Bill 58 (Legislature 9, Session 4)

L9 S4 7663

Alberta — Bills

Bill No. 58 of 1944. A BILL TO AMEND THE INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT. NOTE. This Bill amends The Industrial Conciliation and Arbit'f'a tion Act, ~hapter 280, R.S.A.,

Section 1 of the Bill amends

section 2 of the Act as follows; new

definitions; the first defines an expression already in the Act which was not defined. The other two expressions appear in the 'proposed amendments. The defini tion of "dispute" is amended by changing the words "a majority of any class or category of his employees" to "a majority of a ,unit or classification of his employees", the latter expression being thought more definite. The amend ment to paragraph (

e) limits the definition of "employee" to those employed otherwise than temporarily. The defini tion of "organization" is ,changed by omitting a reference to trade unions which are defined separately by the addition of paragraph (k).

Section 2 of the Bill strikes out

section 4 of the Act which reads as follows: "The right of employers and employees to organize for any lawful purpose is hereby recognized", and substitutes the following: "4. A collective bargaining agency and the acts thereof shall not be deemed to be unlawful by reason only that one or more of its objects are in restraint of trade." It was thought that

section 4 did not give employees any privilege not already existing, and accordingly the new

section 4 is introduced.

Section 3 of the Bill strikes out

section 5 of the Act, dealing with collective bargaining, and substitutes a new

section providing more complete machinery. It has been found in practice that no tribunal had been set up to deter mine, in cases of d~spute, whether any particular group of employees was an appropriate unit for collective bargain ing, and whether any particular trade union or association had been duly appointed a bargaining agent. These matters under the new

section 5, are to be referred to the Board of Industrial Relations for decision with an appeal to the Minister who will, in proper cases, refer them to a Board of Arbitration for final decision. Representation may be made in ea,ch case by the bargaining agent, any other body

ii claiming to be a bargaining agent and nominated as such at the meeting of employees, and employers or their repre sentatives. The new

section 5 also provides for the Board of Industrial Relations or the Minister directing the taking of a vote on other questions in dispute involving labour relations.

Section 5a of the Act, enacted in 1943, and

section 7 of the Act are amended by sections 4 and 5 of the Bill to make them accord with other amendments proposed by this Bill. Sub section (5) of the new

section 5a puts a time limit of thirty days on negotiations looking towards the completion of a collective agreement, after which time the Mi.nister may intervene in the matter if an agreement has not been reached.

Section 45 of the Act is repealed and a new

section sub stituted. The change made is in the introduction of the words "directly affected by the award", and the words "so directly affected", thus limiting the vote after an arbitration award to the employees affected, in cases where only a unit or classification of employees is a party to the dispute. The new

section 48a enacted by

section 7 of the Bill pro vides for deduction of union dues from an employee's wages when he gives a written order to that effect. The provision is the same as that in The Mines Act relating to unit dues. The new

section 54 authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to bring into effect in Alberta the Dominion Order in Council P.C. 1003 of The Wartime Labour Relations Reg ulations with respect to employments which are still under Provincial control, and authorizes the making of an agree ment with the Government of Canada for the administration by the Province of the said regulations. W. S. GRAY, Acting Legislative Counsel. (This note does not form any part of the Bill but is offered in explanation of its provisions.)

BILL No. 58 of 1944.

An Act to amend The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. (Assented to , 1944.) HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, being

chapter 280 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta, 1942, is hereby amended as to subsection (1) of

section 2,- (

a) by adding immediately after paragraph (

a) thereof the following new paragraph: "(aa) 'Bargain collectively' means to negotiate in good faith with a view to the conclusion of a collective labour agreement or an amendment or amendments to an existing agreement, and 'Collective bargaining' shall have a similar meaning;" ; (

b) by adding immediately after paragraph (

b) thereof the following new paragraphs: "( bb) 'Collective bargaining agency' or 'Bargain ing agent' means any trade union or any organ ization or association of employees which has bargaining collectively amongst its objects, and shall include elected representatives elected for the purpose of collective bargaining, but it shall not include any trade union or organiza": tion or association, the formation, administra tion, management or policy of which has been assisted or influenced in any way dire~tly or indirectly by the employer or by the employer's agent; " (bbb) 'Board of Industrial Relations" means the Board of Industrial Relations as constituted under The Hours of Work Act;"; (

c) by striking out the words "a majority of any class or category of his employees", where the same occur in paragraph (

d) thereof, and by substituting therefor the words "a majority of a unit or classifi cation of his employees"; (

d) by ·adding immediately after the word "employed", where the same occurs in paragraph (e), the words "otherwise than temporarily";

(e) (f) 2 by striking out paragraph (

j) thereof, and by sub stituting therefor the following: "(j) 'Organization' when use.d il} relation t? ~m ployees, means any organIzatIOn or assocIatIOn of employees formed for the purpose of regulat ing relations between employers and employ ees; and when used in relation to employers, means any organization or association of em ployers formed for the purpose of regulating the relations between employers and em ployees ;" ; by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: "(k) 'Trade union' means a national or interna tional employees' organization or a local branch chartered by, and in good standing with such an organization." 2. The said Act is further amended as to

section 4 by striking out the s'ame and by substituting therefor the following: "4. A collective bargaining agency and the acts thereof shall not be deemed to be unlawfuf by reason only that one or more of its objects are in restraint of trade." 3. The said Act is further amended as to

section 5 by striking out the same and by substituting therefor the following: "5.-

(1) It shall be lawful for employees to bargain collectively with their employers and to conduct such bar gaining through a bargaining agent duly appointed by a majority vote of the employees or by a majority vote of a specified unit or classification of the employees appropriate for collective bargaining. "

(2) The employees of an employer or any specified unit or classification of employees who claim to be appropriate for collective bargaining may appoint a bargaining agent at a meeting of the employees or of the unit or classification of employees held after due notice of the time and place of the meeting and its purpose has been given, and any vote· taken at the meeting shall be by secret ballot if more than one bargaining agent is nominated at the meeting. "

(3) Immediately after the holding of any meeting of employees held for the purpose of appointing a bargaining agent to carryon collective bargaining, the chairman of the meeting shall proceed to make and deliver to the Minister a statutory declaration setting out,- " (

a) the name of the employer; " (

b) the place at which the employees are employed; "(

c) the total number of employees or the total number of employees in the unit or classification of the em ployees, as the case may require;

3 "(

d) the numher of such employees attending the meet ing; " (

e) the names and addresses of the members of the nego tiating committee or of the officers of the trade union or organization, as the case may be; "(

I) the total number of votes cast in favour of the nego tiating committee, trade union or organization, as the case may be, appointed as bargaining agent whether a ballo.t is required or hot. ",( 4) No appointment of a bargaining agent shall be effec tive until the provisions of subse,ction (3) are complied with. "

(5) Upon receipt of the statutory declaration required by subsection (3), the Minister shall refer it to the Board of Industrial Relations for inquiry, and report upon the following matters: "(

a) whether the trade union, association, organization or elected representatives claiming to be the bar gaining agent of the employees or of the unit or classification of the employees is a proper bargain ing agent, and whether it has received the votes of the majority of the employees or of the unit or classification of employees, as the case may be; " (

b) whether, in the case of a unit or classification of employees, the unit or classi~cation is in all the circumstances appropriate for collective bargain ing; " (

c) whether the appointment of the bargaining agent has been made in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and in particular, whether the vote has been properly taken, and as to the number of employees attending the meeting, and as to the result of the vote; "(

d) any other questions of fact which may be material to enable the Board to determine the matters re ferred to it. "

(6) In considering the matters referred to it under sub section (5), the Board of Industrial Relations may receive written or oral representations from the bargaining agent claiming to have been appointed, and from any other bar gaining agent nominated at the meeting, and from the employer or employers, and any party interested may appear by counselor agent and shall complete its inquiries and report to the Minister within fourteen days after the matter has been referred to it. "

(7) On receipt of the report, the Minister shall forth with notify all parties interested as to the findings of the Board, which shaH, if no appeal is taken within the time limited hereunder, be conclusive and binding o.n all parties. "

(8) The bargaining agent claiming to have been appointed, any other bargaining agent who was entitled to make and has made representations in the matter to the said Board, or the employer or employers, may appeal to the Minister from any decision or finding of the Board

4 within ten days after the Minister has mailed or delivered the notice referred to in subsection (7) to the party propos ing to appeal. "

(9) In the event of .the Minister receiving a !lotice of appeal within the time limited, he shall forthwIth refer the matters with respect to which the appeal has been taken, to arbitration, and shaH notify in writing the representa tives of all parties to the dispute that he has so referred it. The arbitration shall be before a board of three arbitrators. "

(10) The provisions of

section 19-1039 (both inclusive), shall mutatis mutandis apply to the arbitration, and the words "representative of the employees" where used therein ,shall be deemed to apply to the bargaining agent of the employees claiming to have been appointed pursuant to the provisions of this section. "

(11) After making full inquiry, and within seven days after the Board is designated, it shaH report its findings to the Minister, and such findings shall be final, conclusive and binding on all parties interested. "( 12) On a hearing before the Industrial Relations Board or before an A"rbitration Board, the Board of Indus trial Relations or the Board of Arbitration, as the case may be, may, if not satisfied that the bargaining agent before referred to has been regularly and properly appointed, direct another vote to be taken under its supervision, and may give directions as to the manner of taking the vote and the procedure to be followed before and after the taking of the vote. "

(13) The Board of Industrial Relations on the request of the employer or on receipt of a petition signed by not less than fifty per centum of the employees affected, or on the direction of the Minister, may direct a vote to be taken under its supervision on any question involving the relations be tween the employer and his employees or any unit or classifi cation of the employees as to which there is a dispute or as to which it is desirable to have an expression of opinion by the employees. "

(14) The vote shall be by secret ballot, and the Board may give directions as to the procedure to be followed during, before and after the taking of the vote. "

(15) When a bargaining agent has been duly appointed in accordance with the provisions of this section, it shall continue as such agent for a period of not less than one year, unless changed by mutual agreement between the employer and employees." 4. The said Act is further amended as to

section 5a, (

a) by striking out subsection (1) thereof and by sub stituting therefor the following: "5a.-

(1) The bargaining agent representing the employees or the unit or classification of employees duly appointed in a,ccordance with the provisions

5 of

section 5, may serve upon the employer or em ployers a notice of a meeting to be held for the purpose of collective bargaining."; (

b) by adding immediately after subsection (4) thereof the following new subsections: "

(5) If negotiations for an agreement have con tinued for thirty days and either party to the negoti ations believes that an agreement will not be eompleted in a reasonable time, it may so advise the Minister indicating the difficulties encountered, and may ask the Minister to intervene with a view to the completion of an agreement. "

(6) Upon appli,cation made pursuant to subsec section (5), the Minister may, if he-is satisfied that the matter is a proper one for intervention, request the Board of Industrial Relations to intervene with a view to the completion of an agreement. "

(7) Upon receipt of such request, the Board of Industrial Relations shall forthwith in such manner as it thinks proper, endeavour to effect an agree ment, and shall within fourteen days of receiving the request, report to the Minister setting forth the result of the reference. "

(8) In case the report of the Board of Industrial Relations is to the effect that it has failed to effect an agreement, the Minister shall forthwith refer the matter to arbitration, and shall notify the repre sentatives of all parties to the dispute that he has so referred it. The arbitration shall be before -a board of three arbitrators, and the provisions of sections 19 to 39 (both inclusive), shall mutatis mutandis apply to the arbitration." 5. The said Act is further amended as to

section 7 by striking out the words "any class or category of employees", where the same occur in subse:ction (2) thereof, and by substituting therefor the words "any unit or classification of employees". 6. The said Act is further amended as to

section 45 by striking out the same and by substituting therefor the following: "45. The question of acceptance or rejection of the award shall be submitted to a separate vote by the employees directly affected by the award, and employers (if more than one employer is involved) respectively. The vote shall be held on such date as may be appointed by the Min ister and shall be by secret ballot, and both in the case of the employees so dire,ctly affected, and of the employers, the Minister may supervise the taking of the vote." 7. The said Act is further amended by adding in1medi ately after

section 48 the following new section:

6 "48a. Any employee may by order in writing signed by him, request his employer to apply any part of the moneys due to the employee to the payment of any amount payable by him to any other person for union dues, and the employer shall from the moneys so due, make the payments as requ~sted by the order, and such order shall be effective only for the amounts specified therein, and such order shall continue in force until revoked by the employee." 8. The said Act is further amended by adding immedi ately after

section 53 thereof the following new section: "54.-

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that on and after a date to be fixed in the order the provisions of his Act and their operation shall be suspended and inoperative to the extent and with respect to the employee or units or classifications of employees set out in the order so long as the order remains in force, and that in lieu thereof in so far as this Act is so suspended and inoperative, the provisions of the Wartime Labour Relations Regulations made by the Governor General in Council by P.C.

Order 1003~ dated the 17th day of February, 1944, and as amended from time to time, shall be in full force and effect in the Province with respect to employees whose relations with their employers are ordinarily within the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the Provincial Legis lature to regulate to the same extent as if the said Wartime Labour Relations Regulations had been enacted by the Leg islature of the Province. "

(2) The Minister may, with the approval of the Lie~ tenant Governor in Council enter into an agreement with the Government of Canada with respect to the administra tion of the Wartime Labour Relations Regulations in force in the Province at any time or with respect to the said regulations in so far as they are brought into force pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) and by such agreement provision may be made for the administration by the Pro VInce or by a provincial board or provincial officers of the regulations in whole or in part or of the regulations in so far as they have been brought into force as aforesaid, upon such terms and conditions as may be deemed proper." 9.

This Act shall come into force on the day upon which it is assented to.

No. 58. FOURTH SESSION NINTH LEGISLATURE 8 GEORGE VI 1944 BILL

An Act to amend The' Industrial Con ciliation and Arbitration Act. Received and read the First time ...................................... . Second time ..................................... . Third time .......... . HON. MR. MANNING. ED?lIONTOK: A. Shnitka, King's Print!-r l!JH Title: 1944 (9th, 4th) Bill 58,

An Act to amend The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L9 S4 7663
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L9 S4 7663
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	2b20d361319e7f79f3541a5b19fded4dd211da93

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