| Public Service Salary Restraint Act | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
| Enacted by | Legislative Assembly of Alberta |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill citation | Bill 46 |
| Introduced by | Doug Horner, Minister of Finance |
| First reading | November 27, 2013 |
| Second reading | December 2, 2013 |
| Third reading | December 4, 2013 |
The Public Service Salary Restraint Act (informally referred to as Bill 46) is an Act of the Legislature of Alberta. The bill was introduced by the Progressive Conservative government.
The Bill was introduced during the 28th Alberta Legislature in 2013 by Finance Minister Doug Horner. The bill passed first, second, and third readings and went into effect on December 11, 2013. [1] The law applies only to negotiations with the province's largest public-sector union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
The Alberta government described the legislation as a necessary measure for "hold(ing) the line on public sector salaries" with the intent to "bring AUPE back to the negotiating table." [2]
AUPE launched a legal challenge against the bill, which threatens to impose a wage deal on the 22,000 members of the union. The union claimed that Bill 46 was introduced with little warning and no consultation with the union or its members. [2]
Dave Hancock, then Government House Leader, invoked closure, "imposing severe limitations on debate ... allowing Bill 46 to be passed extremely quickly," the statement says. The union also claims in the lawsuit that the bill creates an environment where good-faith bargaining is impossible. "Furthermore, free collective bargaining cannot take place within the long shadow cast by Bill 46," the statement of claim says. Statements of claim contain allegations that are not proven in court. A statement of defence has not yet been filed. [2]
A statement of claim filed in December 2013 claims that the bill "was introduced with no consultation, was rammed through the legislature and violates its members' fundamental freedoms under the Charter." AUPE at that time was without a collective agreement from March 2013, and negotiations had broken down earlier in the year, subsequent mediation also failing. The union claimed that the province had agreed to arbitration in 2014. Arbitration had not been sought by the union for over 30 years. The Bill would effectively end the option of arbitration and instead impose a settlement by a January 31, 2014 deadline, giving 0% salary increases automatically for the next two fiscal years, followed by 1% increases the following two years. The statement of claim asks the court to strike the law down and reinstate arbitration, award unspecified damages, costs incurred during bargaining and in preparation for arbitration. [2]
In February 2014 Court of Queen's Bench Justice Denny Thomas granted an indefinite injunction against the Bill saying "the legislation could irreparably harm labour relations, guts the collective bargaining process and effectively emasculates the AUPE" [3]
In a firmly worded decision, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas wrote that the government had not negotiated in good faith and appeared to have intended to impose the 2011 collective agreement from the outset. Justice Thomas also wrote that in his opinion the legislation was a "clear" case of a breach of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "The effect is much more than a salary cap, instead it freezes all of the non-monetary features of the relationship as well. In addition, it guts the bargaining process by removing any effective leverage on the part of the workers who, as a result of other provincial laws, cannot withdraw their labour." [4]
One source notes that "(t)he injunction suspends the new law and clears the way for the union to proceed with a Charter challenge." [4]
After the injunction, Premier Alison Redford continued to defend the legislation and "reiterated the government’s intent to appeal the judge’s order." [3] In March 2014, Redford resigned as Premier of Alberta. Guy Smith, President of AUPE, intimated that Bill 46 may have contributed to the decline in popularity that led to her decision to resign. [3]
If the Conservatives want to signal the contentious Redford era is over, interim Premier Dave Hancock should seriously consider dropping draconian Bill 46 that suspended collective bargaining and imposed a wage settlement on 22,000 public servants. Hancock could start by reversing the government’s decision to an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ruling that suspended temporarily Bill 46 last month. "Then they need to need to remove Bill 46 which is a hammer looming over what should be free collective bargaining," said Smith. "Hancock is an intelligent man who understands the lay of the land. He can change the tone of relations and return to respectful dealings between government and its front line employees." The next leader should be aware that Redford’s hard line on labour contributed to her serious slide in the polls, he added. [3]
On April 28, 2014, details emerged of a deal reached between the Hancock government and the AUPE. The tentative agreement called for a lump-sum payment of $1,850 the first year followed by pay increases totalling 6.75 per cent over three years. Members of the AUPE will vote on the agreement in June 2014 before the government ratifies it. [5]
The deal was announced Monday, the same day the government dropped its appeal of an injunction the union won against legislation that would have imposed an austere contract similar to ones that went into effect last year for Alberta physicians and teachers. [5]
The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law on US labor law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, enacted in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration, and mediation for strikes to resolve labor disputes. Its provisions were originally enforced under the Board of Mediation, but they were later enforced under a National Mediation Board.
The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United States Congress over the veto of President Harry S. Truman, becoming law on June 23, 1947.
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The interests of the employees are commonly presented by representatives of a trade union to which the employees belong. A collective agreement reached by these negotiations functions as a labour contract between an employer and one or more unions, and typically establishes terms regarding wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms, and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs. Such agreements can also include 'productivity bargaining' in which workers agree to changes to working practices in return for higher pay or greater job security.
In labor law, a union shop, also known as a post-entry closed shop, is a form of a union security clause. Under this, the employer agrees to either only hire labor union members or to require that any new employees who are not already union members become members within a certain amount of time. Use of the union shop varies widely from nation to nation, depending on the level of protection given trade unions in general.
Australian labour law concerns Commonwealth, state, and common law on rights and duties of workers, unions and employers in Australia. Australian labour law has a dual structure, where some employment issues and relationships are governed by Commonwealth laws, and others are governed by state and territory laws or the common law. It shares a heritage with laws across the Commonwealth of Nations, UK labour law and standards set by the International Labour Organization, the Australian legislature and courts have a built a comprehensive charter of rights at work.
Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("Charter") is the section of the Constitution of Canada that lists what the Charter calls "fundamental freedoms" theoretically applying to everyone in Canada, regardless of whether they are a Canadian citizen, or an individual or corporation. These freedoms can be held against actions of all levels of government and are enforceable by the courts. The fundamental freedoms are freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
The Industrial Relations Act 1971 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since repealed. It was based on proposals outlined in the governing Conservative Party's manifesto for the 1970 general election. The goal was to stabilize industrial relations by forcing concentration of bargaining power and responsibility in the formal union leadership, using the courts. The act was intensely opposed by unions, and helped undermine the government of Edward Heath. It was repealed by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 when the Labour Party returned to government.
The New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000 is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand. It was substantially amended by the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2001 and by the ERAA 2004.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) is a Canadian trade union operating solely in the province of Alberta. With approximately 95,000 members as of March 2019, it is Alberta's largest union. AUPE is primarily a public sector union, with members employed in government, health care, education, boards and agencies, municipalities, and occasionally private companies.
The Court of Arbitration was the first court in New South Wales, a state of Australia which dealt exclusively with industrial relation disputes in the early twentieth century. Justice Lance Wright claims that it perhaps was the first court of its type in the world. The court was unique at that time as it was the first court of its type to deal with labour relations between employer and employees on a compulsory basis. Previous arbitration measures between employer and employee had been on a voluntary basis or had been based on the criminal justice system through the use of criminal penalties. The conventional economic model is that both employer and employee enjoy equal bargaining power to set wages and conditions. This asserts that both parties are able to agree on a fair market price for the cost of labour free from distortions. However, where employers or employees group together, these outcomes can be distorted particularly in “boom” or “bust” economic conditions. The purpose of the court was to change the manner in which employers and employees negotiated pay and conditions. It was an attempt to reduce the power imbalances between employer groups or employee unions that arose from using collective bargaining, and the resulting use of that market power to influence wages, and also to reduce the threat of lockout or strikes to achieve those ends.
Alison Merrilla Redford is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. She was the 14th premier of Alberta, having served in this capacity from October 7, 2011, to March 23, 2014. Redford was born in Kitimat, British Columbia and grew up all over Canada and overseas before settling in Calgary as a teenager.
Howard Johnson Co. v. Detroit Local Joint Executive Board, 417 U.S. 249 (1974), is a US labor law case that decided that under the Labor Management Relations Act § 301 there can be no obligation on an employer to collectively bargain with employees of a business that has been transferred to him.
The 28th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from May 23, 2012, to April 7, 2015, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 2012 Alberta general election held on April 23, 2012. The Legislature officially resumed on May 23, 2012, and continued until the third session was prorogued and dissolved on April 7, 2015, prior to the 2015 Alberta general election on May 5, 2015.
South African labour law regulates the relationship between employers, employees and trade unions in the Republic of South Africa.
The Putting Students First Act is an act passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The law allows the provincial government to set rules that local school boards must adhere to when negotiating with local unions and to impose a collective agreement on the board, employee bargaining agent, and the employees of the board represented by the employee bargaining agent if negotiations are not completed by December 31, 2012. This bill also limits the legality of teachers' unions and support staff going on strike. In April 2016, the law was found to be unconstitutional.
The NFL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a labor agreement which reflects the results of collective bargaining negotiations between the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and National Football League (NFL). The labor agreement classifies distribution of league revenues, sets health and safety standards and establishes benefits, including pensions and medical benefits, for all players in the NFL. The first collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1968 after player members of the NFLPA voted to go on strike to increase salaries, pensions and benefits for all players in the league. Later negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement called for injury grievances, a guaranteed percentage of revenues for players, an expansion of free agency and other issues impacting the business of the NFL. The NFLPA and team owners have negotiated seven different agreements since 1968.
The Fair Work Act 2009(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, passed by the Rudd government to reform the industrial relations system of Australia. It replaced the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation, it established Fair Work Australia, later renamed the Fair Work Commission.
The Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act is a bill, informally known as the "bargaining rights bill", introduced by the Province of Alberta's United Conservative Party (UCP) government under Premier Jason Kenney, during the 30th Alberta Legislature, constituted after the general election on April 16, 2019. Bill 9 was passed on June 20, 2019. According to Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews, Bill 9 suspends and delays hearings related to wage arbitration for public sector workers until October 31, 2019 in order to allow time for the provincial government to study the August 2019 finance report of the MacKinnon panel. Bill 9 affects 180,000 public service employees in Alberta that are represented by unions in 24 collective agreements.
Health Sciences Association of Alberta(HSAA) is a trade union in Alberta, Canada which represents approximately 29,800 members.
The Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, tabled as Bill 1, is a law introduced into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 2020 which seeks to legally define essential infrastructure and create offences and penalties for those who enter, destroy, or obstruct infrastructure. It was introduced on February 25, 2020, and received royal assent on June 17.