NSFL President calls for worker-focused committee as provinces move to remove trade barriers

In light of the recent announcement from the premiers of Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia announcement of an agreement to remove trade barriers between their provinces, the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL) is expressing concerned about the impact this could have on workers and calls for a voice at the table for those most affected.

Danny Cavanagh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, says this is not about opposing trade or worker mobility. “This is about ensuring that workers are protected as we move forward, no one is against building a strong economy, but we must work together to ensure workers’ protections remain in place,” says Cavanagh.

Removing trade barriers and having Mutual Recognition without strong protections for workers could lead to a race to the bottom. Workers could lose hard-won rights and benefits if provinces mutually agree to recognize each other’s standards and move to the lowest standards. We must ensure that moving between provinces doesn’t mean losing out on safety, pay, or working conditions.

We are also concerned that worker safety is potentially at risk because every province has safety rules for good reasons. Workers could be harmed if we rush to accept each other’s rules without careful checks. Safety must always come first; we can’t let standards slip to make trade easier.

Another concern is that this does nothing to create new jobs; it just moves workers around like checkers on a board, moving the same workers from place to place will not solve the problem of worker shortages. Cavanagh says we need real solutions that create good jobs and train new workers, not just shuffle people around.

The NSFL is calling on his province to develop working committees that include:

• Workers and their unions
• Aboriginal communities
• Business representatives

These committees must examine the possible unintended consequences of these changes and ensure that we get it right. Everyone deserves a seat at the table to ensure that any new agreement protects workers, respects Indigenous rights, and supports businesses and the jobs they create.

“We need a strong foundation of minimum standards, like those in the federal Canada Labour Code, so workers are protected wherever they go. These standards should be the starting point for any new agreement, not an afterthought with the mish-mash of provincial standards.

“Let’s be clear, we want to work together to build a better economy, but it must not come at the cost of workers’ rights and safety, let’s ensure we get this right with everyone at the table,” says Cavanagh.