshold, for example, 35% under the Canada Labour Code, the labour board conducts a vote to determine employee support for a union. If the majority of employees casting ballots supports a union in this vote, the union can be certified.

For example, under our current system, if 11 out of 20 employees sign the union membership card, the remaining 9 individuals may not be asked to sign and may not even be aware that their colleagues want to form a union, yet they could automatically be unionized. This means that in many cases, unions can be certified without giving all employees the opportunity to express their wishes.

The bill proposes to eliminate automatic certification and use mandatory secret ballot votes to certify or decertify a union in all cases. This will make votes no longer the exception, but the rule for certifying or decertifying unions. The employees' voting rights act would ensure that all employees would have the opportunity to express themselves by a secret ballot vote when considering whether to certify or decertify.

We have heard a lot about employers and intimidation and the unions and intimidation, but what no one has talked about, and what was my own individual experience. It was a good workplace that had been in operation for many years. The situation was changing in terms of reorganization and there was a debate going on. There were people who felt very strongly. It was a small group of about 25 employees. It had nothing to do with the employer or any kind of intimidation. It had to do with the employee wanting the ability to have a secret ballot so that not all the members, colleagues and co-workers, who felt strongly on one side or the other of the issue, would know how he or she voted. What we have lost in this debate today is the simple ability for workers to exercise their votes in secrecy, like we do every day in every election in Canada.

Our Conservative government supports the right of every employee to a secret ballot.

It would provide every employee with the ability to voice his or her opinion and would allow time to fully consider his or her decision before voting for or against the union. That is why we support the intent behind Bill C-525 and will vote in favour of it at second reading.

That said, there are areas of the bill that we believe could be amended, and we would like to hear from and consult with our stakeholders, both employer and union, in committee. The House committee will have an opportunity to carefully study the bill. It will consult with stakeholders and carefully consider their input and views.

We support the intent of Bill C-525. It must find the right balance between the needs of employees, unions, and employers, and I am confident that the bill could do just that.

I would like to encourage my hon. colleagues to support this bill at second reading and defend the democratic rights of the workers of our country. This legislation would ensure that every federally regulated employee had access to a secret ballot vote when considering union representation. Again, I ask members to look back to the example of the small, tight-knit workplace. Workers had a difficult decision because of changing circumstances, and they wanted to exercise that right with privacy, even from their colleagues, in terms of what decision they made.

The legislation would ensure that employees would determine for themselves whether they wished to be represented by a union, and they could have their voices heard.

With any legislation, of course, it is important to hear the views and feedback of those who would be most impacted and to take them into careful consideration. I have no doubt that the members of the House committee would carefully consider the principles behind the bill and would examine the unique perspectives of employees, unions, and employer groups that would provide needed perspective on the bill.

Again, I congratulate and thank the hon. member for working to support the rights of employees by raising this issue and I would like to encourage hon. colleagues to stand in support of this bill at second reading. We can have a great discussion.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to contribute to the debate on this private member's bill, Bill C-525.

It makes me reflect on my own background. I started my working life in the retail sector, working for a very large employer in a non-unionized workplace. As a young person, I did not really know the difference. I was glad to get some money for the work that I did. However, then I applied for and I was successful in getting a job in another workplace. It was another Canadian employer but this one had a pre-existing union.

My salary increased substantially when I went to work for the second employer. I suddenly had all kinds of health benefits and extended benefits that I did not know were possible. I also had a grievance procedure, which meant that if there were problems in the workplace that could not be resolved, there was a mechanism to address these problems without having to go as a sole individual employee to the employer. Instead I would have some guidance and assistance through my workplace representative.

When I first began to work in this second job, the employer, as usually happens, told me about the workplace and the advantages of working in this workplace, and I was very happy to be there. It was only later that I found out that it was people who had come before me who had gotten together to form a union and who had negotiated in successive collective agreements to improve the wages, the working conditions and the benefits of that workplace through many hard-won gains over a great many years. I discovered that it was not just the generosity of the employer that made that a great place to work, it was in fact the work of other employees who were there and people who had come before us who had made that a great place to work. They had negotiated a standard of living that allowed people to earn decent wages and benefits right across the country for that employer. I was very proud to be a member of that union and to work to improve the standard of living and the benefits for those who would come after me.

With this private member's bill, the hon. member opposite would bring the weight of the law down on the side of the employer. The bill would take that collective bargaining scale and further tip it toward the advantage of the employer, making any improvements in the workplace so much more difficult for the working people and making it that much more difficult for them even to get a union.

The member, in presenting his bill, talked about democracy. Yet, he sees no contradiction that this would in fact disenfranchise so many working people in the federal jurisdiction across this country. I find it absolutely shocking that he would stand there and talk about democracy when he would erode and undermine the democratic rights of so many working people in the federal jurisdiction.

Let me explain. What the bill ultimately would do is change fundamentally the voting process, so that when working people are deciding whether to join a union or to cease to belong to a union, the votes that are counted would be all of those in this group of workers, even those who choose not to participate in the vote. In other words, if they do not vote, their vote would always be counted against the union. In other words, it would be a process of heads the employer wins, and tails the workers lose.

It would be weighted disproportionately in favour of employers, and that would make it almost impossible for working people to form a union or to keep a union where there is a decertification vote.

As my colleague has just said, Bill C-525 sets the bar so high for workers to join a union that the sponsor of the bill, who won in his own riding by over 80% of the vote in the last election, could not get elected under these rules for union certification. In fact, not a single member of the governing party would be elected under these same rules.

It is clearly hypocritical. It is clearly unfair. It is clearly designed to undermine the ability of working people to decide to have a collective voice to negotiate on their behalf and to represent them in the workplace.

The member opposite has been asked who he consulted with in presenting the bill, which would fundamentally and radically change the system of labour relations in this country. Who did he consult with? He could name no one. Yet, clearly this is a bill that the government seems to have thrown its full weight behind.

It is not surprising that there has been a lack of consultation. That has been the hallmark of the government. It has also been its hallmark to try to impose its radical changes on Canadians, whether it is omnibus budget implementation bills or it is bringing in closure in the House. The government has just introduced the fourth of its mega-bills into the House, which throws everything in but the kitchen sink and changes a massive number of laws all in one fell swoop without adequate consultation, and it has also stifled democratic debate on a record number of occasions.

The government's desire with this private member's bill is in fact to stifle democratic debate and democratic participation in our federal jurisdiction workplaces. It does seem to go hand in hand with its standard procedure.

Ultimately what the government would like to do is see a decline in union representation, federally, in this country. I think what Canadians will very quickly see is that, as we have seen in the United States, this will be an attack on middle-class living standards in this country. Working people will earn less, have fewer rights in the workplace and have less democratic input into the place where they spend most of their lives, which is the workplace. It will undermine the middle-class standard of living and it will increase inequality.

It does not have to be that way. We can look at some of the most productive, most competitive countries in the world. Look at some of the Scandinavian countries, countries like the Netherlands or Germany, the powerhouse of Europe. They have incredibly high levels of union representation. What that means is that employers and employees sit down together and negotiate. Everyone wants the workplace to do well, wants the company to succeed, and wants working people to have their fair share. That is what union representation is about.

I see my time is up. I thank the Speaker for the opportunity. I say shame on the government if it pursues this anti-union, anti-worker, anti-middle class agenda. We will not stand for it on this side of the House.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The time provided for the consideration of private members' business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the order paper.

That House resumed from October 29, 2013, consideration of the motion that Bill C-525, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act (certification and revocation—bargaining agent), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Parliament and the members here have seen a litany of legislation, introduced by government members, that would restrict fundamental freedoms in order to build a new federative pact.

Every time, we are baffled by the methods that are used in the House, that disregard any will to consult, even though we are talking about social issues.

The Conservatives are redefining labour relations using a restrictive vision of the freedom of association as recognized by the charter. Bill C-525 is yet another way to erode the civilized power relationship between employers and unions.

Over the years we have seen that the union movement, for all its good and bad, has helped workers in the public and private sectors get their rights recognized on many occasions. The history of labour relations in Canada has been enriched by the battles fought by public sector employees who paved the way for union recognition and balanced negotiations that gave meaning to the word “justice”.

The government can come up with all the arbitrary legislation and restrictive measures it likes, but, given the significance of the issues we are now dealing with, we are asking it to think about the consequences of Bill C-525 for parliamentary and public sector employees.

The mandatory voting system that will be imposed for certification will cause insurmountable difficulties for unions, in an economic climate in which the union movement is in somewhat of a precarious position.

In recent years, we have seen a high number of failed attempts at unionization in a number of sectors—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please.

There is too much noise in the House.

There is too much noise in the chamber.

The hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain has the floor.

I would ask the indulgence of all members to recognize that we have one of our members speaking on this motion. I will give the floor back to the hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government can come up with all the arbitrary legislation and restrictive measures it likes, but, given the significance of the issues we are now dealing with, we are asking it to think about the consequences of Bill C-525 for parliamentary and public sector employees.

The mandatory voting system that will be imposed for certification will cause insurmountable difficulties for unions, in an economic climate in which the union movement is in somewhat of a precarious position. In recent years, we have seen many failed attempts at unionization in a number of sectors of the economy because of the economic disparity that exists between employees and employers.

A number of companies are getting around the certification rules in effect in Canada by imposing unusual labour standards, by manipulating the weakest and most disadvantaged employees, and by threatening to fire those attracted by the benefits of association. To propose the abolition of the current card system is a curious message to send to employers, especially from, to say the least, a major employer in the world of labour relations.

For decades, we have seen the financial status of thousands of Canadians deteriorating because of the industry crises shaking a number of communities in the country. Coming up with changes to the current bargaining system is one thing, but obstructing the limited opportunities for certification that unions have is another. We cannot deny that this country's growth and prosperity have depended on the toil and the commitment of workers and employees in all economic sectors. We cannot deny that our socio-economic progress stems from the efforts of many of the employees who are unionized today.

Think about the Canada of yesterday, the Canada of our parents or of my youth, where the word “equality” found its meaning solely in the dictionaries of our respective languages. The government's desire to upset the balance of power in labour relations and its narrow vision of the word “negotiation” are black marks on the record of social progress made in Canada since the Second World War.

I remember the changes made to Quebec's provincial public service in the early 1960s. Inequality was the norm. Women had so few rights, even within the public service, that they were forever stuck in low-paying jobs, on the fringes of power. The labour movement awakened the public conscience. Quebec was Catholic, then secular and, above all, committed to modernizing employee-employer relations. It seems odd to us to take a step backwards when society is undergoing such profound change.

Can we meddle with unions to straighten out labour relations in Canada? The answer is self-evident. However, the Conservatives' desire to change our country's basic values raises a thorny issue, that of social equality. We agreed to civilized employer-union relations, so that everyone can have access to decent working conditions.

Everyone here has witnessed the exploitation of the weakest in our society, yet the alternative being proposed here is not to study union accreditation rules but to limit access to unionization.

They should give us their statistics and their studies on how the current certification system is being abused. We are still waiting for their hasty conclusions on the place of the union movement in Canada.

As usual, we are left with only public speculation, which leads to these bills that restrict our rights. We are trapped in Conservative rhetoric. According to the Conservatives, unions are the only threats to the social balance of our communities. According to them, unions are the only cause of all of our economic troubles. This government's refusal to recognize the importance of healthy labour relations is reflected in a harsh bill that serves a political class inspired by an agenda from another era.

Instead, let us look together at how the existing certification rules work and what employees really need. Hundreds of millions of current and future unionized workers will be affected by Bill C-525. We can all agree that narrowing the prerogatives of unions is part of the Conservatives' magnanimous plan to change the very foundations of our democracy.

We wish that the government would realize, once and for all, that workers' rights and the rights of Canadians in general pose no threat to the cornerstones of our economic system. However, the potential dissolution of hundreds of union locals as a result of the adoption of Bill C-525 represents a genuine threat to Canada's socio-economic well-being.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to give a speech, my first one in 2014.

On that note, Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish you and all of our colleagues in this House a very happy and prosperous new year.

Second, I would like to thank all of my constituents in the great riding of Medicine Hat for their support over this last year.

I am very pleased to rise in the House today to speak in support of the employees' voting rights act, which intends to modify the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act, and the Public Service Labour Relations Act.

I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Wetaskiwin, for raising such an important question in the House. I have the privilege of having him sit beside me this afternoon.

We can all agree that employees should have the right to decide freely, without pressure, whether or not they want to be represented by a union. In Canada, freedom of association, which includes the ability to form a union, is a fundamental right guaranteed by various federal, provincial and territorial labour laws, as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act also guarantee the right to certify or decertify a union.

We all understand that for an employee the decision whether to be represented by a union or not is an important one. It is equally clear that the decision made by employees regarding their unionization has an impact on their employer.

When elections are held, Canadians choose their representatives by secret ballot vote. They make their decision in a voting booth, without pressure, sheltered from the looks of others. Why do we vote this way? The secret ballot voting remains the single best way to ensure democracy, so it should be available when individuals choose if they would like to be part of a union.

As we know, currently unions can be certified to represent an employee bargaining unit through using a check card system. It is clear that the best way to guarantee that this important decision is made freely is by using a secret ballot vote. It is the very essence of the employees' voting rights act. It would give employees the right to express their opinions in a more democratic way.

I believe the employees should be able to fully express their views regarding the type of union representation they want in their workplace. I also firmly believe that their views should be expressed under the best possible conditions, to ensure the decision accurately represents the will of the employees.

Having said that, there are areas of the bill that we feel should be amended. That is why it is important for stakeholders, including unions and employees, to share their views regarding the bill. I am confident that the discussions will highlight the strengths of the bill. I am certain the stakeholders will provide constructive feedback to the House committee. This process offers them a unique opportunity to suggest ways that would strengthen and maintain workplace democracy.

The employees' voting rights act would allow us to begin an important debate on workplace issues, and I would like to recognize the hard work of the member of Parliament for Wetaskiwin on this file.

We all stand for election. We all have an opportunity to have people vote for us, and we know that every one of those votes is done by secret ballot. This is no different for employees who want to join a union or decide they do not want to join a union. They need to have that right to vote without the pressure that might be applied, and they could do that with a secret ballot vote.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-525.

Earlier, in question period today, the Minister of Labour made a statement that I would not mind having attributed to myself. She called the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie the MP for CUPW.

Where I come from, we stand up for all the people in our community, whether they happen to be in CUPW or any other union. I want to commend that member for the good work he is doing.

I am reminded, when I look at this—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please.

The member for Wetaskiwin is rising on a point of order.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I was present during question period today, as were most of the members in the House. I do not remember the Minister of Labour getting up once to answer a question. The hon. member may wish to correct the record.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

That is not a point of order. It is a matter of debate, a matter of the facts of a previous part of the day's proceedings.

The hon. member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I stand corrected. It was the former minister of labour, now the Minister of Transport. I thank the member for pointing that out to me.

When I look at the bill, I am reminded of part of an old labour song, Solidarity Forever, that nothing is weaker than the feeble strength of one. That is one of the reasons that in the 1940s in Canada, we started down the road to unionization. Many of the fathers of the good veterans we have in this place today were probably part of that union movement when they came home from the war and did not like the imbalance in labour relations in this country.

To be clear for the record, I was the president of a communication workers local for Bell Canada. For a number of years, I was president of the Hamilton and District Labour Council. I was very proud to serve in those positions. For the record as well, those were non-paid positions.

Some people in this place like to refer to labour unions in a variety of disparaging ways, but I want to be clear tonight about Bill C-525. It is nothing less than a back-door attempt to weaken those organizations that protect workers every day in the workplace, the labour unions. Bill C-525 would do so by fundamentally changing the processes for certifying or decertifying a union under federal jurisdiction. I believe the sole purpose of Bill C-525 is to bring union organizing in the federal jurisdiction to a complete halt. It is nothing short of a very sly way to create a situation that the Conservative government hopes will lead to a drastic increase in union decertification. The Conservatives hope to succeed by bringing about a low turnout of members, and just as voter suppression has been taking place in federal voting, they plan on dealing with that same issue in the same manner of allowing fewer people to decertify a union.

Decades, or some 70 years, of business, government, and labour unions working together, have gone into the processes that we have today, and the government tends to leave out the fact that when a backbencher puts forward such a bill, it is adding to its own efforts. Another bill before this House is Bill C-377. Between the two bills, the goal is obvious: to set back labour relations in Canada to the bad old days of the 1940s.

Hamilton was one of those places in Canada where former veterans and workers banded together to get union representation. It was Justice Rand in his wisdom in 1946 who said that if a person was part of a union, they did not have to join it but had to pay for the free collective bargaining, which was not free. They had to contribute their union dues. Again, they did not have to be a member, but they were sharing the cost.

Where are the consultations, the due diligence, required for such a change? With Bill C-525 that simply has not happened. It was crafted without any consultation with the key stakeholders from either the union or employers' side.

I believe it is irresponsible on the part of the Conservative government to allow a private member's bill to amend Canada's labour relations legislation. If there were any case at all for changes to our labour relations legislation, then there must be consultations with all the stakeholders, and a full study before proceeding to draft any such bill. It should absolutely be done by a government bill, not a private member's bill.

These changes, as set out in Bill C-525, would weaken the ability of workers to seek union representation for collective bargaining, as well as advocacy on their behalf when disputes arise with their employers.

The bill would increase the number of membership cards needed to trigger union certification or decertification. It would eliminate the option to form a union through a majority card check, which would leave workers vulnerable to intimidation by employers, or worse, to those third parties hired.

I have stood before those third parties. I have been on picket lines many times where the third parties were hired and were standing on the other side of the picket line with baseball bats in their hands.

I am not sure, but I hope the member proposing this change simply does not understand or appreciate the risks that some workers face. It is their fundamental right to withdraw their services after a due vote, and when they do so they should not be put at risk.

Currently, if a majority of workers vote in favour of forming a union, then that union is certified. Under the new rules, a majority of the entire bargaining unit, not just those who turn out for the vote, must vote in favour of forming a union. Non-unions would essentially be counted, under this new proposal, as voting against a union simply if they are not in attendance.

Under the decertification process proposed in Bill C-525, the new rules would require a majority of the membership to vote in favour of continuing representation, to prevent decertification. In other words, it would make it almost automatic if there is no participation.

If we look at how low the voting patterns are in our elections and if rules like that applied, then MPs would wind up not sitting in these seats because the assumption would be against their being elected. It is the same thing.

For workers covered by the Public Service Labour Relations Act, the bill would require 55% of members to vote for continued representation, to prevent decertification. That stacks the cards against people's rights. It is their right to make this determination.

As I indicated earlier, Bill C-525 would throw the Canada Labour Code out the back door. It would forego the dialogue and the consultative processes developed over seventy years that have made changing labour legislation a progressive practice where the rights of workers are always a major aspect involved in any discussion with employers and workers.

It is clear to even a casual observer that this private member's bill is gerrymandered for union busting. It would make it nearly impossible for Canadian workers in the federal jurisdiction to form a union. Like Bill C-377 last year, the Conservative government is using the back door by way of a private member's bill to open the labour code instead of admitting that it is simply a Trojan Horse piece of government legislation.

If the government truly feels that legislative change is necessary—and that is a possibility—the Minister of Labour should bring it before the stakeholders in the business and labour community and consult with them and then do due diligence by way of a study before drafting changes to our labour relations act.

Failing that, the government needs to understand that the opposition now sees this legislation for what it truly is. Soon all Canadians will understand it is yet another example of the Conservatives' agenda to drive down the wages of the middle class and make Canadian workers work for less.

Bill C-525 is a reckless and radical piece of legislation taken straight from the Republican playbook in the United States.

Contrary to the rhetoric of the extreme political right, attacks on collective bargaining do not promote economic growth, but rather they drive income inequality and create toxic work environments that turn Canadians against each other.

Organized workers in Canada have delivered results: better wages, more rights for workers and a more secure future, not just for union members but for all Canadians.

There is a bumper sticker that says, “Unions: the people who brought you the weekend”. That is a bit light for this occasion but it is a fact. If it were not for unions in this country, people would be working six days a week, twelve hours a day, for next to nothing.

Some people work very hard in this country and they happen to be members of a union. They are proud of the work they do, and I am proud of them.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise in the House to speak today to the employees' voting rights act, Bill C-525, put forward by my colleague. The bill aims to amend the rules for union certification and decertification in federally regulated workplaces to ensure that individuals have access to a secret ballot system.

I commend my hon. colleague for raising this issue. Democracy is fundamental to Canadian society, and all employees should have the right to express whether they wish to be part of a union. Why would the NDP and the Liberals want to remove this right, which they would do if they did not vote for Bill C-525?

Canadian labour laws are in place to protect the rights of workers while ensuring a productive environment for businesses. The Canada Labour Code guarantees employees a set of rights, including safe working conditions and minimum labour standards. One of those rights is the right to join or not join a union.

In Canada about 30% of all workers belong to unions, which include the more traditional unionized occupations. They include manufacturing workers, miners, electricians, and workers in other construction trades. They also include professionals, such as engineers and nurses, and employees in federal, provincial, and municipal public administrations, schools, and hospitals.

Unions are for the most part very democratic organizations. The employees' voting rights act would extend that principle. It would help to ensure that all employees would have the opportunity to express their wishes about certifying or decertifying a union.

Currently, under federal labour legislation, a card check system can be used to form a union. If the majority of the employees sign membership cards, the relevant labour board can automatically certify a union. For example, under the current system, if 11 out of 20 employees sign a union membership card, the remaining nine individuals may not even be asked to sign. They may not even be aware that their colleagues want to form a union, yet they would automatically be unionized.

It is like in Manitoba. We all know how unaccountable the NDP members are in Manitoba, with the premier now the lowest in popularity of all the premiers in Canada. I am sure today's byelections in Arthur-Virden and Morris will prove the lack of accountability and democratic accountability even more.

This means that in many cases, unions can be certified without giving all employees the fair opportunity to truly express their wishes.

The employees' voting rights act proposes to eliminate automatic certification and to use mandatory secret ballot votes to certify or decertify unions in all cases. Voting, which was once the exception, would now be the rule for certifying or decertifying unions at the federal level. It would ensure that all employees would have an equal opportunity to express themselves through a secret ballot vote when considering whether to certify or decertify a union.

I absolutely support the right of every employee to a secret ballot vote. It would provide every employee with the ability to voice an opinion and would give people time to fully consider their options. That is why I support the principle of the employees' voting rights act and will vote in favour at second reading.

I have been hearing from stakeholders, and I understand that there may be some concerns about certain provisions of the bill. Mr. Speaker, with your support, the House committee will have an opportunity to carefully study the bill and consult with key stakeholders to consider their input and views. As I said, I support the principle of the employees' voting rights act. The bill must find the right balance between the needs of employees, unions, and employers. I am confident that the bill could do just that.

I would like to encourage my hon. colleagues to support the bill at second reading and to defend the democratic rights of the workers of our country. This legislation would ensure that every federally regulated employee would have access to a secret ballot vote when considering union representation. It would ensure that employees would determine for themselves whether they wished to be represented by a union, and they could have their voices heard.

With any legislation, it is always important to hear the views and feedback of those who would be most impacted and to take these into careful consideration. I have no doubt that the members of this House committee will carefully consider the principles behind this bill and examine the unique perspectives of the employees, unions, and employer groups that will provide needed perspective on this bill.

I would like to again take this opportunity to thank the hon. member for working to support the rights of employees by raising this issue and I encourage my hon. colleagues to stand in support of this bill at second reading.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I rise today to comment on private member's Bill C-525, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act (certification and revocation — bargaining agent), I cannot help but feel a little angry.

Actually, that is an understatement. I am very angry. When someone tries to amend the Canada Labour Code, we expect the proposed measures to improve problematic situations at least a little. In this case, the bill is yet another attack on an institution that has proven its worth and has made a significant contribution to ensuring quality of life for its members and, by extension, many workers in our society. That institution is the union movement.

I do not know what the unions can possibly have done for the government to treat them like this, but as a former president of a teachers' union in my riding, I will always stand up to fight for the fundamental rights of workers.

This private member's bill is clearly part of the government's agenda. There is no way this just happened by accident.

If this bill passes, it would be a first. As far as I know, changes to labour relations legislation have never been introduced via a private member's bill. Governments that do things properly and truly want to improve labour relations do not feel the need to slip changes in through the back door. They stand up in the House, introduce a bill and put it through the legislative process.

In the past, changes to the Canada Labour Code have come about following discussions between employers and workers, not when an MP stands up to say that he has made the discovery of the century.

That being said, what makes me most angry is the fact that I cannot pretend I am surprised. Since its inception, the union movement has come under constant attack, and that is still happening today.

Worse still, the changes this bill proposes are a direct attack on our democratic rules because they would establish a separate system that applies only to unions. Let us take a closer look at the changes proposed in this work of genius, Bill C-525.

Two processes would be undermined: the certification and decertification of unions in workplaces under federal jurisdiction. For now, this applies only to workplaces under federal jurisdiction.

Let us start with the process of union certification. Normally, when employees in a workplace decide to organize in order to establish a union, they discuss things with their colleagues with a view to presenting the benefits of association when the time comes to negotiate working conditions, for example, or a first collective agreement. They then invite them to sign a membership card if the union's objectives are in line with their expectations.

The union then files an application for certification with the Canada Labour Relations Board. If the application fulfills the requirements of the Canada Labour Code and if 50% of the members have signed a card, the union is automatically certified.

However, there is a second possibility. If between 35% and 50% of the members have signed a card, the Canada Labour Relations Board organizes a vote of the employees to determine the future of the potential union. A majority vote means that a union organization can be formed in that workplace.

Now here is the low point of the evening, the appalling proposal in Bill C-525. First, for the Canada Labour Relations Board to hold a vote, it will now require a minimum of 45%, not 35%, of the workers in the company. It gets even worse. When the vote is held, a majority of the entire bargaining unit—not 50% + 1 of the members at the meeting—must vote for the creation of the union. In other words, all those who do not vote would be deemed to have voted against a union being formed. Now we are playing with people's heads and telling them what to think when they are absent. If this is not vote-rigging, I really wonder what it is.

For a moment, let us imagine that, in the 2011 federal election, we had counted the votes of everyone who did not get out to vote as a vote against the re-election of the Conservative government. I am sure that the Conservative ranks would be up in arms. However, in this case, since it is about organizing a union, to hell with democracy; let us go for it.

If that were not enough, the process works in reverse for decertifying a union. The new rules would require a majority of the members of the certified unit to vote in favour of keeping their union representation. They would also require that everyone who did not vote be deemed to have voted for revocation. That effectively means that we are forging the signatures of people who are not there.

The bill would also require that 55% of members vote in favour of union representation in order to prevent decertification. Clearly, the concept of 50% plus one is light years away from Conservative thinking. That might explain why this government has such a hard time taking a position on the Quebec issue.

To continue with my analogy, this new directive would mean that all those who did not vote during the last federal election in 2011 would be added to those who voted for an opposition party, and therefore the Conservative government would be required to clear the government benches. In other words, what is good for the goose is good for the gander, but that does not seem to be the case here.

I know very few MPs in the House who would be able to meet such pseudo-democratic standards under this approach. The purpose of Bill C-525 is to manipulate union elections and make it practically impossible for workers to form a union.

To add insult to injury, this attack comes in addition to the one in Bill C-377. That is the real story behind this anti-democratic bill that reflects a Conservative, even Republican, ideology that has nothing to do with Canadian and Quebec values.

This bill is also economically counterproductive because it helps widen the income inequality gap, accelerates the downward spiral of middle-class wages, and creates work environments fostering conflict between managers and workers.

Unions have always contributed to improving working conditions, wages, and health and safety standards, not just for unionized employees but also for all other workers, by extension. However, it is no secret that this government is resolutely anti-union.

I remember one of my first debate experiences in the House, when we were discussing the Canada Post dispute. With the support of the current government, Canada Post locked out its employees, but the government kept saying that the employees were striking.

If the government truly wanted to reflect greater neutrality when it comes to employer-employee relations, it could have proposed something much better. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to expand on that.

In closing, the House can count on my presence to firmly oppose this bill. I urge all members of the House to review the bill very carefully and ask themselves whether this is the kind of democracy they want for our country. By the way, there are not multiple kinds of democracy—one for politics, one for unions and one for community organizations. The “Code Morin” and the 50% plus one rule exist for everyone, and the rules work.

While we await that day in October 2015 when Canadians will choose a new government, every worker in this country can count on the NDP to defend their interests. We are the only party that can embody the “working together” slogan, which so many people can identify with, and we embody it for the simple reason that it is part of our DNA in the NDP.