It's a pleasure for both of us to be here.
FETCO represents the majority of employers in the private sector under federal jurisdiction, covering railroads, trucking companies, broadcasters, telephone companies, the operation of the ports, the airlines, among others. There are approximately 586,000 employees employed by FETCO member companies, and in our brief, at appendix A, you will find the names of the companies that are members of FETCO.
We recommend that you read our brief as well as the paper written by Professor Paul Weiler that was prepared in June 2002 in support of FETCO's submission to the Bilson task force. This is an integral part of our submission.
First and foremost, federally regulated employers, the members of FETCO, fully support equal pay for work of equal value.
Professor Weiler's paper examines the interplay between equal pay for work of equal value provisions under the Canadian Human Rights Act and the provisions of the Canada Labour Code. It predicted, in 2002, the practical problems employers would face in achieving equal pay for work of equal value in a unionized environment where employers are compelled, by the provisions of the Canada Labour Code, to negotiate compensation provisions bilaterally with the unions representing employees. At the same time, the employers are unilaterally responsible for achieving equal pay for work of equal value for men and women under the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act is supported by FETCO because it is a proactive rather than a complaints-based solution that makes both the Treasury Board, as the employer, and the unions representing federal public sector employees equally responsible for achieving equitable compensation by developing and implementing a plan to develop, achieve, and maintain this important human rights and employment objective. It will eliminate the union strategy of double-dipping by negotiating compensation provisions bilaterally and then seeking additional compensation through a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. This is really the primary reason the FETCO members are in support of this legislation.
Achieving equitable compensation is a human rights matter and an employment matter that requires a human rights and employment-based solution. The Public Service Labour Relations Board, we believe, is well equipped to resolve equitable compensation matters in the workplace. They routinely deal with the parties on an ongoing basis on matters of a similar nature, and the Supreme Court has made it clear that the courts and arbitrators have jurisdiction to address human rights issues. This case is no different.
Those are our introductory remarks. I'll now turn to David Olsen, who has been involved for quite some time in dealing with numerous disputes and proceedings with respect to issues involving both collective bargaining under the Canada Labour Code and the application of the Canadian Human Rights Act in the public sector.
David.