Bill 51 – Act to Modernize the Construction Industry
Construction Workers Oppose Their Working Conditions Being Subject to Private Interests and Defend Their Dignity
On February 1, Quebec Minister of Labour Jean Boulet tabled Bill 51, an Act to modernize the construction industry, in the National Assembly. On May 23, the bill was passed and received royal assent from the Lieutenant-Governor on May 28.
The final document is 24 pages in length and modifies three laws and seven regulations. Thirty-one briefs were submitted to the Committee on Labour and the Economy concerning the bill, a majority from the construction trades. Twenty organizations were heard during special consultations and public hearings in mid-March.
Bill 51 is part of the government's intensification of actions further restructuring the Quebec state. This is aimed at putting Quebec's human and natural resources under the full control of private interests, and criminalizing citizens who express their opposition.
Already in May 2023, Minister Boulet held a conference organized by the Montreal Chamber of Commerce emphasizing these objectives:
- modernize industry practices;
- increase productivity on construction sites;
- develop solutions promoting workforce retention and the addition of employees from under-represented groups; and
- increase the overall efficiency of the industry.
With Bill 51, the government is attacking construction workers head-on to impose greater labour mobility, permitting employers to require journeymen in many trades to perform work not included in their competency certificates, and increase the hiring of untrained workers on construction sites, endangering the safety of the workers they are claiming to assist, and undermining safety standards affecting all the workers and potentially the public as well, and further weakening worker defence organizations. All of this is done in the name of increasing productivity and efficiency in the organization of work to meet the demands of private companies.
The numerous submissions and interventions during consultations made by representatives of different construction trades and their union organizations opposed the government's thesis that opening labour pools, the introduction of versatility in these, and the hiring of untrained workers equates to productivity and efficiency. It is professional competence that guarantees effectiveness, efficiency and productivity in the construction industry, increasing safety at work, they repeated again and again.
This brings to mind the struggle of Quebec crane operators in 2018, who opposed the decision of the Quebec Construction Commission (CCQ) and the government to abolish the requirement that a crane operator obtain a Diploma of Vocational Studies (DEP) to operate a crane. The DEP was established as a rigorous 870-hour training program taught by professional instructors that had significantly reduced accidents in the sector. The government has imposed in its place a 150-hour training program which is delivered on construction sites and is the responsibility of employers.[1]
Worker Versatility
Bill 51 introduces the notion of versatility by amending the "Regulation Respecting the Vocational Training of the Workforce in the Construction Industry." In section 79 of the bill, the government modifies this regulation by adding at the end of the definition of "shared activity" the following: "or, as the case may be, by a holder of an occupation competency certificate, where and to the extent provided for in Schedule E."
There are three types of competency certificates: occupation competency, apprentice competency and journeyman competency.
In Bill 51, versatility is introduced in Articles 80, 81 and 82:
In Article 80 of the bill, the following paragraph is added to the end of section 4 of the Regulation:
A person who carries on an occupation is also authorized to perform a shared activity, where and to the extent provided for in Schedule E. Where the person performs a shared activity, the person is deemed to carry on his or her occupation.
Article 81 amends the Regulation by inserting after section 4:
4.0.1. Despite section 4, a journeyman may perform a task not included in the definition in Schedule A that applies to the journeyman's trade if performing the task is in keeping with the principle of versatility in work organization."
Performing tasks that meet all the following conditions constitutes versatility:
(1) the tasks are related to the tasks provided for in the definition of the trade of the journeyman;
(2) the tasks are part of the same work sequence and allow work, including preparatory or finishing work, to progress; and
(3) the tasks are of short duration in a working day.
The principle of versatility does not apply to the operation of cranes of any type or to work pertaining to the stability or load carrying capacity of a structure. Nor does it apply to tasks relating to the trades of electrician, pipe fitter, fire protection mechanic, refrigeration mechanic or elevator mechanic.
Article 82 of the bill, amends the Regulation by adding the following paragraph at the end of Section 5.8:
Where and to the extent provided for in Schedule E, a person holding a valid occupation competency certificate who has successfully completed the professional training recognized by the Commission for a shared activity is eligible to sit for the qualification examination related to that shared activity.
As many have raised, an occupational competency certificate is held by a person who has no experience in the field or on a construction site. They have completed general training from the CCQ. It is an additional burden for those who are journeymen or apprentices and it increases the risk of danger to the safety of workers and the public and leaves room for the arbitrary actions of employers.
Further, as indicated in the memorandum of the FTQ and several other trade bodies, "if the entry of non-graduate labour through the opening of pools appears as a short-term solution, it creates a serious long-term problem in terms of labour retention. Initial training is the foundation of skills development and is a key factor in workforce retention. For the profession of carpenter, 41 per cent of non-graduates leave after five years, compared to 21 per cent of graduates. Generally speaking, the data shows that a new graduate worker will accumulate more hours per year in the industry than a non-graduate worker. The CCQ shows that the higher the hours worked in the first year, the lower the dropout rate."
Worker Mobility
The government is eliminating any obstacles to worker mobility. As of May 1, 2025, the government is putting an end to any clause in a collective agreement that limits workers' mobility. It is in fact a decree which removes this aspect of their working conditions from negotiations.
Article 96 of the bill reads: "Any clause of a collective agreement within the meaning of the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry that restricts the mobility of employees who could be assigned anywhere in Québec under a regulation made under subparagraph 13 of the first paragraph of section 123.1 of that Act or that restricts an employer's freedom to hire such employees ceases to have effect as of May 1, 2025."
This increased state intervention in labour relations and collective agreements has been denounced.
The government has also added other clauses legislating further control of the organizations concerned:
42.2. Not later than the first day of the sixth month preceding the expiry date of the collective agreement provided for in section 47, the representative associations, the sector-based employers' association and the employers' association shall transmit, in writing, to the other parties their requests, offers and proposals on all the matters that may be the subject of negotiations.
42.3. The negotiations shall begin between the representative associations and the sector-based employers' association or the employers' association, according to their respective roles, and shall be pursued with dispatch and in good faith. To that end, the associations may agree on a bargaining structure and bargaining procedures.
Misleading Concern for Diversity
The government is amending the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry by introducing, among other things, the objective of improving the labour supply in the construction industry. In particular, it is putting in place measures to attract and retain what it calls "persons who are representative of the diversity of Quebec society so as to favour their access to and maintenance, retention."
The government is making various modifications relating to "women, diversity and under-represented groups" in Bill 51, which are high-sounding ideals to say they want to attract cheap labour. These categories are defined as "an Indigenous Person, a person belonging to a visible or ethnic minority, an immigrant or a person with a disability." In response, many labour representatives insist on the importance of professional training in all respects, no matter what.
New Interference in Labour Relations
Bill 51, in Article 5, creates a labour relations committee in the construction industry, whose goals are:
(1) to study any matter related to labour relations in the construction industry and to employees' conditions of employment, except the matters under the authority of the Commission's board of directors, the Committee on vocational training in the construction industry or the Committee on employee benefits in the construction industry; and
(2) to discuss any problematic situation experienced in the context of labour relations in the construction industry or any disagreement relating to any of the matters provided for under a collective agreement, in order to prevent or settle any dispute that could lead to a grievance and, where applicable, to inform the Commission of any interpretation agreed on with regard to a clause of a collective agreement.
Increased Measures to Criminalize Worker Opposition
Finally, the various fines provided for in Bill 51, the Act respecting labour relations, vocational training and workforce management in the construction industry, are increased, doubled, or even tripled. These are detailed in Articles 26, 27, and 33 to 58. Situations incurring possible fines are numerous. These are just a few:
- Anyone who molests, inconveniences or insults a member or employee of the Commission in the exercise of their duties, or otherwise obstructs such exercise, commits an offence and is liable to a fine;
- Anyone who attempts to commit one of the offences provided for in this law, or aids or incites someone to commit or attempt to commit such an offence commits an offence and is liable to the penalty provided for such an offence;
- Anyone who orders, encourages or supports a strike, a work slowdown or a lockout contrary to the provisions of this law or participates in it is liable, if it is an employer, an association, a member of the office or a representative of an association, of a fine of $9,556 to $95,543 for each day or part of a day during which this strike, this lockout or this slowdown exists and in all other cases, a fine of $239 to $1,157 for each day or part of a day.
There are many
other egregious features to Bill 51. The fact
remains that Minister Boulet's objective in modernizing the Quebec
Construction Act
is to meet the demands of private interests and the state's
restructuring plans for their purposes. Throughout the consultations,
the various representatives of the construction trades defended their
expertise, the dignity of their work, their knowledge of that
environment and the conditions necessary for everyone's safety. They
said at that time that even if Bill 51 passed, this will not stop them
from speaking in their own
name to defend their rights, their security and that of all the people.
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 6 - July 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M540068.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca