CLC needs your help to support anti-scab legislation

A few weeks from now, our Members of Parliament will vote on changes to the Canada Labour Code that, if adopted, would put an end to the use of scabs during labour disputes. Working people must ensure that this happens. When Bill C-257 comes to a vote, we want our M.P.s to vote -yes"! You can tell your M.P. to do this, right now, by clicking here.

Most workers dont wake up in the morning and wonder if anti-scab legislation exists to protect them and their family. But anyone who has been locked out or on strike knows what scab labour means for their loved ones, their community, their union, and the country as a whole.

The research is clear: when scabs are used during strikes and lockouts, labour disputes last longer and often get nastier. Bargaining is stalled, communities are divided, and tempers flare. Hundreds (often thousands) of work days are lost, and everyone suffers.

For workers, watching someone steal your job creates anger, bitterness, and resentment that damages morale and productivity for years to come. For employers, the tiny minority of managers who use scab labour set a bad example, and take Canadian labour relations back to the nineteenth century.

The only research quoted by politicians who oppose these changes comes from the Institut écomomique de Montréal, a franchise of the right-wing Fraser Institute. Instead of looking at whats really happening in Canada today, it uses foreign statistics. Moreover, these so-called think tanks dont even come close to representing the majority of employers ... over 97% of whom reach collective agreements without any work stoppage.

Anti-scab legislation doesnt disturb -workplace balance", encourage work stoppages, or hike union demands at the bargaining table. Québec and British Columbia have had anti-scab rules for years, and none of these things have happened.

Over the next little while, contact your M.P. Call them on the phone. Send them a fax through this web site. Visit them, personally, when they arent working in Ottawa. Tell them you and your family want anti-scab legislation in place. Tell your M.P. to vote -yes" and pass Bill C-257.