15 June 2012
Business, Society and Law Seminar
Business, Society and Law invites you to its seminar on “Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Windfall or Downfall?”
Event details
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Title: |
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining: Windfall or Downfall? |
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Person: |
Professor Sara Slinn, Osgoode Law School |
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Date: |
2012-08-15 |
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Time: |
5 pm - 6.30 pm (presentation to begin at 5.15 pm) |
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Location: |
The Emily McPherson Building 13, Level 4, Room 4 (Boardroom), 379 - 405 Russell Street (corner Russell and Victoria Streets Melbourne) |
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Registration: |
RSVP to Aastha Swaroop at aastha.swaroop@rmit.edu.au by Friday 10 August 2012. |
Abstract
The understanding of the constitutional protection of the freedom of association (FOA) and its application to collective worker representation is in the midst of a significant transformation in Canada. After decades of rejecting any constitutional protection for collective bargaining under the FOA, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has explicitly rejected that position, declaring that the constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms FOA guarantee includes limited protection for the process of collective bargaining. The SCC also, for the first time, relied on international labour standards to interpret labour rights. The contours of this new protection for collective worker action are now coming into focus through a series of court and tribunal decisions.
This study adopts a different, but also sceptical, perspective for assessing the likely trajectory of the changes wrought by the new application of the FOA to collective bargaining law. Many distinctive features of the Canadian labour relations system, its version of the United States’ “Wagner Model”, are implicated by the emerging interpretation of the Charter-protected FOA. The consequence is that these features may no longer be able to be enshrined in statute or policy, thereby raising serious question about how these constitutional developments may affect our existing model of collective worker representation. This study examines these key elements of the Canadian labour relations system and considers the possible effects, with the goal of offering some insight into the implications of centering labour law and policy on the principle of protection of collective bargaining as defined by the FOA.
The Charter’s Freedom of Association: Windfall or Downfall? (MS Powerpoint 655 Kb)
Speaker
Professor Sara Slinn, Osgoode Law School
Prof Slinn’s research and teaching interests include labour and employment law and focus on different approaches and impediments to collective employee representation, and the intersection of Charter rights and labour law. Reflecting her interdisciplinary graduate work, including a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, Professor Slinn’s research includes interdisciplinary and empirical methods of analysis.
Further details
Contact Aastha Swaroop at aastha.swaroop@rmit.edu.au for more information