“This dispute caused serious disruption to our supply chains, risking our strong international reputation as a reliable trading partner. We do not want to be back here again,” said O’Regan, adding, “We will have more to say on this soon.”The Liberal government has been under intense pressure to settle the port dispute for weeks, said Savage.
“Although the work stoppage is over, it will take weeks for the backlog to be addressed and, as a result, the financial consequences for small businesses across Canada will be challenging for months to come.”Article content The changes being called for by business groups, if enacted, would weaken workers’ rights and powers in negotiations and sweep key issues under the rug, said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University in Montreal specializing in labour movements and labour policy.
“That is just a very destructive dynamic for having healthy industrial relations,” he said. “It basically short-circuits the collective bargaining process and puts the thumb on the scales for the employer side, and then reduces their incentive to actually bargain.”“If they do what the business community wants, they will not only alienate organized labour but they will also potentially find themselves violating the Charter of Rights,” he said.
The Liberals and the NDP have promised anti-scab legislation through their supply-and-confidence agreement, noted Savage, something the labour movement has sought for more than two decades.Article content