Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to participate in the debate on Bill C-317, sponsored by the member from the Bloc that deals with the ban on replacement workers.
The Bloc member favours a ban on replacement workers. This stems from the Bloc being very upset with the use of replacement workers by the American owners of the Montreal company known as Ogilvie flour mills. Because flour mills fall under federal jurisdiction and Quebec's provincial anti-replacement worker legislation had no effect on the company, I understand Bloc members feel it is important to bring the legislation forward to the House of Commons for us to review in private members' hour.
The proposal comes from a member of a separatist party that wants to take the province of Quebec out of Canada. We feel they do not realize the consequences of their actions. I do not think they realize the consequences of the bill as well. It is a bit like sandbox diplomacy where a youngster is playing in the sandbox and if he does not get along with his companion he says: "I am going to take my toys and go play in another sandbox. No one else can play with these toys; I will take them with me".
Hopefully when we are dealing with legislation and labour disputes we can get beyond sandbox diplomacy in politics. The sandbox approach to labour disputes and to labour legislation, particularly legislation such as the bill that would ban replacement workers, is not the solution to the problem. It would exacerbate the problem considerably.
I will not go on at great length debating the clauses of the bill proposed by my colleague. However I want to take a brief look at the consequences of labour disputes and perhaps a more constructive and positive way of resolving them other than banning replacement workers and getting into a frustrating battle between labour and management where people take sides. I would also advise my colleague from the Bloc that perhaps this approach to labour legislation and a relationship with labour is not in their political best interests.
All we have to do is look at our political cousins, the New Democratic caucus, and see what has happened to them over the years and what happened to them over this past weekend. They have always catered to the elite in the labour movement, the leaders, and felt that was the key to their political success. Even in their leadership convention over the weekend we saw where labour played a significant role in determining who the leader of the party would be. That has led to their political demise and even to an erosion of support among rank and file union workers because of their position on issues dealing with labour and management.
A word of advice to my colleagues in the Bloc Quebecois is that perhaps for their political well-being they might not be advised to pursue this type of legislation.
I want to discuss labour relations on the west coast, which impact on my part of the world. Western Canada is important. I know we debate Quebec and its relationship within Canada quite a bit these days. However, I just want to deal with the labour situation and replacement labour and perhaps a better approach to solving labour disputes from my perspective in Saskatchewan.
Since 1972, six labour disputes relating to the west coast ports were settled by federal back to work legislation. Two other labour disputes were settled by federal back to work legislation in 1988 and 1991. They were also directly related to grain handling disputes in British Columbia, although they were somewhat different.
Within the current term of this 35th Parliament, two labour disputes have occurred at the west coast ports and there had to be back to work legislation. Specifically, these are the West Coast Ports Operation Act, Bill C-10, and the West Coast Ports Operation Act 1995, Bill C-74. These relate to disputes occurring in February 1994 and March 1995.
That brings me to the principle of the right to strike, the right to lock out workers, and the right to replace workers with so-called scab labour, or the opposite of that, the right to implement legislation that would ban the hiring of replacement workers.
The strike and the lockout are effective tools in the labour and management arsenal. They have been using these for a long time to bring about a resolution. Usually the side with the deepest pockets and the strongest resolve to win will force resolution in their favour. We respect this mechanism. If that is the approach that labour and management want to take, we respect it. It is not a
mature approach, but we live in a free country and that should certainly be considered.
In the case of the west coast ports, however, labour disputes are unique for a couple of reasons. One is that the federal government does not allow labour and management to actually carry the resolution process to the point where there is a disruption and it gets into a replacement labour situation or the banning of it. It passes back to work legislation as part of that. That has taught us that there is an innocent third party that is damaged economically. For that reason, there has been great pressure to find a better way to resolve management and labour disputes than through strike or lockout actions and subsequently through the use of scab labour or the banning of that same labour.
We have suggested that what has been working and has even been legislated by the House is the use of final offer selection arbitration. I would be more encouraged if my colleague had brought forward legislation that would take us from sandbox diplomacy with regard to labour relations and move it to a more mature ground, such as that of the final offer selection arbitration process.
The cost of the west coast ports disruption is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The direct cost of the 1994 dispute was over $125 million. The indirect cost in the loss of future contracts was over $250 million. According to the Minister of Human Resources Development, the threatened grain sales could amount to $500 million.
Having outlined these problems, we did not leave the people in the lurch. We decided we had to do something constructive about this. We suggested the final offer selection process. It is a tried and true process. It is not a brand new idea. In fact, the process has been legislated in this House.
Perhaps it could have an expanded role beyond some of the essential services, such as west coast ports and national railways. It could be accepted by labour and management more readily, rather than going the route of replacement workers or a ban on replacement workers.
This is how final offer selection arbitration works. If, and only if, the union and the employer cannot make an agreement by the conclusion of the previous contract, the following measures are immediately put into place without work disruption. If there is no work disruption that means there are no replacement workers and that step has been precluded altogether.
The union and the employer are requested to provide the name of a person they would jointly recommend as a arbiter. The union and the employer are required to submit to the arbiter a list of matters agreed on and a list of matters still under dispute. For the disputed issues, each party is required to submit final offer for settlement and the arbitrator then selects either the final offer submitted by the trade union or the final offer submitted by the employer. In the event that one party does not submit a final offer, then the other side's offer is automatically accepted and the arbitrator's decision is binding on both parties.
This is the direction in which we believe labour and management relations should be going. It is the way to more maturely settle management-labour disputes. It precludes having to use replacement labour or banning replacement labour altogether. It prevents work disruptions. It prevents loss of pay for the workers. The collective bargaining process is still in place. It is still allowed to take its full course. The parties are brought together to resolve their disputes more quickly, more fairly, more equitably and more harmoniously.
I would ask the hon. member to consider when he brings future legislation to the House this as a third option which might be superior to others that have been considered.