By Isaac Phan Nay | The Tyee
As Michael Phillips joined striking technicians at an Abbotsford picket line on Thursday, he knew the union would now have more power.
Phillips is president of United Steelworkers Local 1944, which represents the 25 Rogers technicians who walked off the job in Abbotsford over wages and contract lengths.
Phillips said the union’s ability to pressure the employer, Rogers Communications, has been limited because federally regulated companies have been allowed to use replacement workers — commonly called “scabs” by unions.
But a ban on replacement workers that took effect Friday promises to change the game, Phillips said.
“This might be our bargaining round to get justice for these members,” Phillips said. “Now it’s harder than ever to replace their labour, so we’re optimistic.”
Phillips said the law will increase union power in federally regulated sectors including telecommunications, transportation and banking.
He and BC Federation of Labour president Sussanne Skidmore said it’s a win for workers.
“We’re really happy to see it finally coming into effect,” said Skidmore. “We know what a big difference it’s going to make for workers’ rights and their ability to strike as a tool at the negotiating table.”
B.C. has had a ban on replacement workers since 1993.
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan welcomed the federal change but said it covered only about 10 per cent of workers in Alberta.
McGowan said in a statement that Alberta’s United Conservative Party government should pass similar legislation to ban replacement workers.
“The UCP government likes to portray themselves as friends to Alberta workers, but if they were really friends to workers, they would extend anti-scab legislation to provincially regulated workplaces, which would apply to 90 per cent of Alberta’s labour force.”
The law prevents the use of replacement workers during a legal strike or lockout. That includes the use of contractors, volunteers or employees from other company operations.
It includes an exception for some circumstances, including a serious threat to the public, environmental damage or destruction of the employer’s property.
About six per cent of all employees in Canada work for federally regulated private sector employers, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.
Skidmore said the use of replacement workers drags out labour disputes by allowing employers to keep operating.
She gave the example of a dispute between Ledcor and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 213 that saw some B.C. telecommunications workers strike for three years while their employer used replacement workers.
“Without anti-scab legislation the game is heavily rigged to the employer or management side,” Skidmore said. “This levels the playing field for workers.”
Advocates say the ban encourages employers to reach a negotiated settlement and reduces the risk of picket line clashes.
But University of Victoria labour researcher Kenneth Thornicroft said the legislation might not have a huge impact on many B.C. workers.
“The feds are a little bit late to the party,” he said. “But they are falling in line with sort of more centre-left jurisdictions like B.C.”
He added that even without a legal ban, it’s rare for employers to bring in replacement workers.
Thornicroft said hiring temporary workers is difficult and tends to cause conflict.
“It’s going to have a very adverse impact on the relations between the parties after the strike ends,” he said. “Strikes always end, and the residual bitterness of an employer having used replacement workers can be very troublesome.”
Thornicroft said the legislation signals the Liberals are trying to be more sympathetic to labour. Enacting a ban on replacement workers was one of the federal NDP’s conditions for a deal to support the Liberals in 2022.
“It’s certainly significant optically,” Thornicroft said. “It’s an important message to the labour movement.”
The United Steelworkers’ Phillips said the legislation promises to help his union’s fight for better wages. His local represents approximately 4,000 telecommunications workers across B.C.
Phillips said it’s common for telecommunications employers to hire replacement workers to undermine strike action. He said Telus hired replacement workers in 2005 during a bitter months-long labour dispute.
“The main reason that we lost that dispute was because of scabs crossing the picket line,” he said.
More recently, in 2023, Rogers hired dozens of replacement workers during a labour dispute with about 300 Vancouver technicians.
The tactic allows employers to continue operating when workers walk off the job, blunting the effect of a strike, Phillips said.
“When a union comes together and makes a group decision to go on strike, the group has to abide by that,” Phillips said. “The whole model of unionism is put in jeopardy if the union’s decision doesn’t need to be adhered to.”
Rogers’ ability to hire replacement workers has long made it more difficult for the Abbotsford technicians to bargain, Phillips said, because hiring 25 replacement workers is easier than hiring a large number.
It’s part of the reason the Abbotsford technicians are paid less than their counterparts in Surrey and Vancouver, he said.
At present, Phillips said, Vancouver-area technicians make $41.60 to $46.23 — about 10 per cent ahead of their Abbotsford counterparts.
Leann Yutuc, a spokesperson for Rogers, said in an email to The Tyee the company plans to comply with the new legislation.
“Our goal is always to achieve a negotiated collective agreement with our technicians,” Yutuc said. “We’re focused on continuing to meet the needs of our customers in Abbotsford without interruption while complying with government legislation.”
Phillips said he’s optimistic this new legislation will help the 25 workers get wage parity and adjust their contract length so they are bargaining at the same time as other technicians in the Lower Mainland.
“But we’ll see — this is going to be a test case for the new law.”
