THE EMPLOYERS' EDGE
Divisional Court Overrules Labour Board on Legality of Non-Construction Employer Provisions
Practice Areas:
Labour Relations
On February 18, 2011 the Divisional Court in Ontario unanimously overturned a prior ruling by the Ontario Labour Relations Board ("OLRB") that the "non-construction employer" provisions in the Ontario Labour Relations Act, 1995 ("OLRA") were unconstitutional.
The non-construction employer provisions permit companies who do not engage in construction activities for profit to make application to the OLRB to terminate previously established bargaining rights of unions in the construction industry.
The construction unions involved in this case had argued that the non-construction employer provisions of the OLRA were unconstitutional because they stripped employees of their right to freedom of association. The Divisional Court disagreed.
This decision paves the way for employers who are bound to collective agreements with construction unions, but who do not engage in, or engage others to perform, construction work with the expectation of compensation from unrelated third parties, to bring future non-construction employer applications to the OLRB . Some examples of potential non-construction employers include retailers, school boards, municipalities and manufacturers who are bound to collective agreements covering work in the construction industry.
The case cite is Independent Electricity System Operator v. Canadian Union of Skilled Workers and Labourers' International Union of North America et. al. (2011) ONSC 81.
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