International Trade Committee on Dec. 5th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Could we have a short answer, sir?

[Robert Ashton]

A short answer—oh my goodness—is that, yes, we have a strategy that we as a union continually evolve and work on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you.

Mr. Cannings, go ahead for two and a half minutes, please.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

I will continue with you, Mr. Ashton, because Mr. Trudel brought up Bill C-58, the anti-scab legislation that the NDP has put forward. I'm just wondering if you could comment on the effect that having anti-scab legislation would have in a situation like yours in the port of Vancouver. Would it lengthen disruptions? Would it shorten disruptions? I can understand perfectly well how it would benefit workers, but can you maybe expand on how it would benefit the worker/employer ecosystem as a whole?

[Robert Ashton]

Anti-scab legislation would force our employers to the table, so they couldn't keep working and they couldn't keep earning a profit. It's about everybody feeling a little bit of pain to get the job done more quickly.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Have you had situations in B.C. ports in which scabs were used during disruptions, or is this a rare situation in your industry?

[Robert Ashton]

For the longshore sector, the last time that I know of when scabs were used—and from 1935 to 1976 I wasn't alive, so bear with me here—was at what we call the Battle of Ballantyne, where the government and the police force used tear gas on the public for the first time ever, and they beat my people and murdered my people.

Just as one more thing on strikes and the anti-scab legislation, and I'll be quick, the reason there are so many strikes and lockouts happening right now in Canada is that workers are pissed. Workers are pissed off that the employing class will not share the profits that it's making and will not give the working class the due that they deserve for making those profits for their employers. If Bill C-58 had actually been in use for the last couple of years, all these lockouts and these strikes, where the employers have been using scabs and have drawn it out, would have been a lot shorter.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

In British Columbia we've had anti-scab legislation for some time. Is that what you're referring to, that things have been working more smoothly since that legislation came in?

[Robert Ashton]

I believe so, yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Cannings.

We're on to Mr. Baldinelli for five minutes.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the witnesses for being here, particularly Mr. Adams and Mr. Kingston.

Mr. Kingston, you talked about trade volumes being down at the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.

Mr. Adams, in your comments you talked about the reasons, that perhaps the suppliers are avoiding these ports and moving products through the U.S. because they're looking for certainty rather than that lack of predictability that you mentioned.

For the sectors that you represent, Mr. Kingston and Mr. Adams, how many workers would that be in Canada, for example?

[Brian Kingston]

Auto manufacturing directly is about 138,000 Canadians, and then if you add in all the suppliers, dealerships and so on, that's another 500,000 Canadians.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

There are half a million Canadians, on top of the 138,000.

[Brian Kingston]

Yes. That's give or take.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Just for everybody's information, I had the pleasure of working at General Motors for four summers.

Mr. Adams, how many workers...?

[David Adams]

Well, we're all part of the same number.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Oh, so you're all part of that grand total.

Could I just ask, what would your opinions be as regards to Bill C-58, the anti-scab legislation that's being proposed?

[Brian Kingston]

We don't have a strong opinion on it either way. Our view is that a negotiated solution is always the best outcome, and when it applies to the ports and the labour disruptions that we've seen there, we'd like to see more effort early on to encourage parties to come to a negotiated solution.

[David Adams]

I would add that what seems evident in a lot of the strikes that we've witnessed beforehand is that a strike is almost a forgone conclusion before it ever even happens, so there's something else afoot that needs to be addressed in terms of labour relations between unions and management. As I mentioned in my remarks, my hope would be that it's something Mr. Dick, with the supply chain office, can look at addressing.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

You talked about the strike itself, that it added about 60 days to delivery times.

[David Adams]

Yes, and as I said, it's a whole system. When you combine the strike with, then, the knock-on effects to the rail system, when there's already a shortage of railcars and you have to get the whole system back up and running again, yes.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Kingston, would it have resulted in some temporary job layoffs at some of the production facilities, primarily located in Ontario?

[Brian Kingston]

We were not aware of any production shutdowns in Ontario due to the port of Vancouver specifically, but yes, when there are disruptions like at the Ambassador Bridge, which went on for much longer, there are immediate shutdowns and job impacts.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Now I'd like to share some time, if I could, Madam Chair, with my colleague.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You have two minutes.