Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The purpose of amendment NDP‑4 is to respond to the concerns voiced by several unions regarding the classes of workers who may or may not go to the workplace during a strike or lockout. We are therefore adding paragraphs (c) and (d) to subclause 9(4) of the bill, to include more classes of workers who would not be able to cross the picket line or go to the workplace to perform certain duties.
Paragraph (c) reads as follows:
(c) any employee who is not in the bargaining unit on strike or locked out and who is working at another location;
We talked about this not so long ago.
Paragraph (d) reads as follows:
(d) any volunteer, student, member of the public or family member of the employer.
In a nutshell, we heard the concerns of a number of witnesses regarding the fact that the bill is not clear enough and contains potential loopholes. The purpose of this amendment is to solve that problem.