Proposed Amendments to the
Ontario Labour Relations Act

HRinfodesk---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law, Revised December 2004

On November 3, 2004, the Ontario government proposed legislation to amend the Ontario Labour Relations Act. According to the government, the Labour Relations Statute Law Amendment Act, 2004, would restore balance by repealing unnecessary and provocative measures such as the requirement that unionized businesses post information on union decertification and that unions disclose salaries. If passed, it would also return powers to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) so it can more effectively redress serious violations of the Labour Relations Act.

Highlights of the amendments are:

* Employers would no longer be required or allowed to post de-certification information in all unionized workplaces; employees will continue to have reasonable access to union certification or decertification information. Employers will have 30 days from the date the Bill is in force to cease posting and distributing this information.

* Unions and other Labour organizations would no longer be required to disclose the name, salary and benefits of all directors, officers and employees earning $100,000 or more a year. Union salary disclosure rules should not be confused with the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996, which remains in effect and requires disclosure of salaries and taxable benefits paid to public servants earning $100,000 or more in salaries and benefits a year.

* Power would be restored to the Ontario Labour Relation Board to order "remedial certification" in the face of unfair labour practices during an organizing drive if no other remedy would be sufficient to counter the effects of the contravention.

* Power would be restored to the Ontario Labour Relation Board to order "interim" reinstatement of union organizers terminated during an organizing drive.

* A card-based certification system would be re-established for the construction sector in addition to the existing vote system. Currently, a vote must always be held before a union can be certified. The card-based system would permit automatic union certification if more than 55 percent of employees sign cards to join a union.

* Consecutive strikes paralyzing the homebuilding industry as happened in 1998 would be prevented. The Act would make permanent the special bargaining and dispute resolution regime for residential construction in the Toronto area in place since 2001. Under the new scheme, collective agreements in effect as of May 1, 2005, or coming into effect between May 1, 2005 and April 30, 2007, will be deemed to expire on April 30, 2007. Thereafter, every further renewal or replacement agreement will be deemed to be for a three year term, expiring on April 30 of the relevant year. A new collective bargaining regime will apply to these collective agreements; for example, notice to bargain can only be given after January 1 in the year in which the collective agreement expires. The window for engaging in strike or lockout activity is limited to the period from April 30 to June 15 in the year of expiry.

For more information on Bill 144, go to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Library website. The Bill will come into force on the day it receives Royal Assent and is not retroactive.

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, Editor at HRinfodesk

Published on HRinfodesk---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law

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