Legal challenges to labour laws may force rewrite

Larry Johnsrude, The Edmonton Journal

Published: 1:50 am

EDMONTON - Alberta politicians may have no choice but rewrite labour legislation to make it more union-friendly once a number of constitutional challenges begin winding their way through the courts, says a University of Alberta constitutional law expert.

As four construction unions announced a concerted effort Tuesday to go to court over the province's labour laws, Gerald Gall said it will likely take a homegrown case to jolt politicians into action. "When the first one hits Alberta's courts, I think the policy-makers may be forced to revisit their labour legislation, " he said.

Court action by the unions follows a groundbreaking Supreme Court of Canada decision in June affirming collective bargaining as a protected right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In that case, the court ruled the B.C. government defied the Constitution when it invalidated a collective agreement signed with hospital workers by the previous administration.

Gall said the ruling may affect labour laws in other provinces.
"The case does elevate collective bargaining to a constitutional protection that it has never had before," he said. "I think it was drafted in a way to suggest there were wider implications. Because of that, you would think it would open the eyes of policy-makers in every province, not just in B.C."

Using the B.C. case as an inspiration, four construction unions are launching separate but related legal actions in Court of Queen's Bench aimed at striking down sections of the Labour Relations Code that restrict collective bargaining and strikes in the construction industry.

The Alberta Building Trades Council, an umbrella organization for 16 construction unions, is backing the court challenges. "We would hope the court would see this as a contravention of freedom of association and would work within the province to change that immediately and strike down those sections of the Code, " said Ron Harry, executive director of the council.

Two unions, representing carpenters and boilermakers, have filed statements of claim in Court of Queen's Bench. Two more, representing plumbers and electrical workers, are expected to file court challenges later this month. "I think the tenets that we are challenging are similar and identical but the exact circumstances probably have some of their own nuances," said Martyn Piper, of the carpenters union.

A government spokesman wouldn't comment on the case until the province files a statement of defence.
Last month, about 4,000 industrial carpenters were barred from going on strike despite giving their union an overwhelming mandate. Under the Labour Relations Code, if agreements are reached with 75 per cent of the bargaining units in the construction industry, the remaining unions are forced into binding arbitration.

Harry said the code unfairly singles out construction workers for treatment different than any other union members.

ljohnsrude@thejournal.canwest.com

© The Edmonton Journal 2007