TRAN Committee Report

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT 

OF THE 

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA 

Labour Shortages in the Transportation Sector

The New Democratic Party supports the findings and recommendations of the majority report, which details the issues facing Canada’s Transportation sector when it comes to attracting and retaining employees. These include improving working conditions for employees across the transportation sector; addressing barriers to entry, especially for those in marginalized groups; and expediting immigration processing and credential recognition for foreign workers entering the transportation sector.

This supplementary opinion references additional testimony from the study in order to highlight issues and solutions not included in the final report. In particular, 1) the abolishment of “Driver’s Inc.”; 2) acknowledging safety concerns as a reason for low employee retention in the rail sector; 3) and improving collective bargaining conditions for airport screening officers. In addition, we share our view is that the report’s recommendations regarding contract flipping for airport workers and federal funding for port gateway municipalities should be significantly stronger.

Driver’s Inc.

The Committee heard testimony from four witnesses who called on the government to put an end to the problem in the trucking industry known colloquially as “Driver’s Inc.” These witnesses were Stephen Laskowski, President of the Canadian Trucking Alliance; Michael Millian, President of Private Motor Truck Council of Canada; Omar Burgan, Director of Policy and Research, Teamsters Canada; and Angela Splinter, CEO of Trucking HR Canada. “Driver’s Inc.” forces or encourages truck drivers to incorporate, which in turn allows companies to skirt labour standards; deny employees overtime, holiday pay and severance; and avoid paying income tax or federal taxes. As the committee heard from multiple witnesses, this practice can mean drivers are denied fair pay, benefits and working conditions, and thus it has a negative effect on employee retention in the sector.

As was pointed out in testimony by Mr. Laskowski, the Canada Revenue Agency already has existing laws against misclassified personal services businesses in the trucking sector. It is the New Democratic Party’s recommendation that the Canada Revenue Agency increase compliance monitoring on personal services businesses in the trucking sector and carry out stronger enforcement against misclassification practices in order to protect drivers and increase worker retention in the trucking sector.

Rail safety

While the Committee’s report acknowledges the rail sector could do more to improve safety for rail workers, it does not adequately acknowledge the effect that lax safety standards have on employee retention. As heard in testimony from John Corey, President of Freight Management Association of Canada, railway workers leave the industry due to concerns for their safety on the job. In his testimony Mr. Corey stated:

“Both Canadian railways, CN and CP, often tout their safety records, but in reality I think they could do a lot more to make it a safe workplace. Much of that burden is borne by those employees. As you point out, many employees who think the rail industry is a good place to work find out that maybe it's not the best place they want to work in. Again, railways are driven by their operating ratios and meeting their quarterly numbers. That means “if we can save some money, let's do it”, and it often means cutting the workforce to achieve that quickly. That's very short-sighted, and it has consequences going forward. One of them is the poor performance of the railway, but also the safety of the employees.”

Airport screening officers

Throughout the study, the committee heard from witnesses concerned about how working conditions for airport screening officers, specifically salary conditions, insurance, pension plans, rotating schedules and pressure endured on the job, causes high rates of employee turnover. Screening officers are most often employed by contractors rather than directly by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the agency ultimate responsible for airport security. Screening officers’ collective agreements are negotiated with the contactor, which then asks CATSA for its mandate. Having contractors serve as intermediaries in this way is overly-complex and results in poorer working conditions for screening officers. As Luc Julien, Staff representative for the United Steelworkers testified:

“In an ideal world, screening officers would be Government of Canada employees. That would make a huge difference in their working conditions. If that change in policy doesn't happen, at the very least, worker representatives should be allowed to negotiate working conditions with CATSA on behalf of those workers. Currently, we have to negotiate with the subcontractor, which in turn asks CATSA for its mandate. As you know, under the existing bargaining process, we can't speak with CATSA. We can't deal with CATSA; we can deal only with the subcontractor. I would say that hurts screening officers' working conditions.”

While the committee’s report includes a recommendation for the government to support workers by working with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, employment subcontractors, and unions to improve working conditions, the recommendation does not address the issue in the witness testimony, which calls directly for CATSA to be directly included in collective bargaining negotiations with screening officers. It is the New Democratic Party’s recommendation that the government allow collective bargaining agreement negotiations to include the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, employment subcontractor, and unions to improve working conditions and security officer retention.

Contract flipping

Kaylie Tiessen, National Representative, Research Department for Unifor addressed an employment issue for airport workers in her testimony. Many airlines contract out positions such as baggage handling, wheelchair handling and customer service to third-party suppliers. Common industry practice is that these contracts are changed (or flipped) to new suppliers every few years. The federal government has implemented regulations to ensure workers maintain their remuneration when their contracts are taken over by new suppliers. However, there are no regulations ensuring workers maintain their employment with new suppliers, or protecting workers’ benefits and other entitlements – despite the work remaining the same.

While the committee’s report includes a recommendation for the Government of Canada to consider changing the Canada Labour Code to implement full successor rights, it is the New Democratic Party’s position that stronger language, recommending the government guarantee full successor rights for airport workers when their contracts are flipped to a new supplier, is warranted. By doing so, the government will improve employee recruitment and retention by providing more stable working conditions for airport employees.

Infrastructure investment in port communities

Canada’s ports are vital to the strength of the supply chain, but rapid workforce expansion at large ports that are supported by smaller municipalities has put undue strain on these municipalities’ infrastructure, which in turn affects workforce recruitment.

Ken Veldman, Vice-President of Public Affairs and Sustainability at the Prince Rupert Port Authority told the committee that Prince Rupert’s workforce is fully employed but the port has trouble recruiting from elsewhere because the local municipality cannot meet the infrastructure needs for both housing and public services. This threatens to contribute to labour shortages at ports such as Prince Rupert.

Although the committee’s report recommends the government consider the needs of gateway communities, it does not provide direction on how the government should meet those needs. As recommended by Mr. Veldman, the government of Canada should provide direct funding for smaller gateway municipalities to improve the infrastructure necessary to accommodate a growing workforce.

The New Democratic party urges the government, and all parliamentarians, to take decisive action to address labour shortages in the transportation sector by improving collective bargaining rights, working conditions and safety regulations to improve worker retention; as well as address barriers to entry to attract workers to the sector.

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada increase compliance monitoring on personal services businesses in the trucking sector and carry out enforcements against misclassification practices.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada change the Canada Labour Code to implement full successor rights, ensuring airport workers keep their jobs, pay and collective agreements when a contract is flipped to a new supplier.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada support screening officers by allowing collective bargaining agreement negotiations to include the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, employment subcontractor, and unions to improve working conditions and security officer retention.

Recommendation 4

That the Government of Canada create a funding program to provide direct financial assistance to port gateway municipalities to increase capital infrastructure and support workforce expansion.