OTTAWA – In an effort to put an end to countless hours of unproductive filibuster and pointless debate, Liberals are proposing a path to ending the ideological parliamentary deadlock that surrounds the labour dispute at Canada Post.
“While the Conservatives and NDP are locked in a stubborn ideological debate, Canadians want to know when they can expect their mail,” said Liberal Leader Bob Rae. “The sterile and hopelessly polarized debate between left and right cannot go on forever. It’s time for parliamentarians to put an end to this shambolic debate and find a solution to the impasse.”
From the beginning of the dispute, Liberals have called for pragmatic, common sense amendments to the back to work legislation that would allow for mail service to resume, while respecting workers’ rights to collective bargaining.
Liberals will propose the following amendments to Bill C-6 to remove the bias that exists in the bill:
- Remove the “guiding principles” in Section 11(2) to allow the parties to fully and fairly bargain;
- Remove Section 13(3) in order to allow the parties to come to a negotiated settlement on salaries once the bill has passed, and;
- Remove the defined salary ranges in Section 15 which are lower than management’s last offer.
“The Conservatives threw gas on the fire at Canada Post in order to provoke confrontation, and the NDP took the bait hook, line and sinker,” said Liberal Human Resources & Skills Development and Labour Critic Rodger Cuzner. “Now we’re stuck, and the only way out of this mess is to allow for a constructive debate on specific amendments to the legislation – because what we’re doing now clearly isn’t working.”
