''Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v Saskatchewan''
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1 SCR 245is a Canadian labour law">015
1 SCR 245is a Canadian labour law case on the right to strike.
Facts
The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and a group of other unions claimed that two new provincial statutes violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by suppressing the freedom to take
collective action and
collective bargaining
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 ...
. The government of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
introduced Public Service Essential Services Act 2008 which would have unilaterally designated public sector workers' services as "essential" and therefore prohibited strike action. The new Trade Union Amendment Act 2008 increased the level of employee support to unionize, so making it more difficult to organize a union.
Judgment
The Canadian Supreme Court held that the Public Service Essential Services Act 2008 was an unwarranted interference with the right to strike and the right to collective bargaining, as previously elaborated in ''
Health Services and Support – Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v British Columbia'' and ''
Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada (Attorney General)''.
[2015 SCC 1] It was unconstitutional and violated the
Canadian Charter section 2(d) because it left a determination of what was essential up to the employer. The Trade Union Amendment Act 2008 was lawful, even though it made union organizing more difficult.
Abella J gave the leading judgment, saying the following.
McLachlin CJ,
LeBel J,
Cromwell J and
Karakatsanis J concurred.
Rothstein J and
Wagner J dissented in part.
See also
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Canadian labour law
Canadian labour law is that body of law which regulates the rights, restrictions, and obligations of trade unions, workers, and employers in Canada.
Regulatory framework
The federal, provincial, and territorial governments all regulate labour and ...
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US labor law
United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the United States. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "org ...
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UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...
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European labour law
European labour law regulates basic transnational standards of employment and partnership at work in the European Union and countries adhering to the European Convention on Human Rights. In setting regulatory floors to competition for job-creatin ...
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
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Labour disputes in Canada
Canadian trade union case law
Saskatchewan law
Section Two Charter case law
Supreme Court of Canada cases
2015 in Canadian case law