New legislation would ban replacement workers during strikes and lockouts at federally regulated workplaces.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the proposed legislation is terrible news for small business. Jasmin Guenette, CFIB Vice President of National Affairs, says Ottawa hasn’t learned any lessons from the most recent strikes at BC ports and if passed this bill could prolong the duration of strikes and increase their frequency.

She says it’s already happened in British Columbia and Quebec, where there’s already a legislation to ban replacement workers and where they have experienced more strikes than other jurisdictions. Guenette says the reason similar bills were always voted down in the past is because they put too much power in the hands of large unions, and they are a threat to the economy as a whole.

Instead, the CFIB wants the government to consider making ports and other federally regulated workplaces, including rail, air, trucking service providers and telecommunications, an essential service with binding arbitration. Employers estimated that up to $775 million a day in trade was disrupted due to the 13-day B.C. port workers strike in the summer.

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the bill will apply to multiple work sites and would include the federal Crown corporations as well as airports, ports and the federal public service.