Ottawa Ontario - Unifor has taken its concerns about pending workplace surveillance legislation to the federal Privacy Commissioner in an open letter published today.
 
"There is a dangerous precedent buried in Bill C-49," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
 
"Recording workers on the job is a violation of basic privacy rights."
 
Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other Acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, proposes to require all railway operators install and utilize Locomotive Voice and Video Recorders (LVVRs).
 
Unifor says the government has provided little evidence to demonstrate how LVVRs will be an improvement over the "black box" data recorders already installed on trains.
 
"Open-ended workplace surveillance cannot become the norm in Canada," said Bruce Snow, Unifor Rail Director.
 
"Legislation like C-49 is the thin end of a wedge towards normalizing privacy violations in other workplaces."
 
The open letter and Unifor's submission to the government can be downloaded from Unifor's website.
 
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy.
 
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