<strong>Rather than demonize collective bargaining and workers' right to organize as negatives, employers should acknowledge the benefits that come from establishing a more balanced approach to labour relations</strong>
No matter how far B.C.'s labour code is tipped against workers and their unions, for the libertarian Fraser Institute, it can never go far enough.
It regularly makes the case that workers should be allowed to opt out of paying dues, freeloading on the work of their colleagues whose efforts secure them higher wages in the first place. The real agenda, of course, is to put an end to unions altogether.
Unfortunately, today's labour code is already tipped squarely on the side of a few bad employers who don't want their workers to exercise their rights to join a union. The current code makes it all too easy for bad employers to intimidate and threaten workers who try to organize.
Labour laws are enacted to bring balance to the relationship between workers and their employers. Without that balance, labour markets become a free-for-all where basic standards are easily undermined and power shifts dramatically in favour of employers, all at the expense of workers.
And when it comes to setting the right kind of workplace standards, laws are critical. Case in point: B.C.'s employment standards. Until the provincial government changed the law in 2002, B.C. employment standards made it illegal for children as young as 12 to work. That standard was in place because, as a society, we believed that the workplace was no place for kids.
But in the name of "cutting red tape," the current government eliminated that protection.
Similarly harsh changes were also made to the B.C. labour code in that year. Those changes have made it extremely difficult for workers to access something that the Supreme Court of Canada believes is an embedded feature of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms: the right to form or join a union and bargain collectively with an employer.
Instead of recognizing those rights, the 2002 changes to B.C.'s labour code gave employers enormous power to oppose, impede and effectively block attempts by workers to organize and negotiate with their employer.
Not surprisingly, with unbalanced labour laws tipped against workers, the number of new union certifications in B.C. has declined. Prior to the 2002 changes, an average of 12,000 workers per year were able to form unions and bargain with their employer. Since then, that annual number has dropped to about 2,500.
Organizations like the Fraser Institute celebrate these declines and point to them as the wave of a future in which collective bargaining and workplace rights take a back seat to corporate priorities that reflect the economic interest of the powerful and entitled.
Rather than demonize collective bargaining and workers' right to organize as negatives, employers would do better to acknowledge the benefits that come from establishing a more balanced approach to labour relations.
For starters, employers should acknowledge the fact that more than 95% of all collective bargaining arrangements lead to settlements, not strikes or lockouts.
Employers should also acknowledge that good-faith bargaining strengthens the level of co-operation and trust that form the bedrock of innovation and productivity gains in every workplace. In addition, employers as well as lobby groups like the Fraser institute should recognize that by respecting workers' rights and moving away from the combative, distrustful sentiments that are embedded in the current labour code, employers, the provincial government and the labour movement would have the space and capacity to work on real problems.
For example, B.C.'s looming skills shortage has become a sea anchor on growth opportunities in our province. Instead of pressing to make an already regressive labour code tougher for workers, why not turn our collective energies to find answers that work for everyone? It might be a bit of a reach for the Fraser institute, but hopefully others in the employer community are prepared to make that effort. •
