Human Resources committee  Again, the impact would be more chance of ongoing strikes happening in that 18-month period of time. We want to get to a point where there is more of an impetus for parties to gain a collective agreement struck at the bargaining table. We think 18 months, quite frankly, is far too long.

Human Resources committee  I would absolutely be in agreement that this bill ought to be expanded to include all public service workers. We think that's an oversight and we think all employees should have the protection of this bill.

Human Resources committee  I think this legislation simply modernizes labour relations in Canada, and it's beyond time for us to actually be getting to this particular piece of legislation. This is something we should have had for many decades. We see that with this legislation the sun still rises in Quebec and still rises in B.C., so this is not egregious.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. We see the right to strike as a charter right, and we believe the right to strike really is the right to reach a fair collective agreement. Again, as I noted right off the top, no worker goes to a bargaining table and says, “I want to go on strike because I think it would be nice to have a break from work.”

Human Resources committee  I have a great amount of respect for the Canada Industrial Relations Board, for the chair and for all of the workers there who really work very hard to ensure that workers and employers get fair treatment when it comes to issues of dispute or whatever the issue of the day might be.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. Walking into a workplace when there's been a labour dispute, when you've had to walk a picket line, especially when scabs have been utilized and have literally taken food out of your children's mouths, is not something that workers forget or that they will ever get beyond.

Human Resources committee  I think there's a little bit of fearmongering in those comments. At the end of the day, what we want is for employers to come to the table with a clear view of reaching a collective agreement. Ninety-five per cent of collective agreements are signed without a labour dispute, without any kind of a disruption, without any kind of stoppage.

Human Resources committee  Any time workers see they have a job to go to, and they're not likely going to be out on a picket line for any length of time—because their employer is going to come and bargain a fair collective agreement—it provides some comfort. We know that trade unions are very focused on making sure that they are able to hire up into that trade stream so that we can meet the needs of builders and of communities as they're building these new houses, and we very much encourage that active participation.

Human Resources committee  I think what's going to help attract people into the industry is, first of all, understanding that these are good jobs. They are good family- and community-sustaining jobs. I think attracting newcomers to Canada, women and racialized workers into that industry is going to be incredibly important, and it's going to be an opportunity for unions to sit down with employers to find out what those challenges are to bring folks to that particular industry.

Human Resources committee  I spent 10 years at bargaining tables in my work career with the private and public sector workers Manitoba. I can tell you that not every employer is going to use scabs but those who do will indicate that pretty much on day one of bargaining. They will make that indication by the kinds of proposals that they table and by the attitude that they bring to the bargaining table about whether they are seriously looking at your proposals.

Human Resources committee  Certainly, this bill provides an opportunity for essential services agreements to take those things into consideration and to come up with a resolve that the parties can agree on before a labour dispute starts. Our issue is we want to make sure that the Canada Industrial Relations Board has a shorter turnaround window to get back to the parties in terms of what essential services need look like for that particular workplace, and then to let the parties continue in that bargaining process.

Human Resources committee  Yes. Under subclause 9(5), contract workers hired just before a strike should also be considered scabs because, yes, the employer has the ability to hire prior to a labour dispute, a lockout or a strike starting. Also, under subclause 6(1), the essential services provision, the parties have 15 days to come to an agreement, and after that the CIRB has 90 days to render a decision if there is no agreement reached.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. When you see a replacement worker or scab crossing your picket line to go to work, of course that provides a significant amount of anger and frustration. We know that where replacement workers are utilized there's a significant division within the community, sometimes within families, especially in smaller communities and communities where there's one main employer and people work at that location.

Human Resources committee  Yes, we urge a very quick adoption of this bill. This is something that labour has been fighting for—literally for decades—and as you pointed out, it exists in Quebec, it exists currently in British Columbia, it is being tabled in Manitoba and it was even tabled in Nova Scotia. We think that this is absolutely an issue of equity, of fairness and of getting to the bargaining table with the view to getting a deal done, versus one party, also at the same time, planning to utilize scabs to keep the workplace going instead of participating, in a fair way, at the bargaining table to actually get to a deal.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. When a worker is out on strike, or when there's a lockout, generally speaking, most unions will have a strike fund. How much workers get paid while they're out on a strike will differ based on what their union can afford, quite frankly. Some unions might be able to almost make you whole, but that's very rare.