Tuesday, May 30, 2017
The proposed labour and employment reforms announced Tuesday by the Ontario government are a step in the right direction, says AMAPCEO, a union representing 13,500 provincial public service professionals.
The anticipated amendments to the Employment Standards Act and the Labour Relations Act are in response to recently-tabled recommendations from the years-long Changing Workplaces Review.
“Many of these changes will help Ontario and its workers catch up to a changing labour market,” said AMAPCEO President Dave Bulmer. “Not only does it address some of the challenges facing public sector workers, but the growing number of young and marginalised people in part-time, contract, freelance, or otherwise precarious employment.”
The legislation, called the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, includes AMAPCEO’s recommendation to eliminate the unfair and outdated exemption of Crown employees from many portions of the Employment Standards Act. This will help set legislated minimums for thousands of public workers for the first time, including the right to overtime and minimum vacation pay. AMAPCEO led the charge on this important reform.
The Government also announced that it intends on leading a consultation process with “affected ministries” on another of AMAPCEO’s key recommendations—to remove the outmoded exclusion of regulated professions from the right to form trade unions. As it stands right now, workers employed as architects, lawyers and doctors, among others, are not able to form unions.
“For too long, the professionals in these roles have had their constitutional rights curtailed,” said Bulmer. “AMAPCEO will continue to be a strong voice on this issue. It’s time we restore union rights for these workers.”
Today’s announcement also included a return to card-check union certification for some sectors in Ontario. While this falls short of AMAPCEO’s recommendation of restoring card-check for all workers in the province, the union acknowledges it is a step in the right direction.
“AMAPCEO will continue to fight to bring card-check certification to all Ontarians so our province can finally catch up to Manitoba, New Brunswick, PEI, Quebec, all three territories, and most recently, Alberta,” President Bulmer said. “After all, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn agrees that card-check certification protects workers’ constitutional rights.”
President Bulmer noted that this suite of changes is the result of years of strong advocacy by public interest groups and the labour movement, including AMAPCEO.
The union congratulates the Fight for $15 & Fairness campaign, led by the Ontario Federation of Labour, for their hard work and advocacy in persuading the government to finally adopt a $15 per hour minimum wage and take more meaningful action on equal pay for equal work.
AMAPCEO also congratulates the Urban Worker Project, of which the union is a sponsor, as many of their proposed changes to address critical issues faced by young and increasingly precarious urban workers was also reflected in Tuesday’s legislation.