On October 11, 2017, Morgan Rowe spoke to University of Ottawa students as part of the “Introduction to the Study of Law” class. She presented on issues related to the life of an employment contract, from formation to termination, as well as workers’ rights during employment. Morgan specifically addressed issues that arise when employment contracts conflict with the Employment Standards Act.
RavenLaw was proud to support the Annual Ottawa Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) Persons Day Breakfast, held on October 13, 2017. This year’s breakfast focused on the experiences of Indigenous and racialized women in Canada and the importance of their place in the feminist movement.
LEAF is a charitable non-profit organization that works to advance the equality rights of women and girls in Canada. The annual fundraising breakfast commemorates the Persons Case – the October 18, 1929 decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that ruled that women were to be considered persons under the law and should be eligible to sit in the Canadian Senate. Proceeds from the Persons Day breakfast contribute to LEAF’s litigation efforts and help to sustain equality education programs such as LEAF at Work, the Only Yes Means Yes Campaign, and the Reproductive Justice Campaign.
RavenLaw gratefully acknowledges the contribution of this post by articling student Marlee Olson
Even before Canada became a nation 150 years ago, workers in Canada were fighting for their rights. Although labour rights activists have had a lot to celebrate over the years, it has been a long and arduous journey. In honour of Labour Day as well as Canada’s 150th birthday this year, here are some of the highlights of the Canadian labour movement.
In the late 1700s, workers in Canada began congregating to demand fair wages in exchange for their labour. The government responded by putting laws into place making it a criminal offence to participate in trade unions. As a result, unions had no way to enforce contracts with employers to receive what they had been promised. The birth of the nation in 1867 was followed shortly after by the birth of the Canadian Labour Union, a political organization of unions that fought against the criminal sanctions imposed on trade unions. Despite this step forward, unions and employees still had no way to legally oppose employers, who would administer harsh discipline and demand 60-hour work weeks.
Several new laws in the early 1900s helped to ease the path to unionization in Canada, with union membership increasing at the start of WWI. After the war, the labour movement experienced several setbacks, including the violent crackdown on the famous Winnipeg General Strike. Although union membership decreased throughout the Great Depression, the period leading up to WWII saw unionism increase once again. The 1937 strike at General Motors in Oshawa is considered by many to be the birth of industrial unionism in Canada. After this, there was more pressure on the government to give legal protection to union members, but there were still no legal repercussions for employers who refused to cooperate.
Union membership doubled during WWII thanks to increased reliance on the work force. In 1944, the federal government implemented a wartime national labour relations law called PC 1003. This law finally placed obligations on both the employer and the union, and put into place many of the tenets of labour law that we still see today. Although repealed shortly after the end of the war, most provinces passed laws resembling PC 1003, including features like union recognition, the duty to bargain in good faith, and strict regulation of strikes. These rights were later extended to federal public service employees following the 1965 strike of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
Although PC 1003 was the first legislation to provide unions and workers with clear legal protection, it has certainly not been the only law to do so. Occupational health and safety legislation started coming to effect across the country in the 1970s. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, enacted in 1982, has entrenched the constitutional freedom of association. This right was interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007 to include the right of employees to associate to achieve workplace goals without employer interference. The Supreme Court further held in 2015 that the constitutional right to freedom of association also includes the right to strike.
The labour movement in Canada has seen many victories throughout the past two centuries—workers have gone from risking arrest simply for participating in a union to having a constitutionally recognized right to strike. Although labour activists have made great strides, there are still many more hurdles in the path. As we look back on the accomplishments throughout the years, we must also look forward to the challenges yet to come, as we continue to work towards fair and equitable working conditions for all.
[This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, which cannot be given without consideration of your individual circumstances.]
In a recent decision, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board allowed a complaint filed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, alleging that the government had interfered with the union’s administration and its representation of members during collective bargaining. The complaint was filed after Treasury Board refused to permit a union negotiator to conduct walkthroughs of various worksites, and hold on-site meetings with members to discuss bargaining issues.
PSAC had filed a similar complaint in the last round of collective bargaining, which was also allowed by the Board. The Board had found the employer’s refusal to grant the union access to the worksite to violate the Public Service Labour Relations Act, and the Board ordered the employer to cease denying access in the absence of a compelling and justifiable business purpose.
In the more recent complaint, PSAC complained again that the employer was denying access to the worksite without any business justification; instead, the employer was simply relying on its property rights, and the limited rights of the union to enter the employer’s premises in the Collective Agreement. The union argued that the employer’s position showed a blatant disregard for the final and binding decision in the previous case.
In its decision, dated September 14, 2016, the Board again found in favour of the union. The Board held that the union had a legitimate interest in the negotiator viewing the worksite, and that the employer had not presented any compelling or justifiable reasons to deny access. The Board therefore allowed the complaint, and ordered the employer to cease denying access in the absence of compelling and justifiable business reasons that such access might undermine its legitimate workplace interests.
This is a significant victory for unions in the federal public service, and provides important affirmation of the union’s interest in gaining a better understanding of working conditions on the ground and meeting with members during collective bargaining.
The union was represented in the complaint by Amanda Montague-Reinholdt of RavenLaw.
Ravenlaw is pleased to welcome Kim Patenaude and Wassim Garzouzi into the partnership, effective January 1, 2017. Both Kim and Wassim began their careers with Ravenlaw and have made significant contributions to the firm.
Kim is fluently bilingual and provides practical advice and representation to individual clients on issues such as wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, severance packages, employment contracts, non-compete clauses, long term disability benefit claims, WSIB/Workers’ compensation, discrimination, harassment, and accommodation. Kim has acted in matters before federal and provincial courts, boards, tribunals, and arbitrators on behalf of public and private sector unions, and employees.
Wassim maintains a robust bilingual practice dedicated exclusively to the representation of unions and their members in all areas of labour relations. Wassim specialises in arbitration proceedings and regularly appears before labour and arbitration boards across the country. He was elected by his peers to serve as Regional Vice-President for the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers and is a Part-Time Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches the advanced Labour Law course.
We thank Kim and Wassim for their important work in advancing union and worker rights, and congratulate them on becoming partners.
Please note our office will be closed from December 24, 2016 until January 2, 2017. We will reopen for regular business hours on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 at 8:30 am.
Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.
A group of former members of the Canadian Armed Forces, represented by Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP have launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of women and men who experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment in their service with the Canadian military. The lawsuit was initiated on Monday, November 28, 2016, when a Notice of Action was filed in Ontario Superior Court.
The plaintiffs, Amy Graham, Nadine Schultz-Nielsen, and Larry Beattie, are members of It’s Just 700, a Canada-wide online resource and peer support group for survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The group decided to bring a class action against the Canadian Armed Forces, in an effort to change a system that condones sexual misconduct and punishes victims instead of perpetrators. The claim alleges that the Armed Forces have systemically failed to prevent and protect against sexual assault and sexual harassment, including by discouraging victims from reporting, failing to investigate reported incidents, and retaliating against members who come forward.
The group filed the lawsuit on the same day that Statistics Canada revealed the results of its survey on sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces. The survey found that 1.7% of regular force and 2.6% of reserve force members had reported experiencing sexual assault in the past 12 months. More than one quarter of female members reported experiencing sexual assault at some point in their military career. Because the survey excluded any members who were on courses or had been released, and because of the continued stigma associated with reporting, there is good reason to believe the actual rates of sexual misconduct are much higher than found in the survey.
Watch for further updates on the class action lawsuit on the Raven Law website.
If you or a family member are a current or former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment in the military, you can contact our firm at armedforcesclassaction@ravenlaw.com.
For media inquiries, please contact Andrew Raven at 613-567-2902 or araven@ravenlaw.com.
notice-of-action-16-70743-cp-issued-november-28-2016
Several media outlets have reported on the class action lawsuit filed on Monday by members of It’s Just 700, a Canada-wide online resource and peer support group for survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The representative plaintiffs, Amy Graham, Nadine Schultz-Nielsen, and Larry Beattie, have given interviews about their experiences in the Canadian military and the reasons they have decided to come forward and pursue justice on behalf of victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces.
You can read more about the lawsuit here:
CBC News: Ex military members go to court alleging sexual assaults, misconduct
CTV News: Class-action lawsuit launched against military over alleged sexual misconduct
iHeart Radio: Military & Veterans Group Filing Class Action over Sex Assaults
L’actualité: Agressions sexuelles dans l’armée : la résistance s’organise
Radio-Canada: Agressions sexuelles : recours collectif contre l’armée canadienne
Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon: LISTEN: Military Veterans launching lawsuit against Feds after Sex Assaults while on duty
CTV News: Former Armed Forces member shares tale of alleged sexual assault
If you or a family member are a current or former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment in the military, you can contact our firm at armedforcesclassaction@ravenlaw.com.
For media inquiries, please contact Andrew Raven at 613-567-2902 or araven@ravenlaw.com.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Mary Mackinnon. Mary joined the firm in 2006 and became a partner in 2008. She was a tireless advocate for workers’ rights who was highly respected in the legal community. Her work on behalf of individual employees, human rights claimants and unions is a testament to her deep personal commitment to social justice and equality. Mary was a wonderful colleague and a generous mentor to new lawyers. We will all miss her tremendously.
Donations in Mary’s memory can be made to Kidney Cancer Canada: www.kidneycancercanada.ca
On March 22, 2017, RavenLaw sponsored Reach Canada’s Jamming for Justice event. The concert celebrated the opening of Reach’s new headquarters and was emceed by RavenLaw’s own David Yazbeck. Reach Canada is a legal referral organization for persons with disabilities and is dedicated to providing education and information on all matters pertaining to disabilities. RavenLaw was proud to support Reach’s event and to help raise funds for its important work.