Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 358, November 2010

Case No 2257 (Canada) - Complaint date: 18-MAR-03 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 31. The Committee examined the substance of this case at its November 2009 meeting. It concerns the exclusion of managerial staff from Quebec’s Labour Code, which prevents them from forming unions and from enjoying all the associated rights and prerogatives, in particular: a real right to collective bargaining; the right to a dispute settlement procedure in the absence of the right to strike; and the right to legal protection against acts of interference by employers. In its previous recommendations, the Committee requested the Government to amend the Labour Code in order to resolve all these problems, in accordance with the principles of freedom of association. During its last examination of the case, in November 2009, while noting the serious discussions held since 2006 between the Ministry of Labour of Quebec and various associations of managerial staff, the Committee expressed its expectation that the follow-up proposals of the inter-ministerial committee established for that purpose would fully take its recommendations into account and urged the Government to describe any progress [see 355th Report, paras 29–33].
2. 32. In a communication dated 26 October 2009, the National Confederation of Managerial Staff of Quebec (CNCQ) supported the complaint by the Association of Managerial Staff of Québec (ACSCQ), and reported the refusal by the employer to engage in collective bargaining despite repeated attempts by the representative organizations concerned.
3. 33. The Canadian Managers’ Confederation (CCC) and the CNCQ supported the complaint by the ACSCQ in a communication of 16 February 2010. They confirmed that in fact the attempts by the ACSCQ to negotiate with the employer had proved unsuccessful. They also indicated that a good governance guide presented by the inter-ministerial committee would not help improve the situation because, as the guide was directly under the aegis of the Government, it could be aimed only at associations of managerial staff in the public and semi-public sectors. State enterprises and municipalities, which are considered as independent corporations, would not be covered by the guide.
4. 34. In a communication dated 22 July 2010, the ACSCQ indicates that no progress has been made in this case and that it rejected the inter-ministerial committee’s guide on good governance, which cannot be applied to state enterprises or therefore to the managers represented by the ACSCQ. Finally, the complainant organization indicates that it recently sent letters requesting that official meetings be held but it has received no response from the Government.
5. 35. In a communication dated 12 January 2010, the Government states that the inter-ministerial committee prepared a guide on good governance which it submitted in September 2007 to the Interassociation des cadres du Québec (Inter-Association of Managerial Staff of Quebec), and that it has since then been awaiting the outcome of the consultations that the Inter-association said that it intended to hold with its members on the issue. In its communication dated 20 October 2010, the Government indicates that the ACSCQ has lodged an accreditation request with the Labour Relations Board by which it also contests the constitutional validity of article 1(L), paragraph 1, of the Labour Code. Since the appeals are still pending before the national tribunals, the Government indicates that it has to reserve its comments until the decisions are made.
6. 36. The Committee takes note of the information provided. It notes with regret that no progress has been made in this case even though more than six years have passed since it made its recommendations on the substance of the case, on the need to amend the legislation of the Province of Quebec. In these circumstances, the Committee strongly urges the Government to maintain a continuous dialogue with the representative organizations concerned with regard to following up its recommendations. It expects the Government to report without delay on meaningful progress in the adoption of measures to amend the Labour Code of the Province of Quebec in order to resolve the problems of compliance with the principles of freedom of association that have been raised for many years. The Government is requested to indicate the status of the guide on good governance, which, according to the complainant organization, cannot be applied to the managerial staff that it represents, and to provide its observations on the latest allegations by the complainant organization, the CNCQ and the CCC.