I am writing today in regard to the ongoing strike of technician workers at Ledcor (LTS Solutions Ltd.), or “LTS”, in British Columbia. These workers are predominately engaged in installation, servicing, and maintenance work for Telus.

The 238 workers joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 213 (IBEW 213) in August of 2017. Following the refusal of LTS to bargain a first collective agreement in good faith, the workers voted to strike. The strike began on September 30, 2019 and has continued to the present day.

Meanwhile, LTS has attacked the working conditions of their newly unionized workers and engaged in a campaign targeting union members for termination. Today only about 70 of the original 238 remain employed. While the union has referred these matters to the CIRB and arbitration accordingly, this has had little effect on the anti-union tactics of this deep-pocketed employer.

At the same time, LTS continues to refuse to bargain in good faith for a reasonable first collective agreement. They have taken the position that monetary issues should remain at the discretion of management and have refused to agree to a union security clause.

Workers have the Constitutional right to join a union of their choice. These workers exercised that right and have faced firings, a company-led decertification campaign, replacement by scab labour, and the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith. They have spent more than three years waiting for their first collective agreement. All of this points to serious weaknesses in the Canada Labour Code which must be addressed in order to ensure effective access to the right to join a union.

There is little to motivate a stubbornly anti-union employer to respect the Constitutional right of workers to form a union, or to collectively bargain in good faith under the Code as it currently stands. With no threat of binding arbitration, and no anti-scab legislation the effectiveness of job action is weakened. This, combined with the vast resources at the disposal of LTS and similar telecommunication companies, threatens to reduce these fundamental rights to mere words on paper for workers in this industry.  

I am calling on you, as Minister of Labour, to respond to the urgent request of IBEW Local 213 to direct the CIRB to set terms and conditions for a first collective agreement between per section 80 (1)-(4) of the Canada Labour Code. I also call on the Federal Liberal government to take immediate steps to strengthen the Canada Labour Code to ensure that the Constitutional rights of workers, which have also been confirmed in decisions by the Supreme Court, cannot be trampled by unscrupulous anti-union employers. Among such reforms must be long overdue federal anti-scab legislation ensuring a fair playing field in future labour disputes.