On June 13, the Ontario Labour Relations Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005 received Royal Assent and is now law. The law repeals a lot of the changes to the Ontario Labour Relations Act put in place by the Harris government.
For example, the legislation repeals the requirement that unionized businesses post information outlining the procedures for union decertification and make it available to workers on request.
It further repeals the requirement for unions and other labour organizations to disclose the names in remuneration of all directors, officers and employees earning $100,000 or more in salary and taxable benefits per year.
The law goes further to restore powers of the Ontario Labour Relations Board that were taken away by the Harris government. The legislation restores the Board’s power to certify a union where an employer breaches labour relations legislation during the union organizing campaign. At the same time, and correspondingly, it restores the Board’s power to dismiss an application for certification where a union violates the Labour Relations Act during an organizing campaign.
Perhaps most significantly, the legislation re-establishes the card-based certification system for the construction sector. From 1950 to 1995, a certification system based on membership cards submitted by the union was the law.
Instead of holding a vote, automatic certification would take place if a union signed up more than 55 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit. The Harris government repealed the system in favour of a vote-based certification system. The card based certification system has now been returned to law in the construction sector only.
Since the Labour Relations Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005 received Royal Assent on June 13, many card-based applications and requests for interim relief have been filed. Employers, particularly in the construction sector, would be wise to learn the details of the Bill and its potential effects on their business.
Victoria R. Chiappetta is a lawyer with the Sault Ste. Marie office of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP. Her practice is restricted to labour and employment on behalf of management.
