Thank you, Chair.
Good day, everyone.
I want to thank the witnesses with us today, as well as those who preceded them last week, when we started this study.
Before entering politics, I was a union leader for over 30 years. When this study was proposed, I had my doubts. All the witnesses today are repeating what others have told us: there are advantages to being a union member. This has been amply demonstrated, and no one questions it, except those on the right, who wonder what the point of unions is. In this respect, testimony from today and previously are clear. I don't know if our committee needed a study to bring this to light, but it will be.
Mr. Janssen, when I was just starting out as a Bloc Québécois MP, we were called upon to mobilize on behalf of maintenance employees at the Montreal airport, in a situation where contracts were being overturned. It's a totally unacceptable situation because, in my opinion, it's dismissals in disguise. A new call for contracts is issued, the same people are rehired at an hourly wage cut by $10 to $20, and their minimum rights under the collective agreements are not renewed. This was the first battle on this file, and the current government's Minister of Labour was very sensitive to the issue.
Do you believe this kind of practice is an obstacle to freedom of association or unionization?