I just saw the news of another legal victory for a public sector union against government legislation. In 2011, the federal Conservative government intervened in a labour dispute between Canada Post (a federal agency) and its workers, who are members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). The union was conducting rotating strikes to protest a lack of bargaining progress with the employer. Canada Post responded by locking out workers. Soon afterwards, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government passed the back to work legislation the Ontario Superior Court has now ruled was unlawful, according to this CTV News report.
On its website, CUPW says that Justice Firestone found that the back to work legislation, which imposed terms of work, was “unconstitutional and of no force and effect.” Why? Because the law contradicted fundamental freedoms of association and expression guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This victory for unions is one more confirmation of a legal trend in Canada that is constitutionalizing union rights. What remains to be seen is whether governments will continue to use their legislative power to intervene in collective bargaining; or, perhaps more realistically, how governments will adapt their strategies for intervening. Maintaining public services is always politically important, no matter the political outlook of a government. How will government use the tool of legislative authority in the future?
