2000 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 36th Parliament
FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE PAUL RAMSEY
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
CORPORATE RELATIONS

BILL 7 – 2000

PUBLIC EDUCATION SUPPORT STAFF 
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ASSISTANCE ACT

Contents

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Part 1 – Continuation of Support Staff Services

Definitions

1 In this Part:

"employee" means an employee of the employer within a bargaining unit for which a support staff union is certified;

"employer" means a board of school trustees of a school district designated in the Schedule;

"industrial inquiry commission" means the industrial inquiry commission referred to in section 4;

"support staff union" means a trade union that

(a) represents employees of the employer, other than teachers, and

(b) is designated in the Schedule.

Support staff services continued

2 (1) Despite the Labour Relations Code, immediately on the coming into force of this Act,

(a) an employer must not lock out or declare a lockout of any of its employees and must terminate any lockout,

(b) a support staff union and the employees represented by that union must not strike or declare a strike and must terminate any strike,

(c) every employee must resume his or her ordinary duties and work schedules of employment with the employer,

(d) any declaration, authorization or direction to go on strike given before or after the coming into force of this Act becomes invalid by reason of this Act,

(e) an officer or representative of a support staff union must not in any manner impede or prevent, or attempt to impede or prevent, any person to whom paragraphs (a) to (c) apply from complying with those paragraphs, and

(f) an employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer must not

(i) refuse to permit any person to whom paragraphs (a) to (c) apply to continue or resume the ordinary duties of his or her employment, or

(ii) discharge or in any other manner discipline such a person by reason of the person having been locked out or on strike before the coming into force of this Act.

(2) A collective agreement between an employer and a support staff union that was in force on March 1, 2000 is extended and is deemed to be in effect for the period from the coming into force of this Act until the employer and support staff union conclude a collective agreement or a renewed or revised collective agreement takes effect under this Part.

Other rights not affected

3 Nothing in this Part affects the right of an employer to suspend, transfer, lay off, discharge or discipline an employee in accordance with the collective agreement that is in force on the day on which this Act comes into force.

Appointment and duties of industrial inquiry commission

4 (1) The Minister of Labour must appoint an industrial inquiry commission under section 79 of the Labour Relations Code to

(a) assist employers and support staff unions to conclude collective agreements, and

(b) if necessary, determine collective agreements under section 5 of this Act.

(2) The industrial inquiry commission may utilize such persons as it considers appropriate to assist it to carry out the duties referred to in subsection (1).

Decision of industrial inquiry commission

5 (1) If after 60 days from the day on which an employer and a support staff union are designated in the Schedule the employer and support staff union have failed to conclude a collective agreement, the industrial inquiry commission must within 15 days make a written decision for settlement of a collective agreement between the employer and support staff union.

(2) The decision of the industrial inquiry commission must include provisions agreed to by the parties.

(3) The decision of the industrial inquiry commission must provide that the renewed or revised collective agreement takes effect from a date set out in the decision.

Decision binding

6 (1) The decision of the industrial inquiry commission is binding on the employer and support staff union and on the employees on whose behalf the support staff union is entitled to bargain except insofar as the parties agree to vary it.

(2) If it is shown to the satisfaction of the industrial inquiry commission that an error is apparent on the face of the decision, the industrial inquiry commission may, on application of a party to the dispute within 7 days after the effective date of that decision, amend the decision.

Execution of documents

7 (1) If the employer and support staff union fail to prepare and execute documents in the form of a renewed or revised collective agreement giving effect to the decision of the industrial inquiry commission within 7 days after the industrial inquiry commission's decision, the parties, or either of them, must promptly notify the industrial inquiry commission in writing, and the industrial inquiry commission must prepare documents in the form of a renewed or revised collective agreement giving effect to the decision of the industrial inquiry commission and any matters agreed to by the parties, and submit the documents to the parties for execution.

(2) If the parties or either of them fail to execute the documents prepared by the industrial inquiry commission within 7 days after the day of submission of the documents to them, the documents come into effect as though they had been executed by the parties and constitute renewed or revised collective agreements under the Labour Relations Code.

Regulations

8 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations to amend the Schedule

(a) to make corrections in the designations of employers and support staff unions,

(b) to designate additional employers and support staff unions, or

(c) to delete designations of employers and support staff unions.

Part 2 – Framework for Support Staff Collective Bargaining

Definitions

9 In this Part:

"commissioner" means the person appointed under section 10 as the commissioner;

"employers' association" means the employers' association established for school boards under section 6 of the Public Sector Employers Act;

"support staff collective bargaining" means collective bargaining by the employers' association, school boards and support staff unions;

"support staff union" means a trade union that represents employees of the employer, other than teachers.

Support staff collective bargaining

10 (1) The Minister of Labour may appoint a commissioner to do the following:

(a) inquire into the structures, practices and procedures for support staff collective bargaining;

(b) make recommendations, after taking into consideration the factors mentioned in subsection (2), with a view to improving those structures, practices and procedures;

(c) report the recommendations to the Minister of Labour within the time set by that minister.

(2) The commissioner may consider the following:

(a) the public interest in stable industrial relations in the public school system and in a bargaining environment that reduces the potential for disruptions in education;

(b) the need for effective structures, practices and procedures for support staff collective bargaining and the views of the employers' association, the school boards and support staff unions on how to achieve this;

(c) the role, responsibility and effectiveness of the employers' association in support staff collective bargaining, including any matter concerning the constitution, bylaws, rules, policies or procedures of the employers' association;

(d) the role, responsibility and effectiveness of support staff unions in support staff collective bargaining;

(e) the history and pattern of union representation of support staff employees of school boards;

(f) any other factor that the commissioner considers relevant or that the Minister of Labour may direct.

(3) The recommendations under subsection (1) may include, without limitation, recommendations respecting any or all of the following:

(a) the establishment of associations or other organizations consisting of all or some of the support staff unions and the functions of those associations or organizations, including the extent of their bargaining authority;

(b) the establishment of two-tiered bargaining structures and the designation of bargaining matters for the purposes of those structures;

(c) the establishment and content of articles of association for any association or other organization of support staff unions;

(d) the conferral of jurisdiction on the Labour Relations Board in relation to any matter arising from the commissioner's recommendations.

(4) The commissioner must make recommendations to the Minister of Labour respecting implementation of the recommendations made under subsection (1), including, but not limited to,

(a) any changes to the constitution, bylaws or rules of the employers' association necessary to implement the recommendations under subsection (1), and

(b) any limitations the commissioner considers necessary as to the period during which any change to the structures, practices and procedures for support staff collective bargaining should remain in effect or be reviewed.

(5) The commissioner may not recommend the expiry or extinguishment of a collective agreement before the expiry date set out in the collective agreement.

(6) For the purposes of an inquiry under this section, the commissioner has the protection, privileges and powers of a commissioner under sections 12, 15 and 16 of the Inquiry Act.

(7) The commissioner may be paid remuneration and expenses set by the Minister of Labour.

Regulations relating to support staff collective bargaining

11 (1) If the Minister of Labour accepts all of the recommendations made under section 10, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations to give effect to those recommendations.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) respecting the structure, role and responsibilities of the employers' association in support staff collective bargaining,

(b) establishing, or providing for the establishment of, one or more associations or other organizations of support staff unions for collective bargaining with the employers' association,

(c) defining for the purposes of any provision of the Labour Relations Code whether an association or other organization of support staff unions established in accordance with a regulation under this section is a trade union, a council of trade unions, a person or a party,

(d) defining the functions of an association or other organization of support staff unions established in accordance with a regulation under this section, including the extent of its bargaining authority despite the authority of a member support staff union under section 27 (1) (a) of the Labour Relations Code,

(e) establishing, or providing for the establishment of, the articles of association for any association or other organization of support staff unions,

(f) amending, with the approval of the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, the constitution, bylaws or rules of the employers' association to facilitate bargaining with one or more associations or other organizations of support staff unions,

(g) conferring jurisdiction on the Labour Relations Board in relation to any matter arising from the commissioner's recommendations and specifying the provisions of the Labour Relations Code that apply in relation to that matter, and

(h) governing any transitional difficulties encountered in giving effect to the recommendations made by the commissioner under section 10 of this Act.

(3) If the constitution, bylaws or rules of an employers' association are amended under subsection (2) (f) of this section, the amended provisions

(a) apply to the employers' association as if they were established and approved under section 7 of the Public Sector Employers Act, and

(b) subject to section 7 (4) of that Act, may be further amended, or may be repealed and replaced, by the employers' association.

Part 3 – Miscellaneous

Application of Labour Relations Code

12 (1) The Labour Relations Code and the regulations made under it apply in respect of a matter to which this Act or the regulations made under it apply, but if there is a conflict or an inconsistency between

(a) this Act or the regulations made under this Act, and

(b) the Labour Relations Code or the regulations made under it,

this Act or the regulations made under this Act, as the case may be, applies.

(2) The Labour Relations Board has exclusive jurisdiction to decide

(a) a question arising under this Act, including any question of a conflict or an inconsistency referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) unless otherwise provided in the regulations, a question arising under a regulation made under this Act.

Repeal

13 Part 1 and the Schedule are repealed on July 31, 2000 unless a later date is set by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, in which case Part 1 and the Schedule are repealed on that date.

Schedule

Explanatory Note

This Bill will terminate the current school support staff strike and provides for the following:

• a process for the settlement of disputes;
• the appointment of a commissioner to inquire into the structures, practices and procedures for public education support staff collective bargaining;
• regulations to give effect to the recommendation of the commissioner.

Copyright © 2000: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada