The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has provided the provincial government with a number of recommendations to consider as part of its review of employment standards and labour laws.  Among them is a recommendation to amend the Labour Relations Act so that municipalities are no longer classified as construction employers giving them more flexibility to tender construction contracts.  The Ontario Chamber says the current system has created monopolies in some of the province’s largest municipalities including Toronto, Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie.         The Ontario Chamber says the changes being considered are on top of new stresses that employers and employees will already face when a new mandatory pension plan and cap-and-trade-system are implemented driving up the cost of doing business in Ontario.  Among the recommendations, is eliminating the card based certification system for construction employers.  The card based system means a certification of a union may be ordered by the Ontario Labour Relations Board without a certification vote.  Sault Chamber President Monica Dale says a secret ballot vote is needed…

Ontario passed Bill 144 in 2005 which re-established the card based certification system for the construction sector provided more than 55% of the employees have signed certification cards.      The Ontario Chamber is also calling on the province to maintain current sector exemptions in the Employment Standards Act and not legislate how businesses should schedule workers.  Dale says it is not feasible for some sectors to post schedules well in advance of shifts as some are calling for…

The health sector is subject to surges in demand that must be met by staffing increases.    The government made a commitment in the Throne Speech in 2014 to consider changes to workplace laws to reflect the realities of the modern workplace and the rise of insecure jobs.  Public consultations were held in a number of Ontario communities over the summer including Sudbury and they came to an end last month.  A final report is expected next August.