Letters and bills may be returning to your mailbox, but the union representing Canada's postal workers says this fight is far from over.
The 15-member national executive board of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has decided to take the federal government to court over last week's back-to-work legislation.
Nearly 50,000 locked-out Canada Post workers were forced back to their jobs this week under settlement terms arranged by government.
Gerry Deveau, national director for the Ontario region of the CUPW, said Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms contains the right to belong to a union and Canada's labour code protects the right to collective bargaining. It's on those grounds, the union wants to file a legal challenge, he said.
"The government intervention here is stripping us of those rights," Deveau said.
Kevin Banks, a Law professor at Queen's University, said, "this is a new area of the law and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out."
He said the claim will likely be based on a 2007 Supreme Court decision about "B.C. Health Services."
In that decision, the court found the charter right to freedom of association protects collective bargaining. It also says the government must not "substantially interfere" with the ability of the parties to consult and engage with each other in order to settle their differences.
Banks, who specializes in labour law, said the 2007 ruling "creates a bit of space for collective bargaining" because the Supreme Court struck down legislation forcing health workers back to the job, saying it was unconstitutional. Parties were then given time to work out their own bargain.
The issue for the courts will be to determine if the government substantially interfered or not.
CUPW said the court challenge will target one of the main sticking points over the bill — the wage settlements. The government legislated a wage increase of 1.57 per cent, which is lower than the 1.9 per cent that Canada Post had put on the table earlier this month in negotiations with its workers.
"Clearly the government had its own ideas about what should be happening and has given effect to them through legislation — so that doesn't leave a lot of room for bargaining," said Banks.
Banks imagined the government will argue that CUPW had ample opportunity to bargain and the government was within its rights to step in to resolve the dispute that had reached an impasse.
The court will need to decide how much room the parties should have to resolve disputes themselves, even if it means a strike or a lockout.
"The law is not clear on that point. They would be charting new territory," said Banks.
Deveau said the union would consult with legal counsel Wednesday and for the rest of this week. He anticipated launching the challenge by next week but told Postmedia News the union has no plans to defy the back-to-work legislation by striking.
Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said Wednesday afternoon he hadn't heard anything about the possible court case.
"We're focused on delivering the mail and serving Canadians," he said.
Deveau said Canadians have welcomed posties back with open arms.
"One customer had balloons on his front lawn with a sign saying 'Welcome back Postie! We've missed you.' Another carrier went to a school where a whole class was outside applauding and cheering him on. It brought him to tears," said Deveau.
Canada Post locked out its employees on June 14, after the CUPW conducted 12 days of rotating strikes.
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt then introduced the back-to-work legislation.
Opposition MPs condemned the bill as a whole, saying it undermined workers' rights to collective bargaining.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/Union+claim+could+chart+territory+Canadian+Labour+Expert/5025277/story.html#ixzz1Qjs2skYG
