Ontario Provincial Election and Collective Bargaining

It's for reasons like this that Ian Urquhart is my favorite columnist on the political scene. One of his most recent columnists focuses on farm workers, collective bargaining rights, and the upcoming Ontario election.

For the first time ever, farm workers were given the right to organize under the Rae government. However, following the election of the Conservatives in 1995, this right was repealed. The case was eventually heard at the Supreme Court, which ruled that farm workers could organize. While the Harris government allowed them to join unions, they were subsequently denied the right to strike or bargain collectively. To be clear, the Liberals voted along with the Conservatives, and in 2003 made specific mention to their decision, reiterating that they wouldn't restore these rights if elected.

The recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada regarding B.C. Health Unions and their right to bargain collectively throws the legitimacy of Agricultural Employees Protection Act, the ironically named act that prevents Ontario's farm workers from organizing, in to question. Unions in the province are currently plotting strategy on how to proceed. In fact, it could- and I certainly hope it does-become an election issue.

"The highest court in the land has spoken," said UFCW President Wayne Hanley in a letter two weeks ago to Premier Dalton McGuinty. "Ontario's agricultural workers are looking to you to do the right thing by restoring their rights to collective bargaining."

McGuinty, through a spokesperson, says that his position has not yet changed. "It (agriculture) is a different kind of business," said the spokesperson, noting the seasonal nature of harvesting.

Urquhart predicts that the Liberals will delay the inevitable- that is extending collective bargaining rights to farm workers- until after the election. I say this needs to be a major issue for the NDP and progressive minded voters in Ontario this fall. Additionally, Ontario also bans domestics, welfare recipients in workfare programs, school principals and vice-principals, as well as farm workers, from collective bargaining.

I also think that this strongly illustrates organized labour's move toward the judicial system as a protector of its rights. Whether this is a sign of its weakness or a sign of its strength is up for you to decide.