Bill C-4's impact on Federal Public Service

Legal analysis of Bill C-4's impact on Federal Public Service Sector Unions.

Bill C-4 contained a number of sweeping and far-reaching reforms to federal public service labour laws, aimed at weakening federal public sector unions.

Reforms include:

• changes  to essential services provisions,
• the process for resolution of disputes in negotiating collective agreements,
• grievance and grievance adjudication, and
• the handling of human rights complaints arising in the federal public service. 

Some key issues raised by this analysis are cited below.

"Taken as a whole, the changes to essential services, strike and arbitration provisions in Bill C-4 threaten to essentially eliminate the union's bargaining power by making the right to strike hollow and the right to arbitrate meaningless in the case of a labour impasse."

"[I]n contrast to the last major reform to federal public service legislation in the early-mid 2000s, which saw extensive consultation with the federal public service unions, [...] there has been no consultation whatsoever with the unions with respect to any of the changes affecting federal public sector workers in Bill C-4."

"Bill C-4 [...] gives the Government the exclusive right to determine whether 'any service, facility or activity of the Government of Canada is essential because it is or will be necessary for the safety or security of the public or a segment of the public', eliminating any recourse for unions to the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB)."

"... under the proposed legislation, one of the parties to the collective bargaining process can unilaterally determine and restrict the bargaining strength of the other, in this case, by eliminating the right to strike."

"Under Bill C-4, the right of unions to unilaterally choose arbitration is eliminated altogether,"

"Taken to its most extreme, together these provisions allow the Government to declare up to 79% of a bargaining unit essential and then refuse arbitration in the event of a contract dispute, forcing the remaining 21% out on strike.  It is not difficult to imagine the limited effectiveness of a strike where 79% of employees are denied the right to strike."

"Arguably these changes to the arbitration and essential services provisions violate the right to bargain collectively as protected under s.2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These changes are also contrary to Canada's international legal obligations."  (ILO Convention No. 87)

"Bill C-4 [...] eliminates [employees] right to file workplace discrimination complaints pursuant to [...] provisions under the Canadian Human Rights Act itself, thereby foreclosing access to the Canadian Human Rights Commission's (CHRC) investigative powers and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal."

"... at any stage in the grievance process, an individual grievance (not just human rights grievances) may be dismissed for being trivial, frivolous, vexatious, or made in bad faith.  [...]  it is unheard of to grant such a power to dismiss a grievance to an employer."

"Bill C-4 also restricts the human rights remedies that an adjudicator can award by removing the power of the adjudicator to order an employer to cease a discriminatory practice and take measures, in consultation with the CHRC, to redress the practice or to prevent the same or a similar practice from occurring in the future."

"Many aspects of Bill C-4 may be subject to challenge under s. 2(d) of the Charter, including the changes to the strike and arbitration provisions, which in combination with the essential services changes, may well violate the right to bargain collectively as recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in its decisions in Health Services and Fraser. Similar essential services legislation from Saskatchewan is currently the subject of a s. 2(d) challenge before the Supreme Court in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Saskatchewan."