Derek McDowell (Labour)

I second the amendment proposed by my colleague, Senator O'Toole. It concerns the definition of "appointed" in section 1, which states that the word "appointed" means, "in the absence of an election, appointed by employees...". The word "employees" is plural and therefore the appointee would be appointed by more than one person, that is, by ten, 20 or 30 people. Perhaps I am missing some Jesuitical distinction between "appointment" and "election" but I do not understand how one can be appointed by 50 people without having an election. If it is intended that the appointee be appointed by election, we should surely call a spade a spade and simply provide for it. This is basically what the Bill does.

I endorse what Senator O'Toole said about one's being appointed directly or indirectly by the employer. Deciding who should represent workers is a matter for the workers alone. We accept and acknowledge that the assistance and co-operation of employers is necessary to allow an election take place in the workplace, but how the election is run and who is elected should be determined entirely by the employees.