OTTAWA, Ont. – The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is calling on the feds to preserve exemptions to labor code provisions, to reflect the operational realities of trucking.

The Alliance sought and obtained exemptions related to the scheduling of workers, which were necessary given the way in which trucking operates. With a new Cabinet to be announced Nov. 20, the CTA wants to ensure the exemptions are maintained.

“CTA agrees the Canada Labour Code should reflect the values of a modern Canadian society and supply chain – the two are not mutually exclusive,” says CTA president Stephen Laskowski. “At the same time, though, the government must recognize the complexity, scale, and diversity of our industry. Applying monolithic solutions to such a diverse and unique sector does not always work.”

Recently, CTA has provided comments to ESDC on consultations relating to Pay Transparency, Accessibility and the proposed AMPS regime. In general, CTA supports efforts to modernize these areas, but continues to raise concerns with the speed and sweeping nature of the changes.

“The trucking industry is aggressive in our attempts to attract Canadians to our sector, including those from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in the trucking industry,” said Jonathan Blackham, CTA director of Policy and Public Affairs. “But as we continue to innovate, we must also caution government that all new measures need to be carefully examined for their cumulative impact on businesses of all sizes. As we work with the Government of Canada, it’s imperative they remain mindful our industry is unique and faces very different challenges than other federally-regulated sectors like banking and telecommunications.”