Collective Bargaining, Labour Law, and the Charter in the Supreme Court of Canada, 1987 to 2017

• Author: Steven Barrett & John Craig
• Pages: 293-378



CollectiveBargaining

LabourLawandtheCharter

intheSupremeCourtofCanada

to

StevenBarreJohnCraig*

ThischapterprovidesanoverviewandanalysisoftheSupremeCourt

ofCanadasshiftingapproachtotheguaranteeoffreedomofassocia

tionundersectiondoftheCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsas

itappliestolabourrelationsandcollectivebargainingWefocusonthe

Courtstreatmentofthequestionofwhethersectiondincludescon

stitutionalprotectionfortherighttoorganizetherighttocollectively

bargainandtherighttostrikeWhiletheCourtsapproachinapply

ingthejusticatorycriteriaundersectionoftheChartertolegislation

itndsunconstitutionalandtheresultingremedialquestionsarealso

signicantissuesinconsideringtheambitofassociationalrightsthis

chapterisdirectedattheCourtsdelineationofthescopeandcontentof

sectionditself

InPartAwetracetheevolutionoftheCourtsthinkingasitrelates

toconstitutionalprotectionfororganizingbargainingandstrikeactiv

ityInourviewanunderstandingofthedoctrinaldevelopmentofthe

Courtsunderstandingofsectiondiscriticaltoanyappreciationof

theCourtspresentviewandhowthatviewmayevolveinfuturecases

PartAbeginswiththeinitialjudicialcreationofavirtualnogozone

establishedbythefreedomofassociationtrilogyThisrestrictiveap

proachtotherecognitionofcollectivebargainingrightsundersectiond

 StevenBarreismanagingpartneratGoldblaPartnersLLPJohnCraigisa

partnerinthelabourandemploymentdepartmentatFaskenLLPandanassistant

professoratWesternLaw

SBJC

wastolastforalmostfteenyearsbutbegantoerodewithamoreex

pansive conception of the protection for union organi zing activity in

Dunmore  and for collective bargaining itsel f in Health Services

. Thisgrowingrecognitionofabroaderscopeforsectiondin

labourrelationsandcollectivebargainingwastemporarilyinterrupted

byamorecautiousandreactionarypauseinFrase r whichsanc

tioned a separate and somewhat anemic collective bargaini ngr egime

foragriculturalworkersHoweverfouryearslaterinthetrilogy

theCourtreturnedtoabroadandpurposiveconceptionofthescope

ofsectiondprotectionparticularlyinMPAOandinSFL,whichex

tendedsectiondprotectiontotherighttostrikeMostrecentlyhow

eversomeuncertaintyhasbeencreatedastotheprecisecontoursofthe

righttobargaincollectivelybytheCourtsbriefandcrypticreasonsin

BCTF

PartBthenturnstoanassessmentofwhatweregardasthreeof

themostimportantunresolvedissuesarisingfromtheSupremeCourt

of Canadasrevised approach to freedom of associat ioni n the labour

relations and collective bargaini ng eld the role of prelegislative

consultationinsatisfyingthesectiondrequirementforameaningful

processofcollectivebargainingthecurrentstatusofthesubstantial

interferencetestforaviolationofsectiondandtheimpactofthe

Courtsrevisedapproachtosectiondonthelawofforcedassociation

AOVERVIEWOFTHESCCSEVOLVING

APPROACH TO SECTION (D)

 FreedomofAssociationTrilogy

Whilesectiondappliestoallassociationalactivityithasbeenmost

litigated and its meaning most hotly contested in its application to

labourrelationsIntherstyearsaftertheenactmentoftheCharterin

whatcametobeknownasthefreedomofassociationtrilogythe

Courtwasfacedwiththreeseparatechallengestolegislationinterfer

ingwithfundamentalcomponentsofthecollectivebargainingsystem

IntheReference Re Public Service Employee Relations Act (Alta)case the

challengedlegislationlimitedtherighttostrikeforpublicsectorwork

ersInRetail, Wholesale and Department Store Union v Saskatchewan th e

Saskatchewan Dairy Workerscaselegislationorderingstrikingworkers

 SCRAlberta Reference

 SCR

Collective Bargaining, Labour Law, and the CharterintheSupremeCourt

backtoworkwasatissueInthePublic Service Alliance of Canada v Canada

casethelegislationunderchallengeoverrodefreelynegotiatedcollect

iveagreementsandimposedwagecontrolsThethreecasesraisedthe

questionofwhethersectiondprovidedconstitutionalprotectionfor

collectivebargainingortherighttostrike

InthetrilogytheSupremeCourtofCanadaadoptedarestrict

ivea ndn arrow approach to the scope and content of the freedom of

associationguaranteeonedepartingfromthebroadandpurposiveap

proach the Court had articulated in relation to other Charterrightsand

freedomsInthetrilogytheCourtruledthatfreedomofassociationdid

notincludearighttocollectivebargainingorstrikeRatherthefreedom

extended protection only to the right to form and join an as sociation

whatcanbedescribedasformativeactivityInadditionsomemem

bers of the Court while reject ing protection for collective bargaining

activityrecog nized doctri nally that section dshould extend to the

right to engage collectively in those associational act ivities that were

otherwiselawfulwhencarriedoutbyanindividual

While the four members of the Cour ts majority had dierent

reasons for rejecting a n expansive reach for collective bargaining in

thesphereoflabourrelationstheyputforwardfourbasicrationalesin

supportoftheconclusionthattheCharterdidnotprotectcollectivebar

gainingortherighttostrikenamely

a therightstobargaincollectivelyandtostrikeweremodernrights

createdbylegislationandwerenotthekindoffundamentalfree

domsthattheCharterprotected

brecognizing a r ightto collec tive bargaining would interfere with

government regulation of labour relations and the court s should

defertogovernmentsinthesensitiveareaofcalibratingthebalance

ofpowerbetweenunionsandemployers

c sectiondwasnotintendedtoprotecttheobjectsgoalsoractiv

itiesofassociationand

 SCRPSAC

 SeeforexampleinthesectionbcontexttheSupremeCourtofCanadas

decision in IrwinToyLtdvQuébecAorneyGeneralSCRdealingwith

theexpressionguaranteeinsectionboftheCharterTheretheCourttookavery

broadapproachtothecontentofsectiondrejectingadistinctionbetweenbelief

andactionandrulingthatsectionbprotectsanyactivityintendingtoconvey

meaningieallexpressiveactivitywithviolentactivityconstitutingtheonly

exceptionBycontrastthemajorityintheAlberta Reference held that there is no s ec

tiondprotectionforpurelyorinherentlyassociationalactivityregardlessofits

natureorpurpose