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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