This is the base reason for us filing the human rights complaint that we did file. We have tried to bring the union along with several proposals that have been tabled and would address the long-standing issues of recruitment, transparency of access to training, and basically the ability to secure employment without having to physically attend at the dispatch. This discriminates against those people who have family status issues--primarily primary caregivers.
Let's put a couple of things to rest, if we may. The official proposal the BCMEA tabled with ILWU, and in fact the basis of its human rights complaint, does not include some 200 women being immediately recruited and thrust into the union. We all understand, to Mr. Dufresne's point, what a disaster that would be. That's simply not the case. We have never advocated that officially. We have never put that in a proposal. It's not in our human rights complaint. It is simply not part of the piece.
What we're talking about is this initial recruitment piece where we say to the union, “We cannot go off your lists”. In fact, they are illegal. They are full of nepotism. They are full of relatives. We can't discriminate against relatives and we can't discriminate for relatives. We simply can't use these lists.
What we're saying to the union... The example that Mr. Dufresne decided to cite is the one place where we have worked together. We have an ad in the paper, we have people apply, and we simply pick the best people. What we are suggesting in order to bring forth a critical mass of women, to begin to change the culture Ms. Marynuik is speaking about, is that we need to recruit, for the time being, on a fifty-fifty basis. If in fact... Our statistics show that if men and women start in the process on an equal basis, as we're suggesting, they do equally well. There is no issue once women get into the workforce, once they are appropriately trained, and once they have the ability to get work. This is where we have to make the changes.
We have tried on a repeated basis to talk to the ILWU. We have a trail of meetings and suggestions and proposals that have gone on and on. What we get from the ILWU is ongoing intransigence: “why can't we do things the old way?” and “why can't we just do what Mr. Ready has suggested?”