The provincial government needs to take a hint from the many groups, organizations, municipalities and companies who are turning a strong thumbs-down to the proposed Labour legislation governing part-time available hours of work.

The legislation was first brought forward 10 years ago, and due to strong concerns at that time over its shortcomings, was shelved. For some unfathomable reason, the legislation has been brought back out again, and the government seems intent to make it a reality this time.

The legislation affects any work-place with 50 or more employees, and this means not only companies but municipalities, such as the City of Weyburn, which took an official stance opposing the bill, along with most other municipalities and the SUMA board.

The legislation, which if passed will be an amendment to the Labour Standards Act, states that employers "shall offer to part-time employees in accordance with their length of service and qualifications any additional hours of work that become available."

The department's definition of part-time is any employee who works less than full-time, defined to be 40 hours a week or the hours set by the employer as full-time, whichever is greater.

As the city was told in studies done by Regina and Saskatoon, the new legislation is cumbersome and will result in inefficiencies, not to mention no new full-time jobs as the duties for full-time jobs will be divided up amongst the part-time workers.

Other private sector employers voice other concerns, such as how the legislation is telling them how to run their business, and is forcing them to give more hours to someone who may not be qualified to do the work, simply because of their seniority.

The legislation is even trying to redefine what "qualifications" refers to; in the context of the work place, qualifications for a given position is related to training, certification and experience. For a municipality, this can be very specialized, such as training for police work, fire fighting, or monitoring the safety of our drinking water. According to the province, however, qualifications refers to "the knowledge, skill and ability to perform work after a reasonable period of familiarization in the position" in which the extra hours are being offered.

In a report circulated by Regina to other municipalities, they have no less than 17 specific areas of concern with the legislation.

Meantime, labour unions in the province are pushing to get this piece of legislation passed, with the head of the Labour Federation unapologetically calling private business owners "hucksters" for opposing the bill. Most recently the federation wanted to sit down with the provincial chamber to try and find common ground on the legislation, which the chamber rejects out of hand.

In the end, it would appear the province wants to pacify the labour sector of the province, and make enemies of both municipalities and private enterprise; overall, not a great way to attract new business and investment to this province.

As Weyburn councillor Rob Stephanson commented, it hasn't improved with age, and should not be enacted. Premier Calvert and minister Deb Higgins need to do the brave thing, and reshelve the legislation. - G.N.