Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it gives me no pleasure to rise in the House to speak to not only a closure motion, but closure on a bill that violates the fundamental rights of workers. It is not a good day for our democratic life or our parliamentary life.
It was almost 10 years ago that I was first elected to the House to represent the people of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.
I remember quite well that the first battle we fought as an NDP team with Jack Layton was on back-to-work legislation for Canada Post, and once again we defended the rights of workers. A Conservative government was in power and it was violating the rights of postal workers. Ten years later, I am still standing in the House defending the rights of workers, which are now being trampled by a Liberal government.
This is proof positive that, when it comes time to take a stand, the government, whether blue or red, always sides with the employers, the bosses, the richest people in our society. It never sides with ordinary Canadians and with the workers who are just trying to improve their lives, to get by and to pay the bills. They simply want a chance to improve their living and working conditions.
I want to take a moment to remind everyone that social progress does not appear out of thin air. Social progress happens when there are men and women who join forces, organize and take action together, collectively, to change the ground rules and improve society in order to create more respect, justice and equality. This is done through various avenues, including community associations, citizens' groups, the women's movement and the environmental movement. There are a lot of things going on in our society, and there have been for a long time. There is also the labour movement, and we have come a long way in this area.
Unions were illegal in Canada until 1872. It was not just difficult to unionize. It was illegal. Workers had to fight for their rights and to improve their working conditions. They had to fight to go from poverty and exploitation to a situation where they were able to earn a decent living, support their families and have some hope for the future by building a legacy that would help their children to have a better life.
Labour laws and laws governing minimum wage, labour contracts and collective agreements did not appear out of thin air. People got together and said that enough was enough. They decided that they were going to use pressure tactics to fight for better working conditions. Overall, it has worked fairly well. If we compare 19th century working conditions with those of today, it is clear that progress has been made. Much of that progress comes from workers obtaining the right and the option to use pressure tactics and to make demands to improve their situation.
I have been saying this for years, and I will say it again. The Liberals say they are standing up for the middle class and those seeking to join it, but I would remind the Liberal government that much of the middle class owes its existence to the labour movement in our society. Broadly speaking, the middle class and the creation of unions, be it in municipalities, public services or private enterprise, go hand in hand. People fought to bring about what is essentially a middle class whose members can afford to buy a house, to buy a car, an electric one, ideally, and to go on vacation when travel is allowed.
Over time, the bargaining process has been fine-tuned. There have been ups and downs. Some years have been good for unions, others not so much. That is all part of the balance of power, but attempts have been made to create rules that are good for everyone, that level the playing field at the bargaining table and establish a framework for relationships that can sometimes be tense and adversarial, while remaining civilized.
Let us not forget that the union movement and workers relinquished the possibility of triggering a strike at any time, which was a historic concession. Now there is a process to be followed, notices to be given, laws to be obeyed and so forth.
In the case of the Port of Montreal, this process was meticulously followed and even resulted in a truce that lasted several weeks last year. The workers wanted to defend their working conditions—especially their schedules, which I will come back to—and did so by following the rules.
Once again, the Liberal government is using a bazooka or a sledgehammer to deprive workers at the Port of Montreal of their bargaining power. I find that mind-boggling. All last week, union leaders said that if the port authority stopped meddling with their schedules and provided job security, they would not go on strike, they would stop using pressure tactics and they would return to the bargaining table to come up with a freely negotiated solution.
Before the unlimited general strike could even be called at the Port of Montreal, the Liberal Minister of Labour announced that special legislation would be introduced to force dockworkers back to work in the event of such a strike. The general strike had not even been called, but the government had already sent the employer the message that it could sit idly by and do nothing because, in any case, the government would be there to help, after having tilted the balance of power away from the union and the workers.
This Liberal government claims to be a friend of workers and of the labour movement of Canada, but every chance it gets, it sides with the employer and upsets the balance at the bargaining table. That balance, however, is a constitutional right, since the Supreme Court in 2015 ruled in a Saskatchewan case that the right to call a strike and use pressure tactics is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Why are the Liberals addicted to special legislation? Why do they attack workers at every opportunity? What is more, the Port of Montreal is doing well. It is not a company that is struggling, that is on the verge of bankruptcy or that is unable to fulfill its obligations. On the contrary, business is booming at the Port of Montreal, and so there is no reason for a labour dispute there. Why does the employer want so much flexibility and the ability to meddle with the work schedules of dockworkers? I do not understand that at all. There is no financial or economic reason to justify it.
Speaking of economic impacts, it is clear that pressure tactics have repercussions. That is part of the rules of the game. That is how our labour relations system is built. It enables workers to put pressure on the employer to force the employer back to the bargaining table so that a mutually acceptable compromise can be reached. That is how it works, and usually it works well, when there is no special legislation. The Port of Montreal is profitable. People need to know that and it needs to be said.
The other important thing that I found particularly inappropriate was the misinformation being spread by the Minister of Labour. She says the government is worried. She says port operations must continue because we are in the midst of a pandemic and medicines and public health are important.
Whenever there were labour disputes in the past, the dock workers' union has always made it very clear that medical supplies, goods destined for hospitals and items used to care for people would be unloaded and transferred even during an unlimited general strike. I think that is worth saying again and again, because people need to know that the strike will in no way jeopardize public health.
The Liberals are once again giving a huge advantage to management. Lucky thing both parties are still at the bargaining table. Let us hope that a solution will be negotiated before this devastating bill is passed in the House.
Again we are seeing the Liberals and Conservatives walking hand in hand when it comes to violating the union rights of workers. In fact, and I think my colleague from Windsor West mentioned it, the use of such draconian parliamentary or legislative tools could spoil labour relations at the Port of Montreal for years to come. The Liberal government will bear some responsibility for that.