38

 

 

First Session, 47th General Assembly

61 Elizabeth II, 2012

BILL 38

AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SERVICE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT NO. 2

Received and Read the First Time............................................................................ June 18, 2012

Second Reading.......................................................................................................... June 19, 2012

Committee ............................................................................................. Amendment June 26, 2102

Third Reading.............................................................................................................. June 26, 2012

Royal Assent......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE TERRY FRENCH

Minister of Environment and Conservation and
Minister Responsible for the Labour Relations Agency

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Public Service Collective Bargaining Act to

·         allow an employer during collective bargaining to request that a vote of the employees of the bargaining unit affected be conducted to accept or reject the employers most recent offer; and

·         allow parties to collective bargaining to file unfair labour practice complaints with the board.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE PUBLIC SERVICE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT NO. 2

Analysis


        1.   S.15 Amdt.
Effect of notice to bargain

        2.   S.26.1 Added
Vote on offer

        3.   Ss.43.1 & 43.2 Added
43.1 Making complaints
43.2 Directives of the board
        re complaints

        4.   Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cP-42
as amended

        1. Paragraph 15(a) of the Public Service Collective Bargaining Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (a)  the bargaining agent and the government negotiator shall, without delay, and within 30 days after the notice is given, or within the further time that the parties may agree, meet and start to bargain collectively in good faith and make a reasonable effort to conclude a collective agreement or to renew or revise an existing collective agreement;

 

        2. The Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection 26 the following:

Vote on offer

   26.1 (1) During collective bargaining, including after the commencement of a strike or lockout, the employer of the employees in the unit affected may request that a vote of the employees in the unit affected be taken as to the acceptance or rejection of the offer last received by the employee organization in respect of all matters remaining in dispute.

             (2)  A request under subsection (1) shall be made in writing to the board.

             (3)  The board shall take a vote by secret ballot as soon as practicable after receipt of a request under subsection (1) and report the results of the vote to the parties.

             (4)  Where a majority of the employees participating in the vote accept the offer the parties are bound by that offer and shall, without delay, enter into a collective agreement that incorporates the terms of that offer.

             (5)  Only one vote in respect of the same dispute may be held under subsection (1).

             (6)  A request that a vote be taken, or the taking of a vote, under this section does not extend any time limits or periods provided in this Act.

             (7)  The board shall determine a question that arises under this section, including a question relating to the taking of a vote or the determination of its result.

 

        3. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 43 the following:

Making complaints

   43.1 An employer, employee organization, bargaining agent, employee or other person may make a complaint to the board that

             (a)  an employer or person acting on behalf of an employer has contravened subsections 5(1) or (2);

             (b)  an employee organization or a person acting on its behalf has contravened subsections 5(3) or (4); or

             (c)  a bargaining agent or an employer or person acting on behalf of an employer has contravened section 15.

Directive of board re complaints

   43.2 (1) Where a complaint is made to the board under section 43.1 the chief executive officer of the board may serve a notice of the complaint on the person against whom the complaint is made, and the chairperson may appoint an officer to inquire into the complaint and try to effect a settlement.

             (2)  Where the chairperson does not appoint an officer under subsection (1) or where the officer is unable to effect a settlement within the period that the chairperson thinks reasonable in the circumstances, the board may inquire into the complaint.

             (3)  The board may refuse to inquire into a complaint in respect of a matter that, in the opinion of the board, could be referred by the complainant to an arbitrator, arbitration board or other body under a collective agreement.

             (4)  Where, in the opinion of the board, a complaint is without merit, the board may reject the complaint.

             (5)  Where the board is satisfied after an inquiry that an employer, employee organization, employee or other person has failed to comply with paragraph 43.1(a) or (b), the board

             (a)  shall issue a directive to the employer, employee organization, employee or other person concerned to do or stop doing the act in respect of which the complaint was made; and

             (b)  may, in the same or a later directive, require the employer, employee organization, employee or other person concerned, as the circumstances may require,

                      (i)  to reinstate an employee suspended or discharged contrary to those provisions,

                     (ii)  to pay to an employee or former employee suspended or discharged contrary to those provisions compensation not exceeding the amount that, in the opinion of the board, would have been paid by the employer to the employee,

                    (iii)  to rescind a disciplinary action or monetary or other penalty taken or imposed contrary to those provisions,

                    (iv)  to pay a person compensation not exceeding the amount that in the opinion of the board is equivalent to the monetary or other penalty imposed on a person contrary to those provisions, or

                     (v)  to pay to an employee in respect of a failure to comply with the provisions referred to in subsection 43.1(a) compensation not exceeding the amount that, in the opinion of the board, is equivalent to the remuneration that would have been paid to the employee by the employer if the employer had complied with the provision referred to in paragraph 43.1(a) of that section.

             (6)  Where the board is satisfied after an inquiry that an employer, employee organization, employee or other person has failed to comply with paragraph 43.1(c) the board

             (a)  shall issue a directive to the employer, employee organization, employee or other person concerned to do or stop doing the act in respect of which the complaint was made; and

             (b)  may, in the same or a later directive, require the employer, employee organization, employee or other person concerned, as the circumstances may require, to do any act or thing which the board considers necessary and which is appropriate in the circumstances.

Commencement

        4. Section 2 of this Act comes into force on a day to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.