Last week, IAM representatives met with the Federal Labour Minister O’Regan’s office about the delay in implementing bill C-86- Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No.2 and changes to Section 182.1-182.4 of the Canada Labour Code.
The bill has not yet come into force, and is awaiting a date of effect to be assigned by an Order-In-Council. The IAM is frustrated at the length of time the bill has taken to be implemented. Especially concerning is that without a date of effect, the legislation dies setting workers back by decades in their fight for fairness.
The bill ensures that those who work on a part-time status, casual, or contract are not paid less than full-timers who do the same work. However, the bill allows for differences in pay if the discrepancy is due to seniority, merit, or the quantity or quality of each employee’s production. If the bill is passed employers would be prohibited from reducing an employee’s rate of wages in order to comply with new requirements.
“The bill received Royal Assent in 2018 and has yet to be implemented. A bill has 10 years to come into effect, and our concern is that it may no longer be a priority, which would negatively affect our members.” said Derek Ferguson, IAM Political Action Representative. We’ve been assured through both a written commitment and Minister O’Regan’s office that a consultation process will take place this fall, and that Division III on Equal Wages will be part of the consultative process.
“We will continue to monitor the progress in implementation of this bill and will provide updates as soon as we know about them,” concluded Ferguson.
The IAM will continue to lobby and fight on behalf of our members and all workers in Canada. We ask all our members, especially those affected by this inequality to get involved and join our lobbying efforts.
The IAM represents the greatest number of workers at Canadian airports.
