Legislative Report, 8 December 2004

The Saskatchewan Party has kicked off a campaign targeted at stopping the NDP government’s plan to legislate government directed hours. This fall, NDP Labour Minister Deb Higgins announced at the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour’s annual convention that her government was looking at reviving a decade-old section of the Labour Standards Act. This legislation will force private businesses to give extra hours to the part-time worker with the most seniority.

This legislation was passed ten years ago by the Romanow government, but it was never proclaimed into law after a series of consultations with business, workers, and different sectors of the economy concluded it was unworkable. Now, the Calvert NDP government is dusting off the legislation and drafting regulations to accompany it.

The Saskatchewan Party is sending letters out to 32,000 Saskatchewan business owners asking them to join the fight in opposing the NDP government's plan to legislate government directed hours. Recipients are encouraged to fax back a message that the Saskatchewan Party will deliver to NDP Premier Lorne Calvert. Business owners and workers can also log on to: www.skcaucus.com and participate on-line.

Business groups across the province have also joined forces under the newly formed Saskatchewan Business Council to fight this legislation. The Saskatchewan Party agrees with the council in that government directed hours will kill job opportunities in Saskatchewan. Instead of having the freedom to assign hours in ways that make the most sense for individual businesses, business owners will be forced to give any extra hours to the most senior part-time worker, which in turn will hurt other part-time workers in the same workplace. Government directed hours will also make potential investors think twice about investing in Saskatchewan and creating new jobs in the province.

The Saskatchewan Party will continue to fight until the NDP government comes to its senses and wipes this legislation off the books for good.

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