Mach1 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:29 pm
JBI wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 8:54 am
... unilaterally implement their proposed contract in an effort to show how 'good' it is.
I'm not sure where you are getting that information from. Could you supply a reference to that section of the labour law?
Thanks.
No problem, and to be clear, especially with this Management Group, I think that it is extremely unlikely that such an action would occur.
When parties are in Collective Bargaining, s.50 of the Canada Labour Code applies. Section 50(b) outlines:
50 Where notice to bargain collectively has been given under this Part,
(...)
(b) the employer shall not alter the rates of pay or any other term or condition of employment or any right or privilege of the employees in the bargaining unit, or any right or privilege of the bargaining agent, until the requirements of paragraphs 89(1)(a) to (d) have been met, unless the bargaining agent consents to the alteration of such a term or condition, or such a right or privilege.
As discussed above, once the parties are in a legal strike or lockout situation pursuant to s.89 of the Canada Labour Code, the freeze on the previous contract ends and, essentially, the former Collective Agreement ceases to exist. In
Canadian Union of Postal Workers v Her Majesty in Right of Canada, 2017 ONSC 292, after the conciliation period came to an end, Canada Post unilaterally cancelled the previous Collective Agreement with its workers and imposed the minimum employment standards required under the Canada Labour Code.
While the Canada Labour Code refers to "strike and lockout" in sections 89, if the conditions for a lockout have been met, an employer can alter rates of pay or any other term or condition of employment. While the vast majority of the time these alterations would be to reduce pay rates etc. there's nothing that says they can't increase pay. IF, and I really do not think this is the case in the current situation, an employer felt that the employees would accept what they were offering, that could be a strategy. However, and I want to keep emphasizing this (!), I don't think this is something that will happen with this current employer or employee group.