Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Canada (Ratification: 1972)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention: The right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization: The right to formulate their programmes.

Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ontario

For many years, the Committee has drawn the Government's attention to the necessity to amend certain provincial laws that designate by name the union recognized as bargaining agent, giving rise to a possible situation of trade union monopoly. The Committee takes note with interest of the information provided by the Government in its last reports concerning the enactment in the province of Ontario, on 14 February 1994, of Bill No. 117 that substantially amends the Ontario Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act so that no union is specified as having the exclusive right to represent crown employees.

The Committee requests once more the governments of these provinces to repeal from their respective legislation (Prince Edward Island, Civil Service Act, 1983; Ontario and Nova Scotia, Teaching Profession Acts) the names of individual trade unions.

In addition, as regards the Province of Ontario, the Committee notes with concern the enactment, on 23 June 1994, of Bill No. 91 - the Agricultural Relations Act which extends, according to the Government's report, to workers in agriculture and horticulture the right to organize but set out a number of special provisions, justified by the unique nature of these industries, namely a ban on strikes and a procedure of compulsory arbitration by final offer selection. The Committee is bound to recall the paramount importance it attaches to the right to strike, an intrinsic corollary of the right of association protected by the Convention, that can only be limited in exceptional circumstances. The Committee requests the Government to take all the necessary measures to amend the Ontario legislation concerning workers in agriculture and horticulture so that it is in compliance with the provisions of the principles of freedom of association and to lift the ban on the right to strike of these workers. It also requests the Government to provide information on the general situation of workers in agriculture and horticulture in the other provinces and territories of Canada, and namely if their right to establish organizations of their own choosing or their right to strike are limited in law or in practice.

Federal Government

The Committee takes note of the Government's provisions of the West Coast Ports Operation Act which terminated the work stoppage and restored longshoring operations at West Coast Ports upon its coming into force in February 1994. The Act also aimed at settling the remaining issues in dispute between the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU)-Canadian Area representing some 3,600 longshoremen, through the process of final offer selection. According to the Government, this method of settlement of disputes required both sides to rationalize their respective positions prior to presenting them to the arbitrator for final resolution.

The Committee recalls that restrictions imposed on the right to strike have to be limited to essential services in the strict sense of the term or in cases of acute national crisis. Noting that the enactment of the West Coast Ports Operation Act was introduced some ten days after the workers had commenced a legal strike, the Committee would request the Government in future to avoid resorting to legislative intervention in industrial disputes that are not related to essential services in the strict sense of the term.

The Committee takes note of the Government's information to the effect that the provisions in Part I of the Budget Implementation Act, adopted in April 1993, have amended the Public Sector Compensation Act, adopted in 1991, and several other Acts to provide, amongst other things, for the extension of the wage freeze in force in the public sector for a further period of two years. Since a complaint has been filed before the Committee on Freedom of Association concerning this legislation, the Committee will postpone its comments until the complaint has been examined.

British Columbia

Referring to its previous comments concerning Act No. 31 - the Educational Programmes Continuation Act - which allowed the Minister of Labour to refer disputes between parties in provincial school districts to binding settlement if they were unable to reach a negotiated agreement, the Committee notes that Bill No. 31 expired in March 1994 and that Act No. 52 - the Public Education Labour Relations Act - was passed in June 1994. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report if the system of industrial relations now in place has the confidence of the persons concerned.

Manitoba

The Committee takes note of the conclusions reached by the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 1715 (292nd Report, March 1994) concerning the Public Sector Reduced Work Week and Compensation Management Act. In particular, it notes that the Committee on Freedom of Association is of the opinion that by imposing a ten-day leave to most provincial public servants without pay, the Act raises issues as regards the principles of freedom of association.

The Committee would ask the Government to refrain from interference which would restrict the right of workers' organizations to organize their activities and to formulate their programmes of action.

Quebec

The Government indicates that three pieces of legislation have been put into force during the period covered by its report.

The Act modifying the Quebec Labour Code (Bill No. 116) was enacted on May 1994. Amongst other things, the Government indicates that the Act eliminates various constraints imposed on the collective bargaining process, resolves administrative difficulties encountered in the Labour Code and encourages a better efficiency of the bodies responsible for its application. The Act also repeals the upper three-year limit on the term of collective agreements and from which modifications to other provisions follow (period to change union allegiance).

The second legislation amended in November 1993 is the Law on industrial relations, professional training and management of labour in the construction industry (Bill No. 142). The Government emphasizes the fact that these amendments entail a total new framework of collective bargaining in the construction industry, namely that for the purpose of negotiation and conclusion of collective agreements, this industry is divided into four major sectors, i.e., civil engineering, industrial, institutional and commercial and residential.

Because the Quebec construction industry was affected by major labour disputes and illegal strikes, the Government indicates in its report that it had no choice, in order to ensure the resumption of construction work, but to enact, in December 1993, the third piece of legislation, i.e., the Act concerning the construction industry.

The Committee notes that the Act concerning the construction industry imposed on all workers in this industry, who had stopped working, the resumption of their works on 14 December 1993. It also provided for severe penalties in case of non-compliance with its provisions.

Recalling that, in 1987, the Committee on Freedom of Association had already examined a complaint which referred to the adoption by the Quebec Parliament of an exceptional law affecting the construction industry, the Committee emphasizes the importance it attaches to the principle that the right to strike is one of the essential means through which workers and their organizations may promote and defend their occupational interests. The Committee expresses its concerns that the new Bill No. 142 appears not to allow workers' organizations to represent their members' interests since, only a few days after its adoption, the Government felt compelled to enact the Act concerning the construction industry providing for compulsory resumption of construction work. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the practical effect of Bill No. 142, namely the outcome of the sectorial collective bargaining in the construction industry.