The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and Teamsters Canada have written to the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, urging them to coordinate enforcement actions on Driver Inc.
Driver Inc. involves classifying company drivers as independent contractors, which the organizations say deprives drivers of their labor rights and can result in unpaid taxes.
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has spoken out against the practice and the CTA and Teamsters want provinces to also get on-board with an enforcement crackdown.
“Some provinces have already taken steps to combat this issue, for example, through their provincial workers’ compensation boards, but more can be done,” the letter states. “At a minimum, when one level of government finds gross non-compliance related to Driver Inc., this information should be automatically shared with all other levels of government for possible follow-up enforcement action.”
The two groups say Driver Inc. represents one of the “largest abuses of labor currently taking place in Canada.”
“It preys on truck drivers – and new Canadians in particular – while robbing government coffers of revenue. It is also having a devastating impact on the competitive landscape in one of Canada’s most critical sectors,” the letter said.
