Mr. Speaker, this bill has caused quite a stir, particularly across the way.
However, for the benefit of those who are listening, I would like to get back to the facts. There is no denying that, for many individuals and small businesses, this is an inconvenience. Small businesses that rely on cash flow and had to negotiate lines of credit did run into problems.
It is important to explain what happened. The fact of the matter is that Canada Post is basically a corporation where labour-management relations are poor. When labour-management relations are poor in any corporation, whether public or private, clients, whoever they are, may run into problems. I have seen the union try to resolve problems. I would have liked to see the Canada Post Corporation do the same. I thought that the threat of a strike, at first, and the onset of the strike would bring them closer to a settlement.
But when, like many of our fellow citizens, I saw on television the negotiators representing the employer manhandle the union negotiator, I figured something was not right. I was a trade unionist in my days, but I never saw negotiators on the management side do anything like that during negotiations. Never. They are responsible for helping to settle the differences, even if the interests of the parties they represent are poles apart.
When I saw them go after the union negotiator, I suddenly lost any hope I may have had of seeing this dispute resolved other than from the outside. I deeply regret that postal workers are once again being legislated back to work. But I sincerely hope that their conflict and the aggravation caused to individuals and to small and medium size businesses will not have been in vain.
This is why I am extremely proud of what the Bloc Quebecois has achieved in co-operation with the NDP. We negotiated with the government so that the act will be passed today, even though we are opposed to it, but with some changes to the mediation process. In the original bill, the mandate of the arbitrator was totally unacceptable for a corporation providing a public service. The most important aspects of this mandate are as follows:
- The mediator-arbitrator shall be guided by the need for terms and conditions of employment that are consistent with those in comparable industries in the private and public sectors and that will provide the necessary degree of flexibility to ensure the short- and long-term economic viability and competitiveness of the Canada Post Corporation—
No mediator anywhere would be able to resolve a dispute under these guidelines. All the conditions for privatization have to be created. And the first point was about performing financially in a commercially acceptable range. This is completely inconsistent with a public service.
The government approved the amendment, a fact about which we are extremely proud, so that clause 9 now reads as follows:
- The mediator-arbitrator shall be guided by the need for terms and conditions of employment that are consistent with the Canada Post Corporation Act
and the financial stability of the Canada Post Corporation.
The service must operate on a self-sustaining financial basis and workers agree.
That the Canada Post Corporation must, without recourse to undue increases in postal rates, operate efficiently, improve productivity, and meet acceptable standards of service, stressing the importance of good labour-management relations.
What this amendment gives a mediator-arbitrator is a framework for helping to improve labour relations. With 45,000 workers, it is a strong union. Do people know that 17,000 of these workers have part-time positions—out of 45,000, that is a lot of people, one third—and that, during negotiations, the union wanted to convert part-time positions into full-time ones in the interests of effectiveness and efficiency?
When one of the main problems in Canada is employment, is it obscene for a public service to be concerned with converting part-time positions into full-time ones? Some countries opt for that option in order to solve their employment problem. Is it obscene? Is it senseless? On the contrary.
The mediator-arbitrator will be able to take this into consideration. His mandate is to stand up to the employer. It is crucial in this case, since the minister responsible was, I am afraid, unable to maintain the proper balance to put both parties on an equal footing during the negotiations.
When one party can always say no, knowing that, in the end, the legislation will be on its side, there can be no negotiations. We have to acknowledge that even if the government is saying “Well, we gave the negotiation process a chance to succeed”, we know it is not true, because the minister kept saying “We will give them a few days and then introduce a special bill”.
What we should wholeheartedly hope for at this point, as Quebeckers and as Canadians, despite the dispute and the sad ending for the workers who must be terribly upset, is that the mandate of the mediator-arbitrator—and I hope the government will consult the union before appointing the mediator-arbitrator—will let him decide and make recommendations that will finally help to improve labour relations and the quality of the services at Canada Post.
From what I read, small and medium size businesses, who were most affected by the strike, do want postal services to resume, but they also want efficient services that meet their needs. The mediator-arbitrator will have the opportunity to follow up on this request by the public, by consumers and by small businesses.
That is why I am extremely happy that the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP chose the position they chose instead of saying “Yes, postal workers have to go back to work because of the pressure”. Yes, postal services must resume, but not under just any conditions, not with workers who are appalled, who feel they have been treated so unfairly that they will not be able to put their hearts into their work.
Whether in the private or the public sector, the quality of service and the success of a business hinge on the workers.
They must be allowed to play a role, a role that can help these businesses, particularly these public service businesses, play their own role.