Employers in B.C. are nervously awaiting the results of the B.C. government鈥檚 overhaul of the Labour Code, to see if the traditional swings of provincial politics repeat themselves.
Since the minority NDP government took office a year ago, they have seen the shift to a new payroll tax to pay for health care, increases to the minimum wage totalling 34 per cent over four years, phasing out the alcohol server wage, increasing corporate taxes and imposing the first hike in the carbon tax on fuels in seven years.
Now the government is awaiting a report from its appointed committee on whether to do away with secret ballot votes for union certification, prevent employers from communicating with employees during a certification, and generally reverse changes made in 2003 after the B.C. Liberals took office.
Labour Minister Harry Bains tells me the report was delayed for a month at the committee鈥檚 request, and should be out shortly. He wouldn鈥檛 comment directly on the long-standing demand by the B.C. Federation of Labour and others to do away with secret ballot certification votes, except to say employees should be free to choose 鈥渨ithout interference from anybody.鈥�
We鈥檝e seen how that鈥檚 going to work in public construction, where every employee will be forced to join one of 19 selected international unions for the duration of the job. One obstacle faced by Bains is that B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver has indicated he won鈥檛 support scrapping certification votes.
B.C. Liberal labour critic John Martin isn鈥檛 reassured.
鈥淟ast year, Andrew Weaver kind of drew a line in the sand on that one, and we did see the NDP back down,鈥� Martin told me. 鈥淏ut since then, there鈥檚 been a realization that there鈥檚 a lot of huff and bluff from Andrew on that. So I expect them to bring that one in.鈥�
In his mandate letter appointing Bains to cabinet, Premier John Horgan also directed him to update the Employment Standards Act, unchanged since the last years of the previous NDP government. One of the demands made by the union-backed B.C. Employment Standards Coalition is to end the 鈥渟econd-class status鈥� of farmworkers, setting a 鈥渕inimum-wage floor鈥� that would be imposed on the traditional piece-work rates.
Bains came to politics in 2005 from the United Steelworkers, which you may recall is the U.S.-based union that directly paid top NDP campaign staff for last year鈥� nail-biter election. That鈥檚 not going to happen again, since the NDP and Greens got together to replace union and corporate donations with contributions from taxpayers. It鈥檚 kind of like union dues you are being charged by political parties, even if you didn鈥檛 join or didn鈥檛 vote in the last provincial election.
Bains assures me he is sensitive to the needs of business, and the cumulative effects of various policies such as the payroll tax and minimum wage.
鈥淲hen [business and labour] work together they create wealth,鈥� Bains said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of business environment that I would like to facilitate, working with them both.
鈥淚 think we are in a good position to do that. We have a strong economy, we have a lot more jobs than there are people.鈥�
As was confirmed last week by audited financial statements, B.C. managed a big surplus for the fiscal year that ended in March, despite $3 billion in additional spending by the new government.
One thing for sure about good economic times, they don鈥檛 last forever.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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