In his letter of May 6 to CAPE President Emmanuelle Tremblay, New Democratic Party of Canada Leader Tom Mulcair stated that an NDP government would repeal Bill C-525 on union representation and Bill C-377 concerning the “transparency” of labour organizations.
Furthermore, the Leader of the NDP indicated that his party would also repeal the changes made to the Public Service Labour Relations Act when the Conservative government passed Bill C‑4 which infringes on federal public service workers’ right to free collective bargaining.
Mr. Mulcair’s took this stand in response to a question that had been put to NDP Labour Critic Alexandre Boulerice during a meeting in April.
Bill C-377 concerning the “transparency” of labour organizations is currently before the Senate. Bill C-525 concerning union representation received Royal Assent in December 2014 and will be coming into force in June 2015. Bill C-4, now known under the short title Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, received Royal Assent in December 2013.
It should be noted that the Liberal Party of Canada has made a similar commitment to repeal Bills C-377 and C-525. The Conservative Party of Canada is now the only federal political party that, as a matter of policy, resolutely denies public service workers their fundamental rights. On May 7, when it tabled Bill C-59, the omnibus legislation to implement certain provisions of federal Budget 2015, the present government even intimated its desire to exclude from the collective bargaining process all matters pertaining to sick leave and disability benefits in the public service.
