BRANTFORD, Ont. — Union members from across the province will join a picket line in Brantford, Ont., today to press for the reinstatement of legislation banning replacement workers.

Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan says the massive three-day event will take place at Engineered Coated Products.

He says the labour movement is disgusted by the situation at ECP, where a strike is entering its third year.

Ryan says ECP has managed to keep the workers out on strike by busing in non-union workers.

The company demanded a 25 per cent rollback in wages and benefits as well as other concessions from its workers.

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Organized labour needs to raise the temperature at the Engineered Coated Products picket line and prevent scabs from crossing the line, says the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“After two years it s pretty clear the company isn t going to come back to the bargaining table”, Sid Ryan said Monday. “Why would they when they can continue to bring scabs across the picket line day in and day out.”

“We need to raise the temperature there and stop scabs from crossing the line. ”

He made the comments at a labour summit held at the Brantford and District Labour Centre on Monday. The summit brought in union leaders and labour activities from across Ontario and was held in support of the striking workers of Engineered Coated Products (ECP) in Brantford.

The workers marked their second anniversary on the picket line on Monday.

Speaking during formal open session and in a later interview, Ryan said anti-scab legislation would bring balance to the bargaining process.

If there s a labour dispute, both sides should suffer. That s what brings them back to the table to negotiate an agreement, Ryan said. But as soon as the scales are tipped in favour of one side or the other, the process breaks down and you end up with prolonged disputes.

The province had anti-scab legislation under the NDP government of Bob Rae but the legislation was scrapped under the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris.

Lobbying efforts to bring such legislation back since the liberals took over under Premier Dalton McGuinty have not met with any success.

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Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan will be in Brantford on Monday to participate in a labour summit organized in support of striking ECP workers.

The workers will be marking their second anniversary on the picket line on Monday.

Billed as an anti-scab summit, the event will include representatives from the Canadian Labour Congress, CUPE Ontario as well as local municipal leaders and mayoral candidates. It is being organized by the Brantford and District Labour Council and is being held at the labour centre on Clarence Street.

Organizers say the event will begin with an open session from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. followed by a press conference for local media. Labour leaders will then meet in a closed session to develop an action plan and talk about an afternoon rally at the ECP picket line.

Speakers at the rally include Ryan, Marie Clarke Walker, a Canadian Labour Congress vice-president, Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario and Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton. The event will also include a barbecue sponsored by the Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council.

Workers at ECP on Elgin Street, Brantford have been on strike since Aug. 23, 2008. The approximately 80 workers are represented by the United Steelworkers Local 1-500 and they walked off the job after the company demanded wage concessions and cuts to benefits and pension plans.

Union officials have said the company had demanded wage concessions of about 25 per cent and said ECP rejected a proposal from the workers which would see them take a 12 per cent cut in wages. Company officials have said wage concessions and rollbacks were necessary to keep the Brantford plant viable but haven’t publicly stated a figure.

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