Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Labour bill power grab, SUN charges

Angela Hall, Leader-PostPublished: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The head of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says proposed essential services legislation gives government too much power to deem which categories of workers will be included.

While Bill 5 will allow unions to challenge at the Labour Relations Board the number of workers required to maintain essential services during a labour dispute, unions won't be able to challenge which classifications of jobs are impacted by the legislation, said SUN president Rosalee Longmoore.

Longmoore argued employers will "over-designate" both what and who is considered essential, resulting in a weakened bargaining process and longer labour disputes.

"If we look at health care, the Crowns sector, if we look at corrections, there are a number of classifications of workers and in a lot of those workplaces the work is very specific," Longmoore said.

"With large numbers of classifications like that they are likely to name every classification in the event they need someone to come in during a work stoppage."

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