May 31, 2010

Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario official dismisses proposed labour bill

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

Proposed provincial legislation intended to force financial transparency by unions is nothing but a fundraising tool for Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party, says the head of Ontario’s building trades.

“I do not expect that bill to be anything but a mechanism for fundraising for the Tory party for the next election,” said Pat Dillon, business manager for the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario. “It fits the pattern of (Tory leader) Tim Hudak’s 10-point plan that is out of date with today’s economy.”

Eastern Ontario MPP Randy Hillier recently introduced a private member’s bill that he said focuses on protecting employees and finding a balance between labour and business. Hudak’s 10-point plan is the Tory leader’s election platform that describes 10 initiatives which are “practical, affordable and achievable ideas” that will create jobs and economic growth in Ontario.

Among the items the proposed legislation calls for is yearly financial disclosure by all unions. Trade unions would be required to file an annual statement with the labour minister that sets out the total of all dues payable to it by employees in the bargaining unit to which the collective agreement applies.

Dillon contends that there is union transparency in Ontario.

“There are no organizations that are more open and transparent than the way unions are with their members,” said Dillon.

“If only people understood how bylaws and constitutions work in the union movement <0x2026> there is tremendous accountability to the membership.”

Hillier’s contends that Ontario unions are not being held to account and that the advocacy and political campaigns provincial unions become involved in, such as the Working Families Coalition, go unchecked.

Critics have charged that the Working Families Coalition, comprised of numerous unions representing sectors such as teachers, autoworkers and construction, is a Liberal party attack-dog and that its affiliated unions benefited in provincial funding and decisions for their support.

Dillon said legislation designed to limit entities like the Working Families Coalition would actually limit the voice of working families in general across Ontario.

“Workers need a mechanism to raise issues,” said Dillon.

“The message has never been attacked by the Tories, just the messenger.”

Dillon noted that a coalition similar to the Working Families Coalition existed in the lead-up to the 1999 provincial election.

“It was called Building Ontario Campaign ’99 and it did the exact same thing as Working Families but the Tories were not unseated in that election. So, I guess, that mechanism was OK,” said Dillon.

“But by 2003 we had learned from our mistakes in1999. In 2003 we got better at what we were doing and suddenly there was a problem. Their criticism is inconsistent.”

The coalition’s ads in the 2003 campaign were widely recognized as influential in toppling then-Tory premier Ernie Eves.

By the 2007 election, Elections Ontario was asked to investigate the coalition after then-Tory leader John Tory filed a complaint charging that the Liberals were connected to the coalition. Elections Ontario investigated the coalition and found nothing wrong with it, noted Dillon.

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