OTTAWA — One of the main political legacies of the west coast longshoremen’s strike likely will be a parliamentary study of whether such an event should ever again be allowed to disrupt the export of grain.
The government says it wants to examine how labor relations can “be brought into line with present-day realities” so the Canadian export economy can remain competitive and reliable.
The Reform Party says it will use the study to insist that strikes in the grain industry be outlawed.
“I want to speak on behalf of Western Canadian grain farmers in making it very clear to the House that this disruption should never have happened,” Vegreville MP Leon Benoit told the Commons Feb. 8 during debate on back-to-work legislation. “Disruptions in grain handling must not continue.”
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MPs and senators waived most of the procedural rules of Parliament Feb. 8 to push the legislation through both Houses in just seven hours.
Contract under arbitration
The law forced the workers back to the job Feb. 9 and authorized the appointment of an arbitrator who will consider the “final offers” of the two sides and rule in favor of one or the other. The ruling will be imposed as the contract until Dec. 31, 1995.
In the Commons, human resources minister Lloyd Axworthy chastised both labor and management for failure to compromise.
He said he opposes taking away the right to strike but labor relations must be reformed to reduce the threat of disruption.
“We have seen in this particular game that both sides played a very dangerous game of poker with very high stakes, putting in real risk not just their own livelihood but also the economic health of Canada,” he said.
The Bloc QuŽbecois official opposition supported the bill, but complained that the result likely will favor the companies. Axworthy denied any bias in the “final offer selection” process he had chosen as the way to settle the contract.
Reform also supported legislation to end the strike but said they hoped it would be the last time such one-time legislation would be needed.
Darrel Stinson (Okanagan-Shuswap) said a special Commons committee should be formed with the power to hear witnesses and eventually to write legislation that would end the threat of export disruption.
Benoit, from Vegreville, reiterated Reform policy that grain handling should be declared an essential service in which strikes and lockouts are not allowed. He said a committee study could find the best way to do it.
An arbitrator with the power to impose a settlement could be appointed a few months before the end of a contract to make sure the existing contract was not allowed to expire without a new settlement to take its place.
“The last strike lasted five days, this strike 11 days,” Benoit said. “Let us ensure there are no future strikes which will curtail grain movement in the country.”
