By Elizabeth Thompson, iPolitics

Published December 18, 2013 12:15 pm |

Picking a fight with Canada's labour unions would be a big mistake for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, says Conservative Senator Hugh Segal.

In an interview with iPolitics, Segal said attracting the support of unionized Canadians has long proved to be part of the winning strategy for successful Conservative governments.

"My very strong bias is that Tory governments are formed because they get a lot of votes from union households… These are people who should be the natural constituency of a Conservative Party that believes in economic growth and solid management," Segal said.

"So, I don't think picking a fight with unions or union leadership is a constructive economic or political strategy going forward."

Segal said there may be some labour union leaders who get carried away, but so do some political leaders.

"The notion that we would do anything other than try and build a base that had small business and farmers and entrepreneurs and union members and people involved in the professions -- that's the kind of big tent conservatism which gets Conservative governments elected. Every time we try to narrow the tent or divide and pick fights, that's when I believe you start to do yourself unnecessary harm."

Segal's comments came last week, a few days before he announced he will step down from the Senate in June to become the new master of the University of Toronto's Massey College.

They also come as relations between the Harper government and Canada's labour movement have been strained by a number of steps initiated by the Conservatives. Treasury Board President Tony Clement has made it clear he wants to bring public service union wages and benefits more in line with the private sector's. The most recent omnibus budget bill changed the federal rules in areas such as the right to refuse dangerous work and how essential services are designated.

Bill C-377, a private member's bill introduced by Conservative MP Russ Hiebert, would force labour unions to file information with the government including the remuneration of some top labour leaders and the amount of time union staff spend on activities such as lobbying or political activity.

The bill passed the House of Commons but Segal and other senators amended C-377 so heavily that Hiebert accused senators of "gutting" his bill. However, prorogation last fall prevented the amended bill from returning to the House of Commons so the bill is currently before the Senate in its original, un-amended form.

Should the government once again call the bill, Segal said he will once again oppose it. Segal said the Senate simply did what it is supposed to do with Bill C-377.

"Our purpose wasn't to kill the bill. Our purpose was to send it back to the House of Commons where the elected side, which should have primacy in a democratic system, could take a look once again at a bill that was clearly deeply flawed and where they might want to make some improvements."

During hearings by a Senate committee into the bill, a number of witnesses said it was unconstitutional, Segal said.

Segal is also opposed to initiatives coming from some Conservative MPs to go after the Rand Formula, which requires everyone in a unionized workplace to pay union dues -- regardless of whether they want to belong to the labour union.

"There are some people in the other side (House of Commons) who have talked about right-to-work legislation, which in my view is the right-to-work-for-really-low-wages legislation," Segal said.

"If you look at those states in the U.S. where right-to-work legislation has been brought in, a lot of companies have left those states because they're not getting the quality of worker they need. So, I don't think that's a good piece of legislation and I really do believe in the Rand Formula."

Segal believes it is fair for those who benefit from better wages or benefits negotiated by a labour union to support the union financially.

"The Rand Formula was a decision that was made many, many years ago to bring stability to the labour-management circumstance and I think stable labour relations are good for the economy and good for the private sector."

Segal's comments are in keeping with a speech he gave Dec. 7 to Unifor's Ontario Regional Council -- a speech that was greeted with a number of standing ovations. With more than 300,000 members, Unifor is Canada's largest private sector labour union.

In a speech in which he quoted from the union anthem hymn Solidarity Forever, Segal said the right of working men and women to unionize has been recognized by the Conservative Party since Sir John A. MacDonald.

"My Canada is the kind of country where trade unions and free collective bargaining makes our economy stronger and Canada a better place," Segal told the audience.

"It is as important a part of a strong and growing economy as capital investment, reasonable profits and fair wages and without collective bargaining there is never any guarantee on the fair wages and without fair wages we're not building a society of which we can be proud and we can transfer to our kids and our grandchildren, knowing we have transferred to them something that reflects our values as Canadians."

Elizabeth Thompson reports for iPolitics, where this article first appeared.