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Libby and Don urge Minister Raitt to support locked-out Rocky Mountaineer employees

September 14, 2011 Open Letters to Ministers & Public Officials

Don Davies, MP (Vancouver Kingsway)
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Libby Davies, MP (Vancouver East)
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

September 9, 2011

Hon. Lisa Raitt
Minister of Labour
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Dear Minister,

Re: Lockout of Workers by Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours (Vancouver, BC)

We are writing to respectfully request your immediate intervention in the ongoing labour dispute at Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours.

About 108 workers have been locked out by management since June 22, 2011, over 80 days. We have been advised that the management chooses to lock out workers instead of negotiate, hires replacement workers, and refuses to cooperate with the union. These circumstances are not conducive to bargaining in good faith.

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BC Caucus' Letter in support of BC Shipbuilders

August 18, 2011 Open Letters to Ministers & Public Officials

The Hon. Rona Ambrose, PC, MP
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

August 17, 2011

Dear Minister Ambrose:

We are writing in reference to the upcoming decision of your government to allocate $35 billion in federal contracts to build combat and non-combat vessels within the framework of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

Your government has stated that two Canadian marine construction yards will be selected through the bid submission process to complete the bulk of the contracts:

“One shipyard will be selected to build combat vessels and another to build non-combat vessels. The two shipyards selected will be those that represent best value to Canada.”

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Libby defends Canada Post workers' rights in Parliament

June 23, 2011 Speeches in Parliament

Check out a video of this speech at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWym5PNk9qY

House of Commons
HANSARD
June 23, 2011

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to follow our member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie to speak today to this motion.

I want to say right at the outset that I feel shameful that we are here having to debate this motion regarding back-to-work legislation and that the first order of business that has come from the Conservative government is to force workers back to work and not give them a fair shot and a fair chance at collective bargaining.

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National Day of Mourning

April 27, 2010 Press Release

Dear Friends,

On this National Day of Mourning we pause to honour the women and men who have lost their lives or been injured at work, and recommit to enforce the laws and standards for better workplace safety.

Sincerely,
Libby

Statement by New Democrat Leader Jack Layton on the National Day of Mourning

Today New Democrats across the country mark the National Day of Mourning and honour those men and women who have been injured or killed on the job.

Since the Canadian Labour Congress first created the Day of Mourning in 1984 we have seen successive governments pledge to support workers. In addition to new legislation on workplace safety, the government needs to provide the resources to enforce these laws.

In 1991, the House of Commons adopted a New Democrat Bill to proclaim April 28th as the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job. In the 19 years since, the number of workplace fatalities has only been increasing. In the last decade, that increase was a staggering 35 per cent. No one should leave their home in the morning wondering whether today is the day that they die on the job. Every single workplace death and injury is preventable.

We have an obligation to act. We have an obligation to enact and enforce laws that prevent occupational fatalities and diseases. We have an obligation to ensure that every workplace is safe.
Let this be the year that we finally see the statistics start to improve. Let this be the year that we finally see the strengthening of labour and safety standards and improved enforcement.

-30-

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Fair Trade not Free Trade - Libby on the proposed Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement

March 29, 2010 Speeches in Parliament

HANSARD
HOUSE OF COMMONS
March 30, 2010

Canada Columbia Free Trade Agreement

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise in the House today, and I hope there will be many more members who rise after me to debate this bill and to defeat this bill, because that is what we are aiming to do.

It was very interesting to hear the Minister of Labour just a few moments ago. I guess the Conservatives are feeling a bit vulnerable with respect to this bill now, feeling they have to send in more ministers to defend their very bad position on this Bill C-2, the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.

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Air Canada outsourcing - a joint letter from the federal NDP BC Caucus

March 2, 2010 Open Letters to Ministers & Public Officials

Libby and her BC colleagues sent the following letter to Transport Minister John Baird
March 3, 2010

The Hon. John Baird, P.C. M.P.
Minister for Transport
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Baird,

In your January 12, 2010 letter in response to our colleague Bill Siksay and co-signatories regarding the future of Air Canada and its employees, you recognized the strategic importance of Canada’s air transportation system, of which Air Canada constitutes a critical component.

In addition to referring to the federal government’s role in helping ensure the financial viability of Air Canada, you highlighted Air Canada`s role in connecting Canadians from coast to coast to coast and beyond.

A key component of maintaining the integrity of Canada’s transportation system is ensuring that a critical mass of technical and maintenance aviation servicing expertise remains in Canada. This is, of course, in addition to safety and security concerns.

Regrettably, in spite of Air Canada receiving federal funding support, Air Canada’s management has been relentlessly outsourcing the servicing and maintenance of its aircraft in low-cost developing countries. This is an issue that we have raised many times in the House, and at committee as well as in previous correspondence with your department.

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NDP Oppose Canada-Columbia Free Trade Bill

October 19, 2009
The Hill Times
NDP filibustering Canada-Columbia Free Trade BillThe NDP is filibustering the Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement legislation and obstructing the work of the House, says Government House Leader Jay Hill, but NDP MPs say it's their right to oppose "bad" legislation. The debate could go on indefinitely unless there is a motion to limit the time for debate on the amendment. The motion would have to be supported by a majority of MPs, however, and Mr. Hill (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.)said he could not get support from any of the opposition parties to do this. ...NDP House Leader Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.) said, however, that her party has always opposed the bill and will continue to do so. The NDP is not making Parliament dysfunctional, she said, they're simply doing their jobs. "The record will show that from day one, the NDP was always clear that we opposed that bill and that's our right to do so. It's not like all of a sudden we said, we're not going to support this bill and this is about making Parliament dysfunctional," she said. "We oppose that bill because we think it's bad legislation and that's legitimate. It's part of our democratic process in Parliament, representing Canadian people."
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