Arguments of the United Steelworkers
The United Steelworkers union has filed a complaint
against the Government of Quebec for violating the International Labour
Organization's Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of
the Right to Organize (1948), the Declaration on Fundamental Principles
and Rights at Work (1998), as well as the Tripartite Declaration of
Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy
(1977).
 The complaint concerns the
public statements of Quebec Premier François Legault between
April 1 and June 3, 2019. The union explains that ABI management broke
off talks with the union in December 2017, presented it with a final
and comprehensive offer and then locked out workers on January 11, 2018
when workers rejected the offer.
It says that since that time ABI management has reneged on everything
previously agreed to at the bargaining table and has made offers that
are worse than the original offer demanding new concessions.
In the context of the prolonged lockout and Alcoa's
refusal to negotiate, the USW called on the government to intervene so
that negotiations could resume and be conducted in good faith. The
Premier met with both parties separately on April 1, 2019, two days
before negotiations were to resume.
Immediately following those meetings, Quebec Premier
Legault publicly denounced the union and accused it of making
unreasonable demands. These unjustified statements have had the effect
of covering up the fact that the ABI Alcoa/Rio Tinto global cartel is
making unreasonable demands on all aspects of the lives of the workers
at the
aluminum smelter and those who are retired.
Following Legault's outburst against the union, as
expected, ABI management went to the bargaining table only to reject
the counter-proposal of the union without any discussion. Since then
the company has refused to negotiate or talk with the union to this day.
The Quebec Premier's Derogatory Statements
The Quebec Premier made derogatory statements against
the union nine times in two months both to the media and in the Quebec
National Assembly. He explicitly said that union members are overpaid
and that the demands of the workers could force management to close
the smelter and workers would be to blame for the closure. This
contradicts the truth of the situation where the only demands on the
table and subject to discussion do not concern wages but the ABI
cartel's demands for concessions from workers on other important
matters.
Legault also interfered through his public suggestion
that workers should willingly accept wage cuts to lower "production
costs" at the smelter. In reality, Legault's demand for a wage cut
would have no effect on the actual price of production of product at
the smelter but would directly mean greater profits for the global
cartel and a direct loss for the workers and their community.
The Phoney Force
Majeure
 The union contends the
Premier's words have greatly added to the power imbalance between the
global company and the workers. This imbalance is already heavily
weighted in favour of the company by virtue of the fact that Alcoa is
not paying for the block of electricity reserved for it by
Hydro-Québec at a preferential rate. The Quebec
government accepts the company argument that the lockout, initiated and
completely controlled by the actions of the company, constitutes a force majeure beyond the company's
control thus releasing Alcoa from its obligations under its energy
contract with Hydro-Québec and the government.
According to the United Steelworkers, the Premier's
public statements on top of the exemption from Alcoa's obligation to
pay for its contracted block of electricity from Hydro-Québec
constitute a violation of freedom of association and of the right to
free collective bargaining.
ILO Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection
of the Right to Organize
The USW specifically refers to the ILO
Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize. Article 11 of the Convention states:
"Each Member of the International Labour Organisation
for which this Convention is in force undertakes to take all necessary
and appropriate measures to ensure that workers and employers may
exercise freely the right to organise."
The United Steelworkers argues that the exercise of the
right to organize includes the right to engage in lawful advocacy,
without pressure, intimidation, harassment, threat or action to
discredit them, which has been violated by the Premier's public
statements.
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights
at Work
The USW also refers to the Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work. The declaration states among other
things that ILO members "have an obligation arising from the very fact
of membership in the Organization to respect, to promote and to
realize, in good faith and in accordance with the Constitution, the
principles
concerning the fundamental rights which are the subject of those
Conventions, namely: (a) freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining."
The declaration states, "In seeking to maintain the
link between social progress and economic growth, the guarantee of
fundamental principles and rights at work is of particular significance
in that it enables the persons concerned, to claim freely and on the
basis of equality of opportunity, their fair share of the wealth which
they have helped
to generate, and to achieve fully their human potential."
Clearly, according to the United Steelworkers, the
lockout and the actions of the government have violated the right of
ABI workers to collective bargaining and equality of opportunity.
Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning
Multinational
Enterprises and Social Policy
The USW in conclusion refers to the Tripartite
Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and
Social Policy, which states in part: "Multinational enterprises, in the
context of bona fide negotiations with the workers' representatives on
conditions of employment, or while workers are exercising the right to
organize, should
not threaten to utilize a capacity to transfer the whole or part of an
operating unit from the country concerned in order to influence
unfairly those negotiations or to hinder the exercise of the right to
organize."
The United Steelworkers argues that even though Alcoa
has not in so many words threatened to move its operation out of the
country, the Quebec government did so on its behalf. The Premier
threatened the ABI workers by saying they risk "losing everything" if
they do not agree to concessions. By refusing concessions and a lower
claim on
the value they produce, the Premier suggests workers themselves would
be responsible for the community suffering a great loss by forcing
Alcoa to close the smelter and move production to one of its other
facilities.
On the basis of the totality of its arguments, the
United Steelworkers concludes that the Quebec government has impeded
the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right
to collective bargaining, a violation of the ILO Conventions, and that
the ILO must ask the Quebec government to stop acting in this way.
This article was published in
Number 23 - June
20, 2019
Article Link:
Arguments
of the United Steelworkers
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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