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The Citizen, 1992-02-12, Page 27THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12,1992. PAGE 27. Business people meet with Klopp over labour legislation About 30 people attended a con­ sultation session with Huron MPP Paul Klopp in Clinton Town Hall on January 31, to express their feel­ ings on the province's proposed changes for the Labour Relations Act. The Labour Relations Act gov­ erns relations between unions and employees in most private industry and in a portion of the public sec­ tor. It sets out the rules under which employees can form.unions, pro­ hibits unfair labour practices by unions and employers, establishes the rules for bargaining contracts between labour and management and creates the process for handling disagreements that arise during a contract. The discussion meeting was held to give people a chance to com­ ment, criticize or praise the pro­ posed reforms. The discussion papers made available by the Ministry of Labour, requested this opportunity for input. The paper focuses on five key areas: increasing cooperation between labour and management when a workplace is undergoing major change, streamlining and improving the grievance arbitration process and the work of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, improving the process by which first contracts are negotiated, removing some of the obstacles which hamper employees' ability to organize and limiting the use of replacement workers during a strike or lockout to existing on-site management Opposition to the proposed reform legislation has come from those who feel it will give too much power to the unions. The message is that the provincial gov­ ernment cannot legislate better working relations between employ­ ers and employees. Mr. Klopp says that while some may believe legislation regarding labour and business in Canada is restrictive, it is mild compared to European legislation. Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie has said, "The goal of this govern­ ment is to achieve a greater fairness and equity in the workplace. We seek to modernize an important piece of legislation to respond to Ontario's new economic and work­ place realities." The Act has not been significantly amended for 15 years, the Ministry says. Separate Bd. says it won't hire unqualified teachers Dr. J.S. Brown, director of edu­ cation said the Huron-Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board has the constitutional right to hire non­ certified Catholic teachers rather than certified non-Catholic teach­ ers. At the regular meeting on Jan­ uary 21, trustee Ben Brown asked the board if it uses this practice. Mr. Brown had received calls from ratepayers who were concerned that non-qualified teachers were being hired over qualified teachers based on religion. Those people, he said, value the quality of education as much as the spiritual education in the Catholic system. Gates Blanchette, superintendent of schools, said the board has hired non-certified Catholic teachers twice, but never teachers who were not qualified. "Just because you put an uncerti­ fied teacher in the classroom does­ n't mean the students will get a poor education," he said. The history of the separate school system dates back to 1841. At that time, if there were enough Catholic families in a three-mile radius, they People presenting briefs to Mr. Klopp had to submit them to him and were given 15 minutes to state their opinions. John Gray, executive director of Community Living South Huron said the legislation is trying to deal with too much. "The labour prob­ lems General Motors has are not the same as those in Dashwood," he said. He says the rights of employees not to join trade unions are not pro­ tected in the proposed legislation. "There is no protection for non­ union workers against bullying and intimidation. The right to choose is gone," he said. Mr. Gray said that cooperation is created by mutual respect and if government feels this piece of leg­ islation, which puts power in the trade unions, will create coopera­ tion they are mistaken. Paul Steckle of Zurich agreed. "I do not feel you can legislate people into cooperative relationships," he said. Mr. Steckle said that government interference in business has made competition difficult. "One com­ mon theme that has been heard again and again is 'government get off my back'. In a society where we have to compete for our share of the market we have legislation that insists that education and skills are secondary." Employment equity frightens him, he said, because businesses are asked to compete without regards to the ability of the people to do the job. "We must hire the best people, whether they be women, men, disabled or minori­ ties," he said. Mr. Steckle said there are more serious matters to be concerned with than organizing people. "I don’t think making unions will help the problems we have with labour relations." Randy Mason from the CAW Local 27 believes the proposals were practical social reform and encouraged the government to adopt the changes. "There is a feeling by business that the legislation will create a financial burden for employers but basically that argument is smoke and mirror," he said. Business, is shifting away from Ontario because of the federal gov- had the right to open a Catholic school and hire a Catholic teacher. Likewise Protestants could hire a Protestant to teach their children. Based on this, separate schools were granted the right to hire teach­ ers of a particular faith, as it other­ wise defeats the purpose of the school. There are non-Catholic teachers in the Huron-Perth system and they should not fear for their jobs, said Blanchette. Dr. Brown said some boards like the Metro Separate School Board have consistently hired only Catholic teachers and staff. The Huron-Perth board has not hired a non-Catholic teacher since Dr. Brown arrived at the board a year- and-a-half ago, he said. Drive off with emment's approach to trade. Orga­ nizations and labour are better able to meet challenges when there is fairness, but business has a fear of relinquishing absolute power of the workplace, said Mr. Mason. Big business, he said has scared small business. "What does small business have to fear? The propos­ als don't affect them that much and the changes are minimal anyway. So why is everyone frightened? If workers decide to organize as a part of union, employers should embrace that decision." Mr. Mason said employees only organize when their concerns fall on deaf ears. Mason said a study in Pittsburgh of American machine companies, revealed that union workers were 31 percent more productive than non-union workers making the same wage and using the same technology. The study also showed that CROSS CANADA MARKETPLACE IT’S FAST - IT’S EASY! 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Space is Limited, so Call This Newspaper Today! unions tend to keep employees longer and attract more skilled workers. Michael Sully of Champion Road Machinery says to him competi­ tiveness means getting the deal, not the guy. "A function of quality manage­ ment is to offer customers whai they want while continuing to out perform the competition. What was good yesterday is not necessarily good enough for today, because markets have changed from nation­ al to international in scope," said Mr. Sully. "Presently we don't have it. We need team players fighting for the good of the whole, we have to mimic the best education systems in the world, get enrollment in sci­ ence and technology courses up and support continual adult educa­ tion." Mr. Sully said the proposed labour legislation assumes manage­ ment will "for some sinister rea­ son" exploit, mistreat, underpay workers, but they will be good employers because they have been legislated to be. "These assumptions are danger­ ous. The purpose of the act should promote harmony by whatever means, not just by unionization." While Mr. Mason sees the use of scab labour as interfering with workers exercising their democratic right, Mr. Sully said by making it illegal to use scabs the government is creating a tremendous shift of power. "It takes away a company's liveli­ hood and that of the workers," he said. "Very few companies utilize replacement workers and when they do it is in extreme cases." Mr. Sully also said that in this difficult economic time the govern­ ment should set the legislation aside and put together a program that creates new opportunity for change to sell to the investment community.