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A proposed law that would make it illegal for companies to hire so-called scab workers during labour disputes took a giant step closer to becoming a reality Wednesday.

The House of Commons voted 167 to 101 today in favour of a private member’s bill on replacement workers, which would represent a sea change in federal labour law.

In a second-reading vote, the bill received unanimous support from the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, from most Liberals and a few Conservatives, while most Conservatives opposed it.

The bill — put forward by Richard Nadeau of the Bloc — still faces committee review and a final vote in the Commons. But its supporters were overjoyed.

“This is wonderful,” NDP Leader Jack Layton said. “It is a historic moment for such a bill to be supported, even if the government opposed it.”

It is extremely rare for private member’s bills to succeed — the Bloc has already attempted to pass an anti-scab law almost a dozen times.

Bill C-257 would revise the Canada Labour Code, and impose maximum $1,000-a-day fines on employers who use replacement workers during labour disputes.

Quebec and British Columbia already have anti-scab laws.

Nadeau says he introduced the bill to protect people in his Gatineau, Que., riding who work across the provincial border in Ottawa.

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn held out the hope that the bill would be defeated.