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Conservative cabinet ministers say they're protecting the economyby moving to legislate Canadian Pacific Railway workers back totheir jobs less than a week after the union went on strike. The employees, however, say their right to collective bargaining isunder attack. Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, Transport Minister Denis Lebel, NaturalResources Minister Joe Oliver, Industry Minister Christian Paradisand Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz lined up in front of the Houseof Commons Monday afternoon to make their case for the legislation. "Uncertainty and congestion leads to a loss of competitiveness.Shippers have already started looking to ports in Seattle andTacoma, for example, as alternatives to [the Port of] Vancouver,"Lebel said. Paradis argued there's between $30 to $50 million a day in lostproductivity and expenses because of the work stoppage. "Canada s manufacturing sector is an extensive web ofinterconnected companies that allows for just-in-time delivery ofcomponents and finished products. A disruption in the supplynetwork would affect every company in the chain," he said. Raitt said she wants to see CP trains rolling on Thursday, orearlier if the two sides get back to the table. She said the billwill "provide a process to the parties at the table." With pensions one of the major issues to be resolved, Raitt wasasked whether her legislation showed she was on the side ofshareholders. "That s absolutely ridiculous. I work for the Canadian public andthe national economy," she said. Collective bargaining 'under attack' The union representing the Canadian Pacific Railway workers, whichrepresents more than 4,800 workers, says management isn'tbargaining with striking workers because the federal governmentannounced it would bring in back-to-work legislation. The union spoke to the media as the government introduced a motionto limit debate on the legislation in the House of Commons justafter noon in Ottawa. The legislation itself was introduced justafter 3 p.m. ET. Doug Finnson, the union's chief negotiator, says it's only becausethe government said it would act that CP management isn't at thetable. "Collective bargaining in this country is under attack, certainly,"he said. "As long as the government intervenes in collective bargaining, andin my opinion, unfairly favours the employer, the employers aregoing to simply line up, every one of them knowing that thegovernment's going to intervene, suspend collective bargainingartificially, and get into this return-to-work legislation, whichfrom what I understand in the past two experiences, hassignificantly favoured the employer," Finnson said, referring tolegislation that forced Canada Post and Air Canada workers back towork. In the case of Canada Post, management had locked out workers after11 days of rolling strikes. The legislation imposed a final offerselection process to resolve the dispute. The teamsters say pensions are one of the major sticking points inthe talks. That's ironic, Finnson said, because two of the biggestshareholders in CP are the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and theCanada Pension Plan, which are pension funds. "Isn't that a little ironic that the workers at CP Rail are beingasked to give up the value of their pension plan, and indirectlyit's going to benefit two other pension plans in Canada?" Finnsonsaid. The union is due to speak to reporters again at 4 p.m. ET. 'Takes a lot more pressure' off employer Opposition MPs said earlier in the day that the Conservativegovernment took away any incentive for CP management to bargainwhen it announced it would introduce back-to-work legislation iftalks didn't yield an agreement. Raitt said last week that she had legislation ready to go Mondaywhen the House of Commons returned from a week away. Raitt made the announcement less than 12 hours after the TeamstersCanada Rail Conference started the strike and while the partieswere still negotiating. Talks broke off Sunday between the rail company and the unionrepresenting 4,800 striking locomotive engineers and conductors. NDP finance critic Peggy Nash, a former union negotiator, saysannouncing the government is prepared to intervene makes resolvingthe strike through negotiations much more difficult. "If I'm the employer, I'm thinking it takes a lot more pressure offof me to not have to negotiate a settlement," Nash said. "This government does not allow for free collective bargaining tofind a resolve if they are constantly threatening to intervene onthe side of the employer." NDP Leader Tom Mulcair met with the union Monday morning in hisoffice. As with two previous labour disputes affecting Air Canada andCanada Post Raitt cited the damage to Canada's economic recoveryfor the necessity of bringing the strikes to an end. The railway is Canada's backbone and links the country with majorU.S. industrial centres, she said in her speech to the House, andthe work stoppage is affecting Canada's reputation. "We're only one link in a long supply chain. What happens hereaffects inbound and outbound traffic," she said. "We cannot afford to be that weak link." Raitt was spotted Monday morning heading into the office ofGovernment House leader Peter Van Loan, who runs the Conservatives'agenda in the House. The government is moving to limit debate on the motion, providingtwo hours of debate in the House, plus an hour for study atcommittee of the whole, where all MPs can ask questions, followedby 30 minutes for the final reading in the House. Under the motion,the bill would trump all other business in front of the House, andonly cabinet ministers would be allowed to propose votes during thedebate. MPs will vote on the motion to apply time allocation Tuesday night.The government could bring the back-to-work legislation forward fordebate and voting after 8pm on Tuesday night, with the final voteto be held when it concludes. Government 'hostile' to union negotiations Liberal House Leader Marc Garneau says announcing workers could belegislated back to their jobs brings the whole process ofcollective bargaining to a grinding halt. "You always allow the process to occur and you don't signal itright from the beginning that, listen, it's coming down the pike ifyou two can't get together. Because what it does is it affects theprocess in terms of legitimate bargaining and bargaining in goodfaith. And it's not fair." "The government does this every time," Garneau said. Management in labour disputes perceives arbitration will be totheir advantage, Garneau added. "This government sends that signal constantly to the privatesector. We saw what they did with Canada Post, we saw what they didwith Air Canada, and it's the approach of the government that ishostile to negotiations with the unions." Both sides in the strike that began last Wednesday rejected aproposal made by the government-appointed arbitrator, according toRaitt, who told CBC News she was "disappointed." Raitt said on Sunday that she would consult with her colleagues andshe had already received concerned phone calls from the mining,manufacturing and agriculture industries. She also said it wasimportant to hear from the businesses that have contacted hercabinet colleagues to determine what areas of the economy are beingaffected by the strike, and "whether we move quickly," she said. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) made aproposal to get both parties to voluntary arbitration, but "bothparties very quickly, within an hour, came back and said no," saidRaitt. With files from Susana Mas. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China PCC E-Cig , Atomized Cartridge Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Health Cigarette Lady Pipe.
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