Ban Scabs

Fairness in the Workplace:
Ban Scabs

publicpower means protecting jobs and ending picket line violence by banning scabs (strikebreakers) immediately.

Conservatives: When the Conservatives repealed the NDP government's Bill 40 and opened the door to scabs in Ontario, the number of productive days lost to strikes increased and so did violence on picket lines.

When scabs are allowed to take the jobs that belong to workers who are exercising their legal rights, frustration mounts and violence can occur.

When Don Milner, father of two, was run over and seriously injured on a picket line at Navistar in Chatham on June 24, 2002, the blame rested squarely on the doorstep of the Conservative government. A van from a strikebreaking "security firm" accelerated into a group of union members in an attempt to get six scabs into the plant.

A worker on strike at Falconbridge's nickel operations in Sudbury was driving home in his van with his two young children when a vehicle belonging to Accu-fax, the private security firm hired by Falconbridge, drove him off the road. The security company monitored and trailed workers on behalf of Falconbridge.

On April 26, 2002, two managers at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre were charged with assaulting a striking female jail guard. The guard was injured on a picket line while scabs were being brought into the Centre.

Liberals: The McGuinty Liberals claim to be friends of labour but where do they really stand?

• In July, 2002, McGuinty told the Chatham Daily News he would not ban scabs.
• In 1995 the Liberals voted with the Conservatives to repeal the NDP's Bill 40.
  

NDP: Within the system of labour relations and collective bargaining that works well for employers, workers and our economy, workers have a legal right to strike for better wages and working conditions. The NDP government's Bill 40 banned the use of scabs and implemented other measures to promote collective bargaining and avoid strikes and lockouts.

Under the NDP's Bill 40, Ontario experienced the lowest number of days lost to lockouts or strikes ever recorded.

Conservatives brag that 95 per cent of labour disputes are resolved without a strike. Under the NDP and Bill 40, the rate was up to 97 per cent!

In opposition the NDP continues to stand up for workers and played a key role negotiating a fair settlement in the Toronto TTC strike and achieving a fair mediator/arbitrator process in the Toronto garbage strike and teacher strikes.

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