Defending Employees' Rights Act (Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions), 2012 Hillier, Randy — Bill 78 (40th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 78, 40-1

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Bill 78, Defending Employees' Rights Act (Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions), 2012

Hillier, Randy

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[40] Bill 78 Original (PDF)

Bill 78 2012

Act to amend the Labour Relations Act, 1995 to protect the rights of employees

in collective bargaining and the financial interests of members of trade unions

Note:

This Act amends the Labour Relations Act, 1995 .

For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public

Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. The

Labour Relations Act, 1995 is amended by adding the

following

section after the heading "Contents of Collective Agreements":

Definition

44.1 In

sections 45 to 51,

"regular

union dues" means that part of the dues uniformly and regularly paid by a

member of a trade union in accordance with the constitution and by-laws of the

trade union that relates to,

(

a) bargaining

by the trade union for a collective agreement,

(

b) the

payment of any pension, superannuation, sickness insurance or other benefit

available only to members of the trade union,

(

c) the

exercise by the trade union of any power or duty under this Act, or

(

d) any

other matter prescribed by the regulations made under this Act,

but not any amount of the dues that relates to any other purpose, such

as donations to political parties, unless the employee has specifically

authorized the trade union in writing to include that amount in the part of the

dues described in this definition.

2. Subsection

45 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Recognition

provisions

(1) Every collective

agreement shall be deemed to provide that the trade union that is a party to

the agreement is recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent of,

(

a) the

employees in the bargaining unit defined in the agreement who are members of

the union, but not employees who are not members of the union, if the agreement

is entered into on or after the Defending Employees'

Rights Act (Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions),

2012 comes into force;

(

b) the

employees in the bargaining unit defined in the agreement if the agreement is

entered into before the Defending Employees' Rights Act

(Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions), 2012 comes

into force.

Section

47 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Deduction

and remittance of union dues

47. Except in the

construction industry, if a trade union that is the bargaining agent for

employees in a bargaining unit so requests, there shall be included in the collective

agreement between the trade union and the employer of the employees a provision

requiring the employer to deduct from the wages of each employee in the unit who

is affected by the collective agreement the amount of the regular union dues

and to remit the amount to the trade union forthwith.

4. (1) Subsection

51 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out the portion before clause (

a) and

substituting the following:

Permissive

provisions

(1) Despite anything in this

Act, the parties to a collective agreement may include in it provisions,

. . . .

(2) Clause 51 (1) (

a) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(

a) for

requiring employees in the bargaining unit who are affected by the agreement to

pay regular union dues to the trade union;

(3) Section 51 of the Act is amended by adding the

following subsection:

Void

provisions

(1.1) A provision of a collective agreement is void if it,

(

a) requires,

as a condition of employment, membership in the trade union that is a party to

or is bound by the agreement;

(

b) grants

a preference of employment to members of the trade union; or

(

c) requires

that an employee in the bargaining unit who is affected by the agreement pay or

arrange to pay to the trade union any dues, assessment or amount in excess of

regular union dues.

(4) Subsection 51 (2) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

discharge of non-member employee

(2) No trade union that is a party to a

collective agreement shall require the employer to discharge an employee

because,

(

a) the

employee has been expelled or suspended from membership in the trade union; or

(

b) membership

in the trade union has been denied to or withheld from the employee.

(5) Subsection 51 (4) of the Act is repealed.

Section

52 of the Act is repealed.

Section

56 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Binding

effect of collective agreements

56. A collective

agreement is, subject to and for the purposes of this Act, binding upon,

(

a) the

employer;

(

b) the

trade union that is a party to the agreement, whether or not the trade union is

certified;

(

c) the

employees in the bargaining unit defined in the agreement who are members of

the union, but not employees who are not members of the union, if the agreement

is entered into on or after the Defending Employees'

Rights Act (Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions),

2012 comes into force; and

(

d) the

employees in the bargaining unit defined in the agreement if the agreement is entered

into before the Defending Employees' Rights Act

(Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions), 2012 comes

into force.

7. Subsection

58 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "of the Board on the joint

application".

8. The

Act is amended by adding the following section:

Disclosure

of financial information

92.1

(1) Every

trade union that is party to a collective agreement shall, within 30 days after

the end of its fiscal year, file with the Minister a statement setting out,

(

a) the

total of all dues payable to it by employees in the bargaining unit to which

the collective agreement applies;

(

b) the

total of all expenses incurred by the trade union during the year;

(

c) a

breakdown of each expense that forms part of the total described in clause (

b) and that is for an amount equal to or greater than $5,000 showing,

(

i) the

name of the individual who incurred the expense,

(ii) the

total amount of the expense,

(iii) the

date that the expense was incurred,

(iv) a

description of the expense and the purpose of it, and

(

v) all

other information prescribed by the regulations made under this Act with

respect to the expense.

Publication

(2) The Minister shall publish the statement on the Ministry's

website on the Internet.

Copy

to members

(3) A trade union that is required to file a statement

under subsection (1) shall, upon the request of any member, furnish the member,

without charge, with a copy of the statement.

Section

125 of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(j.1) prescribing

matters for the purpose of clause (

d) of the definition of "regular union dues"

section 44.1 and amounts that are not to be included in that definition;

(j.2) prescribing

information for the purpose of subclause 92.1 (1) (c) (v);

Commencement

10. This

Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

11. The

short title of this Act is the Defending Employees' Rights

Act (Collective Bargaining and Financial Disclosure by Trade Unions), 2012 .

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill amends the Labour Relations Act, 1995 .

employee in a bargaining unit where there is a collective agreement between the

employer and a trade union is not required to be a member of the union. An

employee who is not a member of the trade union is not affected by the

collective agreement. The Bill repeals the present

section 52 of the Act which

allows an employee who objects to joining a trade union because of religious

conviction to have dues paid to a charitable organization instead of to the

union.

The

Bill limits regular union dues of a member of a trade union to dues that relate

to collective bargaining and no other purpose, unless the member specifically

authorizes the union to include amounts for such other purpose. A provision in

a collective agreement between an employer and a trade union is void if it

requires any employee in the bargaining unit affected by the agreement to pay

or arrange to pay to the union any amount in excess of the employee's regular

union dues. The trade union is prohibited from requesting the employer to

deduct from the wages of any employee who is a member of the union any amount

in excess of the employee's regular union dues.

The

parties to a collective agreement are allowed to terminate the agreement on consent.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board no longer has jurisdiction to terminate the

agreement early on the joint application of the parties.

The

Bill requires a trade union that is a party to a collective agreement to file a

yearly statement with the Minister setting out the dues that are payable to it

under the agreement and particulars of its expenses incurred during the year,

with a breakdown given of expenses of $5,000 or more. The Minister is required

to post the statement on the Ministry's website on the Internet and the trade

union is required to make a copy of the statement available to its members upon

request.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 1, 2012

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

May 1, 2012

Committee

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 78

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Labour Relations Act, 1995

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 78, 40-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s1 bill 78 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	50da2436608cf35f196520d8c3cfb5b405e57630

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