Thank you, Chair.
Good morning to committee members. It's my honour and my pleasure to be here with you this morning.
The Canadian Labour Congress advocates on behalf of workers all across Canada. We know the world is changing, and for Canada and Canadian workers to be global winners, we know that unions need to act and workers need to act.
This committee is looking explicitly at the impacts of President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act and what that means for Canada. President Biden has made no secret of the fact that his plan is pro-environment, pro-union and pro-worker. This summer, President Biden celebrated the anniversary of the IRA's passage. His statement mentioned union jobs the same number of times he mentioned the word “climate”.
If Canada is serious about responding to the IRA and studying how Canada creates good union jobs, the first thing we need to do is start speaking the language and talking about good union-specific jobs. Words matter, and we think we need to use those words. Biden is sending a very clear message to workers; Canada isn't sending that message, but we can.
Putting that message into action will mean Canada must create and protect good, safe, well-paid, unionized low-carbon and no-emission jobs in energy and beyond. That means supporting low-carbon industries like critical minerals, low-carbon manufacturing, low-carbon supply chains and so forth. It means taking steps to ensure jobs that are created are good jobs. It will also mean decarbonizing good work and protecting work that is already low-carbon work.
It's good to see that some work of this nature is starting to ensure that investments in decarbonizing are creating good jobs. The labour conditions in Canada's clean economy investment tax credit ensure that workers are paid prevailing wages when companies get government help in investing in hydrogen, clean electricity, clean manufacturing and carbon capture. This is a good start, although the amount of the credit attached to labour conditions should be higher to ensure that labour conditions are actually met.
This committee must recognize it is not a foregone conclusion that low-carbon jobs will be good jobs. For example, until recently, the province of Alberta had some of the most rapid renewable energy growth in the country. While some key jobs, such as crane operators installing wind turbines, are good, safe, unionized jobs, the Alberta government allowed non-qualified workers to work on major solar panels. Once light hits a panel, it's like a generator has been switched on, but instead of ensuring that this work is done safely by qualified, trained electrical workers, it's being done by people with a few weeks of training. This is not good for workers, nor is it good for the public.
Some basic ways to ensure that investing in a low-carbon economy creates good jobs would include ensuring that work is done by qualified workers; using community benefit agreements to set hiring, training, wage and other labour standards; and addressing long-standing labour issues like list availability and penalties for unfair labour practices.
At the same time, Canada must protect good low-carbon jobs. Canada has a strong manufacturing economy that has made important investments in decarbonizing. Those good jobs have to be supported to realize everyone's investments, so whether it's ensuring clean Canadian steel can compete around the world, investing in decarbonizing industries across Canada or ensuring industries like chemical or automotive industries are going to reduce emissions, the best way to have good union jobs is to keep workers in their jobs, within their collective agreements, in their pension plans and have the work be decarbonized around them.
Canada must also apply a regional lens to this work. A worker with a good job is a foundation for their community. The IRA's energy community bonuses attach tax credits when jobs are created in communities that are historically tied to coal. The CLC is working on recommendations for how Canada can support the diversification of the economies of communities tied to high-emissions industries so communities can continue to thrive and to grow.
Whether Canada is protecting and decarbonizing work or supporting the creation of new jobs, it is very clear to us that workers will need the skills to take advantage of these changes. They need to go from the skills they have today to the skills that are going to be needed in a net-zero economy. For some workers, that means retraining, because they're entering new fields. For others, it might mean upskilling because their industry or their jobs are changing. In either case, workers have to be able to access accredited, recognized training that prepares them for that real job. That means investing in accredited, not-for-profit institutions like our world-leading union training centres or our public college systems.
Finally, workers have to be at the table. As the economy changes, the work people do will change. Workers are the experts both in what they do, how they do it and what they need.
We are pleased to see that the sustainable jobs act is being debated. Canada's unions have been vocal in calling for strong labour representation in the sustainable jobs partnership council. We are also supportive of all measures that ensure that workers are at the table discussing and bargaining for changes with their employers, and with governments when appropriate.