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UN body instructs government of Premier Brad Wall to consult and with labour and work out a more balanced approach to essential services legislation, union organizing votes and a labour relations board all parties can trust.
Ottawa (29 March 2010) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a stinging rebuke to the government of Saskatchewan over two pieces of anti-labour legislation adopted in 2008.
The United Nations body has directed the province to go back to the drawing board and rewrite the laws in full consultation and cooperation with workers and labour groups affected.
In an unusually-pointed decision, the ILO – which is based in Geneva – has also instructed Premier Brad Wall and his Saskatchewan Party government to keep ILO officials informed of corrective steps as they are taken to bring the province into compliance with international labour standards that Canada as a UN member country is bound to uphold.
The complaint against the province was filed in June 2008 by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) on behalf of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU/NUPGE). NUPGE represents 340,000 members across Canada. SGEU is NUPGE's Saskatchewan component.
A complaint was also filed by the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) on behalf of more than a dozen other unions in the province.
The two laws at issue were passed less than six months after Wall became premier in late 2007:
- Bill 5, An Act respecting Essential Public Services, includes a definition of essential services so broad that practically any public service employee could be unilaterally designated essential by the government and therefore not allowed to exercise the right to strike. It was widely regarded as the most sweeping and heavy-handed essential services legislation in Canada.
- Bill 6, An Act to amend the Trade Union Act, drastically reduces the rights of Saskatchewan workers by restricting the ability of working people to join unions and to engage in collective bargaining. It also leaves workers with less protection against unfair practices from employers.
The corrective measures recommended by the ILO were prepared by the organization's Committee on Freedom of Association and adopted by the full ILO's Governing Body on March 24. The report instructs the province to:
- Hold "full and specific consultations with the relevant workers' and employers' organizations" at an early stage to restore the confidence of the parties and "truly permit the attainment of mutually acceptable solutions where possible."
- Take the "necessary measures" in consultation with "social partners" affected to amend the Public Service Essential Services Act to ensure that the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board (SLRB) examines "all aspects relating to the determination of an essential service." This should include sectors in question, classification and the number and names of workers who must provide services. The government should also amend its Public Service Essential Services Regulations, which set out a list of prescribed essential services, be amended "in consultation with the social partners."
- Take necessary measures to ensure that "compensatory guarantees are made available to workers" whose right to strike may be restricted or prohibited and to keep in informed in this respect.
- Amend the Trade Union Act to lower the requirement from 45% of all workers in a bargaining unit to a more reasonable threshold in order to legally launch a process leading to a vote by employees in a workplace on whether or not they wish to be unionized. Because of the way the law now reads, the ILO noted, unions must "demonstrate more support in order for a ballot to be conducted that it will ultimately need to be certified."
- Adopt "in consultation with the social partners" appropriate measures to ensure that the SLRB "enjoys the confidence of all the parties concerned."
The specific request for the Wall administration to keep the ILO informed of actions it takes to comply with the ruling dealt specifically with its requests for consultation and amendments to the two laws.
Following are some direct excerpts from the decision:
- The committee expects that the provincial government will hold full and specific consultations with the relevant workers' and employers' organizations in the future at the early stage of considering the adoption of any legislation in this regard so as to restore the confidence of the parties in the process and truly permit the attainment of mutually acceptable solutions where possible.
- With regard to the list contained in the regulations, the committee considers that certain services, such as licensing of boiler and pressure vessels, licensing of private investigators and security guards, laundry and drivers in community living division − Valley View Centre should not be unilaterally declared as "essential" where minimum services must be maintained. …. It therefore requests that this list be amended in consultation with the social partners and to be kept informed of developments in this respect. It draws the legislative aspects of this case to the attention of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
- It appears, however, that under the terms of section 10 of the Public Service Essential Services Act, neither the determination of what constitutes an essential service, nor the classification of workers and their names, can be challenged before the board, only the number of workers required to work may be reviewed.
- The committee notes that, according to the complainants, the government failed to provide access to an independent arbitration mechanism for those public employees who are negatively impacted by essential services legislation.
- The committee considers that a secretly ballot supervised by the (SLRB) may be consistent with the principles of freedom of association as long as it has the confidence of the parties.
- The committee is of the opinion that in the particular circumstances of the case the law stipulating that a trade union must receive the support of 45% of employees before the procedure for recognition of a collective bargaining agent may well be excessively difficult to achieve…. The change as to support for a union necessary in order to conduct a requisite secret ballot actually means that the union needs to demonstrate more support in order for a ballot to be conducted then it will need ultimately to be certified on the basis of the vote (i.e., 50% of 50% - the necessary quorum - is only 25% of all employees). The committee requests the government to ensure that the provincial authorities take the necessary measures to amend the Trade Union Act so as to lower the 45% support requirement for beginning the process of a certification election. It requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.
- Without taking a position as to the independence of the (SLRB) as currently constituted, the committee draws the provincial government's attention to the need to ensure that the members of bodies entrusted to administer labour relations legislation enjoy the confidence of all parties and are impartial and are seen to be impartial. The Committee therefore requests the government to encourage the provincial authorities to endeavour, in consultation with the social partners, to find an appropriate means of ensuring that the (SLRB) enjoys the confidence of all the parties concerned.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
• Saskatchewan and Ottawa must act on ILO ruling
• Text of the ILO decision on Saskatchewan labour laws
• Saskatchewan Federation of Labour Backgrounder