Ontario is ripe for changes in construction union certification and public project bidding rules said the CEO of open-shop advocates Merit Ontario following the release of a survey of Ontario residents commissioned by the association.
The survey, released Sept. 11, found 67 per cent of Ontarians think bidding on public works should not be restricted to companies with unionized employees; 73 per cent believe a secret ballot should be required to form a union; 70 per cent agreed apprenticeship ratios should be lowered to enable contractors to use more apprentices; and 63 per cent agreed all employees should be allowed to vote on unionization.
“All workers should have a right to choose, period,” said Michael Gallardo, Merit Ontario executive director.
“It’s time to end the discrimination against non-union construction companies.”
Patrick Dillon, business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, fired back after taking a look at the survey, calling it “bogus,” “self-serving” and “misleading.”
“At first blush, looking at the survey from an experienced citizen in labour relations, I would look at that survey and see it is a bogus, slanted survey,” he said.
“Labour relations in general is a challenge for people to understand and labour relations in the construction sector is even more challenging. The general public normally wouldn’t understand what those questions are about.”
He added, “The open shop Merit contractors are conducting a survey that is self-serving. It is in no way asking questions with the basis of the question being in the best interest of the people they are asking questions of.”
It is an issue of fairness and also an issue of significant savings for Ontario taxpayers
— Michael Gallardo
Merit Ontario
Construction union certification is generally achieved through a card check system, with workers signing cards to indicate their consent. Gallardo said this flies in the face of the way most democratic decisions are made in Ontario, through secret ballot, and leaves workers open to intimidation by union advocates.
“There is broad support and it is an unfair system,” he said. “(Seventy-three) per cent, that is an overwhelming response, it should be by secret ballot.”
As for intimidation, Gallardo said, “What we are looking at, several tactics are employed to intimidate or make false promises to people when they are signing a card. Oftentimes it is not fully disclosed why they are signing and it’s not with broad consultation with all employees.”
Dillon responded the rules have been in place for decades and were instituted by a Progressive Conservative (PC) government, with workers given privileges to counter the power of employers. The card check system avoids intimidation by employers, he said.
“The employer has the upper hand in the workplace, the guy with the gold makes the rules is the old saying, and the PC government of that day realized there needed to be some balance in the workplace,” he said.
“That survey doesn’t talk about any of that. It is paid for by the employer that is open-shop, non-union and wants to stay that way and wants to suppress the wages and working conditions of the workers that work for them.”
As for bidding on public projects, Gallardo said in a situation like the Region of Waterloo, where the regional government was certified as a construction employer and is bound to the Carpenters’ Union for ICI work, it leads to lack of bids, other construction workers being shut out of work and taxpayers not getting good value for money.
The Merit survey indicates most Ontarians feel that’s wrong, he said.
“When you are going to be tendering public projects using public funds for infrastructure, it is an issue of fairness and also an issue of significant savings for Ontario taxpayers,” said Gallardo. “By not allowing for competition you are shutting out a lot of good companies that are not able to bid for projects.”
Dillon noted certifications in Waterloo, Toronto and elsewhere were put in place by the Ontario Labour Relations Board and support collective agreements.
“When asking questions,” he said of the survey, “ask the general public if they would like to live in a society where cities or contractors could ignore collective bargaining. The answer is going to be different.”
Gallardo said the survey raises awareness of issues at a time when there is a new government.
“The government has the mandate of the people. It presents an opportunity to make those changes,” he said.
Dillon said the Building Trades previously had a good, if occasionally contentious, relationship with the Mike Harris government and there were no radical changes to union certification or collective bargaining in that era. He is not overly concerned about changes under the Doug Ford government, he said, and he has already met with new Minister of Labour Laurie Scott.
“It is not like we can’t work with Conservative governments,” said Dillon. “History will show you the opposite is the truth.”
Let’s get to the roots, we need certified C of Q trades workers, not handy persons without the skill sets, workers must have education of safety in the workplace.
Union and non-union must be taken into consideration for fair employment.No barriers or propaganda from our province or employers, we have legal rights and a process to use when needed.