Ontario changes labour relations law

Province says it has restored balance in labour relations after years of employers having the upper hand, but at least one union says it doesn't go far enough and plans to file a human rights complaint

Changes to Ontario’s labour relations laws are now in force.

Bill 144, the Labour Relations Statute Law Amendment Act, 2004, has received royal assent and is now law. The province said the changes restore fairness and balance to the province’s labour relations system.

“Since 1990, our labour laws have swung unfairly in favour of either employees or employers,” said Ontario’s Labour Minister Chris Bentley. “We have restored the traditional balance so all Ontarians can have equal confidence in our laws. This will contribute to the harmony and stability in the workplace that are vital for a prosperous, productive economy.”

The changes

The province said the Labour Relations Statute Law Amendment Act, 2004:

•Eliminates measures that promote unhealthy working relationships among employers and employees in Ontario. For example, employers will no longer be required to post decertification information in all unionized workplaces, and unions will not have to disclose the name, salary and benefits of all directors, officers and employees earning $100,000 or more a year.

•Supports democracy by restoring to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) the power to remedy the worst labour relations conduct by either side during an organizing drive, when that conduct effectively removes the workers’ right to choose. For example, the OLRB will now be able — as a last resort — to grant union certification when an employer violates labour laws, or dismiss a certification application when a union violates the law.

•Re-establishes a card-based certification system for the construction sector in addition to the existing vote system. The card-based system will permit automatic union certification in the construction sector if more than 55 per cent of employees sign cards to join a union.

•Prevents consecutive strikes from paralyzing the homebuilding industry, as happened in 1998. The legislation makes permanent the special bargaining and dispute resolution regime set up in 2001 for residential construction in the Toronto area.

Union plans to file human rights complaint over Bill 144

Marie Kelly, United Steelworkers’ Ontario/Atlantic Director, said the new law will be met with a human rights complaint by the union on behalf of workers she said are discriminated against in Bill 144.

She said the changes, which provides significant assistance to workers in the mostly-male construction industry, offers no assistance to Ontario’s most vulnerable workers, including women, who often work in low-paid service and industrial sectors.

“This change, which favours one group of well-paid workers, is fundamentally sexist and does nothing to improve the ability of mostly women to exercise their right to join a union,” said Kelly.

She said the Liberal government is not living up to its promise to reverse the damage done by previous Progressive Conservative governments.

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!