Operating engineers union urges province to back down on back-to-work legislation
The love affair between Ontario’s construction unions and Premier Doug Ford may be cooling.
In the run up to June’s provincial election, several key construction unions, including the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the International Union of Operating Engineers threw their support behind Ford’s re-election bid.
At the time, the Progressive Conservatives had positioned themselves as being friendly to not only construction but also trade unions.
Fast forward five months, and the picture has changed.
On November 3, the provincial government passed legislation that would impose a new four-year agreement on, and quash a potential strike by, some 55,000 education workers who are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The premier said his government had no choice but to use the legislation to keep classrooms open and kids in school.
The International Union of Operating Engineers thinks differently.
In a statement released on November 2, the union characterized the legislation as, “a huge overreach that will have lasting impacts on unionized workers across the province.”
It is urging the province to repeal the bill immediately.
“The International Union of Operating Engineers and its Local 793 are categorically opposed to Bill 28 and any attempt by the Government of Ontario to undermine the collective bargaining rights of workers, including the right to strike which is a necessary and fundamental right of workers in Canada,” said Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher.
“To be clear, the International Union of Operating Engineers is opposed to ‘back to work’ legislation and any legislation that undermines the rights of working people to the collective bargaining process and the right to strike, if required,” said the union’s Canadian Regional Director Patrick Campbell. “The Ford Government’s Bill 28 represents a clear and present danger, not only to the lowest paid education workers in Ontario, but to all Canadian workers moving forward if this legislation stands.”
Local 793 represents over 18,000 members in Ontario and Nunavut working primarily in the construction, mining and industrial sectors.
Last spring, approximately 4,000 of its members were on strike for three weeks in both the ICI and residential sectors of the construction industry. The operating engineers union has locals across every province and territory and Canada representing workers in many occupational categories.