Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 323, November 2000

Case No 1975 (Canada) - Complaint date: 21-JUL-98 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 45. During its last examination of this case at its June 2000 meeting, the Committee again urged the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation concerning community participation activities, in particular to extend to persons involved in such activities the right to organize. The Committee also requested that legislation be amended to ensure that full collective bargaining below the provincial level in the construction industry be adequately provided for, which may be initiated by either the workers' or employers' representatives at any stage of the project [see 321st Report, para. 118].
2. 46. In a communication dated 17 August 2000, the Government reiterates its earlier comments with respect to the legislation concerning community participation activities, to the effect that the legislation does not violate the freedom of association standards and principles. Regarding collective bargaining in the construction industry, the Government states that the framework for project agreements set out in Bill 31 is the Government's response to requests from industry stakeholders to improve competitiveness in the construction industry, and is essentially an adjustment to the provincial collective agreement as agreed upon by labour and management. The Government enumerates the key features of the framework: (i) a project agreement will set the terms and conditions of employment for employees hired to work on the project, and these terms and conditions will apply instead of the province-wide industrial, commercial and institutional agreements; (ii) once the opportunity for a project becomes clear, the owner will initiate the process of negotiating a project agreement if, in its view, it is economically significant; (iii) the project agreement will be agreed upon in a democratic manner: local unions, who will be supplying labour, and owners/managers will negotiate the agreement; if at least 60 per cent of the local unions approve the agreement, it would be binding with respect to all work on the project within the jurisdiction of the local unions who were given notice of the negotiations; (iv) once an agreement is approved by the required majority, a union that did not approve will be able to object if the agreement forced its members to accept disproportionate wage and benefit concessions; the agreement could also be challenged by parties voting against it or those who did not vote if proper procedural requirements were not followed; and (v) strikes and lockouts would not be allowed for the duration of the agreement.
3. 47. The Committee must again express its regret that the Government continues to rely on its assertion that the legislation concerning community participation activities does not violate the standards and principles of freedom of association, despite the fact that this legislation denies the workers concerned an indispensable element of freedom of association, namely, the right to organize. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation concerning community participation activities, and to extend to persons involved in such activities the right to organize in accordance with the principles of freedom of association in general and the provisions of Convention No. 87 in particular. The Committee again requests the Government to keep it informed in this regard.
4. 48. With respect to Bill 31, the Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government. While the Government clarifies that negotiations do take place in the determination of the project agreement, it also confirms that it is only the owner who is entitled to initiate such negotiations. The Committee recalls that, according to the principle of free and voluntary collective bargaining, the determination of the bargaining level is essentially a matter to be left to the discretion of the parties. The Committee, therefore, again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the legislation to ensure that collective bargaining in the construction industry, below the provincial level, may be initiated by either the workers' or employers' representatives at any stage of the project. The Committee again requests to be kept informed in this regard.