Canada Labour Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2)

Marginal note:Where notice to bargain collectively given prior to deletion

47.1 Where, before the deletion or severance referred to in subsection 47(1), notice to bargain collectively has been given in respect of a collective agreement or arbitral award binding on employees of a corporation or business who, immediately before the deletion or severance, were part of the federal public administration,

• (a) the terms and conditions of employment contained in a collective agreement or arbitral award that, by virtue of section 107 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, are continued in force immediately before the date of the deletion or severance or that were last continued in force before that date, in respect of those employees shall continue or resume in force on and after that date and shall be observed by the corporation or business, as employer, the bargaining agent for those employees and those employees until the requirements of paragraphs 89(1)(a) to (d) have been met, unless the employer and the bargaining agent agree otherwise;

• (b) the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act applies in all respects to the interpretation and application of any term or condition continued or resumed by paragraph (a);

• (c) on application by the corporation or business, as employer, or the bargaining agent for those employees, made during the period beginning on the one hundred and twentieth day and ending on the one hundred and fiftieth day after the date of the deletion or severance, the Board shall make an order determining

  • (i) whether the employees of the corporation or business who are represented by the bargaining agent constitute one or more units appropriate for collective bargaining, and

  • (ii) which trade union shall be the bargaining agent for the employees in each such unit;

• (d) where the Board makes the determinations under paragraph (c), the corporation or business, as employer, or the bargaining agent may, by notice, require the other to commence collective bargaining under this Act for the purpose of entering into a collective agreement; and

• (e) this Part, other than section 80, applies in respect of a notice given under paragraph (d).

Marginal note:Order

47.2 The Governor in Council may, by order, exclude from the operation of sections 47 and 47.1 any portion of the federal public administration that is deleted or severed as described in subsection 47(1) where the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister after consultation with the Treasury Board and the Minister responsible for that portion of the federal public administration, is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.

Successive Contracts for Services

Definition of previous contractor

• 47.3 (1) In this section, previous contractor means an employer who, under the terms of a contract or other arrangement that is no longer in force,

  • (a) provided services at an airport to another employer, or to a person acting on behalf of that other employer, in an industry referred to in paragraph (e) of the definition federal work, undertaking or business in section 2;

  • (b) provided prescribed services to another employer, or to a person acting on behalf of that other employer, in a prescribed industry; or

  • (c) provided prescribed services at a prescribed location to another employer, or to a person acting on behalf of that other employer, in a prescribed industry.

• Marginal note:Equal remuneration

  (2) An employer who succeeds a previous contractor as the provider of services, in accordance with a contract or other arrangement, must pay to the employees providing the services under that contract or arrangement remuneration not less than that which the employees of the previous contractor who provided the same or substantially similar services were entitled to receive under the terms of a collective agreement to which this Part applied.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Governor in Council may, on the Minister’s recommendation, make regulations prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under subsection (1).

DIVISION IVCollective Bargaining and Collective Agreements

Obligation to Bargain Collectively

Marginal note:Notice to bargain to enter into a collective agreement

48 Where the Board has certified a bargaining agent for a bargaining unit and no collective agreement binding on the employees in the bargaining unit is in force, the bargaining agent may, by notice, require the employer of those employees, or the employer may, by notice, require the bargaining agent to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of entering into a collective agreement.

Marginal note:Notice to bargain to renew or revise a collective agreement or enter a new collective agreement

• 49 (1) Either party to a collective agreement may, within the period of four months immediately preceding the date of expiration of the term of the collective agreement, or within the longer period that may be provided for in the collective agreement, by notice, require the other party to the collective agreement to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of renewing or revising the collective agreement or entering into a new collective agreement.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where a collective agreement provides that any provision of the collective agreement may be revised during the term of the collective agreement, a party entitled to do so by the collective agreement may, by notice, require the other party to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of revising the provision.

Marginal note:Duty to bargain and not to change terms and conditions

50 Where notice to bargain collectively has been given under this Part,

• (a) the bargaining agent and the employer, without delay, but in any case within twenty days after the notice was given unless the parties otherwise agree, shall

  • (i) meet and commence, or cause authorized representatives on their behalf to meet and commence, to bargain collectively in good faith, and

  • (ii) make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement; and

• (b) the employer shall not alter the rates of pay or any other term or condition of employment or any right or privilege of the employees in the bargaining unit, or any right or privilege of the bargaining agent, until the requirements of paragraphs 89(1)(a) to (d) have been met, unless the bargaining agent consents to the alteration of such a term or condition, or such a right or privilege.

Technological Change

Definition of technological change

• 51 (1) In this section and sections 52 to 55, technological change means

  • (a) the introduction by an employer into their work, undertaking or business of equipment or material of a different nature or kind than that previously utilized by the employer in the operation of the work, undertaking or business; and

  • (b) a change in the manner in which the employer carries on the work, undertaking or business that is directly related to the introduction of that equipment or material.

• Marginal note:Application of sections 52, 54 and 55

  (2) Sections 52, 54 and 55 do not apply, in respect of a technological change, to an employer and a bargaining agent who are bound by a collective agreement where

  • (a) the employer has given to the bargaining agent a notice in writing of the technological change that is substantially in accordance with subsection 52(2),

    • (i) prior to the day on which the employer and the bargaining agent entered into the collective agreement, if the notice requiring the parties to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of entering into that collective agreement was given pursuant to section 48, or

    • (ii) not later than the last day on which notice requiring the parties to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of entering into the collective agreement could have been given pursuant to subsection 49(1), if the notice was given under that subsection;

  • (b) the collective agreement contains provisions that specify procedures by which any matters that relate to terms and conditions or security of employment likely to be affected by a technological change may be negotiated and finally settled during the term of the agreement; or

  • (c) the collective agreement contains provisions that

    • (i) are intended to assist employees affected by any technological change to adjust to the effects of the technological change, and

    • (ii) specify that sections 52, 54 and 55 do not apply, during the term of the collective agreement, to the employer and the bargaining agent.

Marginal note:Notice of technological change

• 52 (1) An employer who is bound by a collective agreement and who proposes to effect a technological change that is likely to affect the terms and conditions or security of employment of a significant number of the employer’s employees to whom the collective agreement applies shall give notice of the technological change to the bargaining agent bound by the collective agreement at least one hundred and twenty days prior to the date on which the technological change is to be effected.

• Marginal note:Contents of notice

  (2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall be in writing and shall state

  • (a) the nature of the technological change;

  • (b) the date on which the employer proposes to effect the technological change;

  • (c) the approximate number and type of employees likely to be affected by the technological change;

  • (d) the effect that the technological change is likely to have on the terms and conditions or security of employment of the employees affected; and

  • (e) such other information as is required by the regulations made pursuant to subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Details of proposed change

  (3) An employer who has given notice under subsection (1) to a bargaining agent shall, on request from the bargaining agent, provide the bargaining agent with a statement in writing setting out

  • (a) a detailed description of the nature of the proposed technological change;

  • (b) the names of the employees who will initially be likely to be affected by the proposed technological change; and

  • (c) the rationale for the change.

• Marginal note:Regulations of Governor in Council

  (4) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Board, may make regulations

  • (a) specifying the number of employees or the method of determining the number of employees that shall, in respect of any federal work, undertaking or business, be deemed to be “significant” for the purposes of subsections (1) and 54(2); and

  • (b) requiring any information in addition to the information required by subsection (2) to be included in a notice of technological change.

Marginal note:Application for order respecting technological change

• 53 (1) Where a bargaining agent alleges that sections 52, 54 and 55 apply to an employer in respect of an alleged technological change and that the employer has failed to comply with section 52, the bargaining agent may, not later than thirty days after the bargaining agent became aware, or in the opinion of the Board ought to have become aware, of the failure of the employer to comply with section 52, apply to the Board for an order determining the matters so alleged.

• Marginal note:Order respecting technological change

  (2) On receipt of an application for an order determining the matters alleged under subsection (1) and after affording an opportunity for the parties to make representations, the Board may, by order,

  • (a) determine that sections 52, 54 and 55 do not apply to the employer in respect of the alleged technological change; or

  • (b) determine that sections 52, 54 and 55 apply to the employer in respect of the alleged technological change and that the employer has failed to comply with section 52 in respect of the technological change.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) The Board may, in any order made under paragraph (2)(b), or by order made after consultation with the parties pending the making of any order under subsection (2),

  • (a) direct the employer not to proceed with the technological change or alleged technological change for such period, not in excess of one hundred and twenty days, as the Board considers appropriate;

  • (b) require the reinstatement of any employee displaced by the employer as a result of the technological change; and

  • (c) where an employee is reinstated pursuant to paragraph (b), require the employer to reimburse the employee for any loss of pay suffered by the employee as a result of their displacement.

• Marginal note:Order deemed notice

  (4) An order of the Board made under paragraph (2)(b) in respect of an employer is deemed to be a notice of technological change given by the employer pursuant to section 52, and the Board shall concurrently, by order, grant leave to the bargaining agent to serve on the employer a notice to commence collective bargaining for the purpose referred to in subsection 54(1).

Marginal note:Application for order to serve notice to bargain

• 54 (1) Where a bargaining agent receives notice of a technological change pursuant to section 52, the bargaining agent may, in order to assist the employees affected by the change to adjust to the effects of the change, apply to the Board, within thirty days after the date on which it receives the notice, for an order granting leave to serve on the employer a notice to commence collective bargaining for the purpose of

  • (a) revising the existing provisions of the collective agreement by which they are bound that relate to terms and conditions or security of employment; or

  • (b) including new provisions in the collective agreement that relate to terms and conditions or security of employment.

• Marginal note:Order to serve notice to bargain

  (2) Where the Board has received from a bargaining agent an application for an order under subsection (1), and it is satisfied that the technological change in respect of which the bargaining agent has received notice given pursuant to section 52 is likely, substantially and adversely, to affect the terms and conditions or security of employment of a significant number of employees to whom the collective agreement between the bargaining agent and the employer applies, the Board may, by order, grant leave to the bargaining agent to serve on the employer a notice to commence collective bargaining for the purpose referred to in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Conditions precedent to technological change

55 Where a bargaining agent applies to the Board for an order under subsection 54(1), the employer in respect of whom the application is made shall not effect the technological change in respect of which the application is made until

• (a) the Board has made an order refusing to grant leave to the bargaining agent to serve on the employer a notice to commence collective bargaining; or

• (b) the Board has made an order granting leave to the bargaining agent to serve on the employer a notice to commence collective bargaining and

  • (i) an agreement has been reached as a result of collective bargaining, or

  • (ii) the requirements of paragraphs 89(1)(a) to (d) have been met.