My friend said, “relax”. I do not relax when I talk in defence of workers.
It is not enough that we have a law for free bargaining and a law on the right to strike, because the government is putting time limits on debates in the House of Commons, the house of the citizens, to stop members from talking in defence of the rights of these workers. That is what this motion is all about: the government will not let the House of Commons speak but is using time limits.
This is wrong. There are 308 members in the House and they all have the right to get up and speak on this. That is what this House is all about. Putting time limits on this debate is wrong. It is wrong to stop debate in the House, which is why we were elected. We were elected to come to the House of Commons and debate these important issues.
These issues are very important. It is important when the government gets involved in private sector negotiations to dictate how they will go. The law already dictates how these should go: free negotiations and the right to strike in order to come to a collective agreement.
If the government gets involved in the collective agreement and gets the people back to work, from past experience, I know this is not good practice. The two parties need to sit at the table and agree to a contract. The two parties need to shake hands, go back to work and have good labour relations. That is what we need.
They do not need somebody forcing this. Let us just think about this individually. How would members like to be forced to do something? Nobody likes to have things forced on them. The two parties have to come to an agreement, a voluntary agreement where the parties sit and negotiate.
Personally I have negotiated 35 collective agreements. I would never have wanted someone to come into the negotiations and tell the parties how things should go. It would take away the rights of the negotiator and the rights of the workers.
The government has a majority. We have not seen the bill yet. Maybe the bill will say that Air Canada cannot reduce the pensions of its employees or cut their wages and that it should have its employees return to work. That would be a change from what we have always seen, but I do not think it will happen. I have never seen that happen.
I remember in 1997 when we voted on the back to work legislation for the postal workers, which I voted against. In 1997 the Liberals had a majority government. They voted for the workers to return to work before they had even voted on their contract. There was no vote on the contract, but there already was a bill before the House to have them return work, and it was not even a strike vote.
What is wrong with those two parties? What do they have against workers?
It is all well and good to pat yourself on the back and say that the government is wrong, but I remember that in 1997, a member removed his jacket in the House of Commons and wanted to fight a postal worker who was in the gallery because the worker was unhappy that a bill was forcing him to return to work. And they had not yet even voted. It is in Hansard.
I am asking the government to rethink its actions. It must first get involved in the negotiations since this is not a crisis situation. It is not true that this affects the economic recovery. The economic recovery will be affected when companies start to cut employee pensions. With regard to the long-term economic recovery, and I am not talking about something that is going to happen tomorrow morning, if workers are unable to negotiate decent collective agreements and to live comfortably, we have not done the right thing. It is not the government's job to get involved in the private sector's business as it is doing right now. If the government wants to do so, it must go and speak to Canada Post. In fact, the postal workers' union told the government that if Canada Post recognized its former collective agreement, it would be prepared to stop the rotating strike and return to the bargaining table. Canada Post refused. What Canada Post is doing is wrong.
Last night, I received a call from one of my colleagues. He told me that a northern Ontario newspaper had been sent to Canada Post for distribution. Canada Post then announced the lockout. The newspaper office contacted Canada Post to find out whether it could retrieve its papers and distribute them itself. Canada Post refused, arguing that the union did not want such action to be taken. The newspaper office spoke to the union about retrieving the papers and distributing them. The union said that it was not a problem and that the newspaper office could have them back. The newspaper office went back to Canada Post to say that the union did not have a problem with returning the papers. Canada Post responded that the papers had become its property and refused to return them. I hope that the minister is listening to what I am saying. I intend to go and see her after my speech. Why is Canada Post keeping people's mail? It is to upset people.
Canada Post wants people to get angry so the government will impose collective agreements, which goes against our democratic principles and our laws. That is completely unacceptable. What does Canada Post have against these workers? It is not a private company, but a crown corporation. It posted a profit of $281 million last year. Canada Post is not there to make a profit, but to provide a service to Canadians. All the better if it made $281 million, but how can it justify withdrawing a benefit such as the drug plan from its workers? I asked a question in the House of Commons when it cut the drug plan for workers on sick leave. There was a CBC report about a woman with cancer who had to stop her treatments because of that. Where is the human side of Canada Post?
I asked Canada Post if I could tour its Laval facility to see what is involved in the work of its employees. It was not a problem on Monday or Tuesday. However, on Wednesday, I received a call telling me that I would not be not allowed to visit the facility where employees work. I asked why not and if Canada Post had something to hide.
If I were in Canada Post's position and had nothing to hide, I would have suggested that I go see the workers. Canada Post said that the workers were happy and content. We could have gone to see them together. But no, Canada Post refused.
That is why I am saying that the government has a role to play. It should tell Canada Post and Air Canada that they should not expect it to come to their assistance and that they should settle the dispute in accordance with their collective agreements and the laws of this land.