Mr. Speaker, I stand today to oppose this draconian piece of back to work legislation. I want to echo some of the comments made by my comrades and colleagues from Timmins—James Bay, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, Victoria, Burnaby—New Westminster and Parkdale—High Park. Some of them talked about their families and their long and proud history of building this country. Their forefathers and foremothers who worked in the rail industry and other industries built this country.
I want to talk a bit about my parentage. My grandfather and father were loggers and built the small communities of northern Vancouver Island. They worked very hard to shape the industry that we see today. It is appropriate and relevant that I talk about this to underscore my opposition to this back to work legislation, as my colleagues have done before me.
My grandfather and father worked in the logging industry. They worked in small camps where there were a lot of health and safety issues. Everywhere they went they tried to make things better for workers down the line and people who were coming after them. They fought tooth and nail, and had to go on strike under really difficult conditions to make sure that workers' rights were brought to the forefront, so that people were not killed on the job, as many were in those days.
I grew up in a family that was very much aware of worker and workplace safety. I grew up in a family that was very political. Because of that, I became a union activist myself. I was very active in the labour movement for quite a long time advocating for workers. I was on bargaining committees. In my own workplace we went on strike and had been locked out. I know what it is like to be on a picket line with workers who are in adverse circumstances trying to make a difference for other workers and standing up for the rights that others behind them will enjoy because they may not. Those are things that labour activists do.
I have heard in the House other hon. members talk about the age old argument, which we just heard a few moments ago, of pitting workers against one another saying, “We have to resolve this because others are suffering”. That is an age old argument that has been used by employers and managers for many years. It does not wash. It is a bogus argument. It allows employers to get off the hook and not have to do the right thing, which is bargain in good faith.
Again, my history as a labour activist is very relevant to underscore my opposition to this back to work legislation. Back to work legislation is never the right thing to do. I and my NDP colleagues oppose this. We oppose replacement worker legislation or any other kind of legislation that undermines the fundamental right to collective bargaining.
Railway workers are locked out. This is a legal labour dispute. The government had a choice. It could have chosen to send CN back to the bargaining table, but it did not. Instead, it chose to deny workers their right to free collective bargaining. If the government were really concerned about the economy, it would order CN back to the bargaining table to get serious about bargaining. Instead, CN is given the green light by the government to take advantage of workers once again.
Canadians are concerned about worker safety just as much as they are concerned about the economy. The economy should not take precedence over worker safety. We have seen this scenario all too often.
Back to B.C. and the forest industry. Last year there were over 40 deaths in the woods. Those deaths were the result of workers having to work in unsafe working conditions. Fatigue brought on by long hours at a dangerous job in dangerous conditions is a remedy for disaster for forestry workers. Because of the way the industry has been restructured, that is the only way that workers can make ends meet. Workers fought for and got commitments from the provincial government to look at safety conditions and working conditions. However, I have to ask, why? Why does it always take deaths of workers to wake up our governments?
Governments have a role to play in forcing employers to follow safe work practices by legislating and enforcing strict rules for workplace safety. We have seen the scenario in our mining industry. We like to think that those days of the canary in the coal mine are over, but all we have to do is remember the Westray disaster where miners were killed not very many years ago because the employer did not follow safety rules.
We see it every time a worker is killed because an employer in an effort to increase the profit margin cuts corners and puts pressure on workers to take risks. Too many families have lost husbands, fathers, brothers, mothers, wives and sisters because workplace safety is thrown out the window or down the shaft or derailed in the interest of the economy.
However, the economy is not in jeopardy because of this dispute. What is in jeopardy is workers' rights, public safety and the environment.
There have been over 100 derailments in Canada since 2005. Let me just mention seven of them here, only seven, and these seven just happened this year in 2007. It is only mid-April, the fourth month of 2007, and we have had seven derailments. That is two a month. I guess we can expect another one any time soon unfortunately.
On March 12, 2007, about 3,000 VIA Rail passengers had to board buses on the first day of March break after train service in the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa corridor was disrupted after a CN freight train derailed near the station in Kingston.
On March 10, 2007, rail traffic along CN's main freight line through central New Brunswick was disrupted until the next day by a 17 car derailment in the Plaster Rock area.
On March 4, 2007, grain was spilled near Blue River, B.C., two hours north of Kamloops when 27 cars of a westbound train fell off the track. How does a train fall off the track?
On March 1, 2007, a CN freight train derailment near Pickering, Ontario disrupted VIA service on the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa corridor and commuter rail service in the Toronto area.
On February 28, 2007, hydrochloric acid spilled from one of five cars of a CP Rail train that went off the tracks in the Kicking Horse Canyon in southeastern British Columbia. Emergency crews managed to contain the spill and none of the chemical went into nearby waterways. Lucky for them.
On January 14, 2007, a derailment near Lake Minisinakwa in northern Ontario dumped more than 30 cars, one containing paint-related supplies, into a swamp. Officials said there was no sign of leaking but train traffic was blocked at Gogama while the accident was being cleared.
On January 8, 2007, 24 cars of a 122 car freight train derailed in Montmagny, Quebec, about 60 kilometres east of Quebec City. There were no injuries, but the accident occurred in a residential neighbourhood and one rail car came to rest about 12 metres from a home.
It seems to me that derailments are harder on the economy than any kind of labour dispute that anyone might find themselves in.
As I have read, some of these derailments have had devastating impacts on communities. I have heard from some of my other colleagues who have talked about some of the derailments in other provinces. People have had to be evacuated because of toxic fumes and there have been devastating impacts on the environment because of toxic spills in rivers, lakes and watersheds. Millions of fish and other wildlife and their habit are gone.
We will be seeing the negative effects of that for years to come. A recent safety audit at CN expressed huge concerns about management's approach to safety measures. Why is it that management had to be told by Transport Canada to clean up its act?
We keep hearing the mantra that they are responsible corporate citizens, that business has our best interests at heart, but when we see an audit that found a number of safety defects, a significantly high rate, 54% to be exact, on locomotives with problems ranging from brake air defects to too much oil accumulated on locomotives and fuel tanks, we know that corners are being cut and public and worker safety is at risk. Every time there is a derailment, the environment suffers.
The goal for the workers at CN is workplace and railway safety. CN workers are put under tremendous pressure to produce. There is a fear of reprisal if workers blow the whistle on safety issues. What kind of a message is the company sending when safety concerns are ignored?
CN is trying to turn back the clock by forcing its workers to accept increased hours away from home. They are already working up to 80 hours a week. The union is fighting for better rest provisions and an end to the 16 hour workday. They are hard-working men and women. All they want is fairness.
Some are saying that this strike is all about money and that workers are asking for $70,000 a year. For persons working 16 hours a day, that works out to about $12 an hour. That is not very much money per hour as far as I can figure. These are not outrageous provisions to ask for, but what is outrageous is the salary of CN CEO Hunter Harrison, who made $56 million in 2005. At 16 hours a day, that is $9,580 an hour. Tell me, how many people in Canada make that kind of a wage? It is outrageous and it is relevant because there is a growing prosperity gap in the country and workers are feeling the brunt of it.
Why is it that when it comes to labour legislation, to fairness for workers, the government talks the talk, but does not walk the walk? Why is it that the Liberals side with the Conservatives every time when it comes to fairness for workers? They say they support free collective bargaining, but they will vote for back to work legislation. They say they support free collective bargaining, but they voted against legislation that would ban replacement workers.
Why is the Conservative government playing into CN's hands and introducing closure on this bill? The government could have made a better choice. It could have chosen to send CN back to the bargaining table instead of sending the workers a kick in the teeth.
The government appointed a negotiator but did not give the negotiator time to find a solution. Everyone wants to find a reasonable solution and get back to work. Everyone wants what is best for Canada: safe working conditions for railway workers, safe transportation of goods, and a strong railway system for a strong economy.
Unlike some in the House, the NDP believes a strong economy includes fairness and safety for workers, safety for the travelling public, and safety for our communities and for the environment.
Let me conclude by saying that I and my NDP colleagues vigorously oppose any back to work legislation, or any legislation that undermines the fundamental right to collective bargaining. Decent hours of work, needed work breaks, and safe working conditions to protect the well-being of railway workers so that at the end of the day every worker can get home safe with their families, that is what we stand up for.
I ask all members to consider the ramifications of letting CN continue its business as usual approach. There is much more at stake than the economy. I am proud to stand and oppose yet another affront to workers' rights and vote against this back to work legislation.
