Reference+re+Public+Service+Employee+Relations+Act

Case:, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 313 || · Several public sector unions challenged a bundle of Alberta statutes that placed restrictions on collective bargaining by provincial government employees o Unions: § Firefighters § Police § Hospital Workers by  o  Restrictions: § Prohibiting strikes § Imposing compulsory arbitration · Alberta referred to the Alberta Court of Appeal several constitutional questions [1] Does the Alberta legislation violate the guarantee of freedom of association in s. 2(d) of the Charter and **NO** [2] If so, is such violation can be justified under s. 1? **Not answered** Le Dain (+ Beetz and La Forest JJ) (majority): · The constitutional guarantee of freedom of association in s. 2(d) of the //Charter// **does not include**, in the case of a trade union, a **guarantee of the right to bargain collectively and the right to strike** · Concept needs to be applied over a wide range of associations (political, religious, social, economic) o It is in this larger perspective that one must consider the implications of extending a constitutional guarantee to the right to engage in particular activity on the ground that the activity is essential to give an association meaningful existence. · At issue here, is __whether an activity of an association in pursuit of its objects is to be constitutionally protected__ or left to be regulated by legislative policy § Bargain collectively § To strike o There rights are **__not fundamental rights or freedoms__**. §<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> They are the creation of legislation, involving a balance of competing interests in a field which has been recognized by the courts as requiring a specialized expertise. McIntyre J: ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  Freedom of association [s. 2(d) of the Charter] does not give constitutional protection to the right of a trade union to strike as an incident to collective bargaining. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Freedom of association under the Charter means 1) The freedom to engage collectively in those activities which are constitutionally protected for each individual 2) The freedom to associate for the purposes of activities which are lawful when performed alone. 3) Des not vest independent rights in the group ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  **People cannot, by merely combining together, create an entity which has greater constitutional rights and freedoms than they, as individuals, possess.**  ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  The group can exercise only the constitutional rights of its members on behalf of those members.   ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  It follows as well that the rights of the individual members of the group cannot be enlarged merely by the fact of association. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Therefore, __the association does not acquire a constitutionally guaranteed freedom to do what is unlawful for the individual__. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> This definition fully realizes the purpose of freedom of association which is to ensure that various goals may be pursued in common as well as individually. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> __Since the right to strike is not independently protected under the Charter, it can receive protection under freedom of association only if it is an activity which is permitted by law to an individual.__ §<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Even though strikes are commonplace in Canada and have been for many years, the framers of the Constitution did not include a specific reference to the right to strike in the Charter. §<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> This omission, taken with the fact that the overwhelming preoccupation of the Charter is with individual, political, and democratic rights with conspicuous inattention to economic and property rights, speaks strongly against any implication of a right to strike. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Finally, it must be recognized that the right to strike accorded by legislation throughout Canada is of **relatively recent** vintage. It **cannot be said that at this time it has achieved status as a fundamental right** which should be implied in the absence of specific reference in the Charter. Dickson & Wilson (dissenting): ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The purpose of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of association in s. 2(d) of the Charter **is to recognize the profoundly social nature of human endeavours and to protect the individual from state-enforced isolation in the pursuit of his or her ends.** ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Section s. 2(d) must extend to give effective protection to the **__interests__** to which the constitutional guarantee is directed and **__must protect the pursuit of the activities for which the association was formed__**. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The overarching consideration remains whether a legislative enactment or administrative action interferes with the freedom of persons to join and act with others in common pursuits. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> **In the context of labour relations, s. 2(d) includes not only the freedom to form and join associations but also the freedom to bargain collectively and to strike**. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Freedom of association is the cornerstone of modern labour relations. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Throughout history, workers have associated to __overcome their vulnerability__ as individuals to the strength of their employers, and the capacity to bargain collectively has long been recognized as one of the integral and primary functions of associations of working people. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> It remains vital to the capacity of individual employees to participate in ensuring equitable and humane working conditions. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Under our existing system of industrial relations, the effective constitutional protection of the associational interests of employees in the collective bargaining process __also requires concomitant protection of their freedom to withdraw collectively their services, subject to s. 1 of the Charter__. Indeed, the right of workers to strike is an essential element in the principle of collective bargaining. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> This is not to say that s. 2(d) of the Charter entrenches for all time the existing system of labour relations. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The area of industrial relations is subject to significant legislative regulation. o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The point is that this regulation cannot define the scope of the underlying freedom. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> In the present case, the three statutes prohibited strikes and defined a strike as a cessation of work or refusal to work by two or more persons acting in combination or in concert or in accordance with a common understanding. __There is no doubt that the Alberta legislation was aimed at foreclosing a particular collective activity because of its associational nature.__ The very nature of a strike is to influence an employer by joint action which would be ineffective if it were carried out by an individual. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> No justification under s.1. Protection of essential services is a valid objective and there is rational connection, but prohibition of the right to strike of all hospital workers and public service employees was too drastic a measure for achieving the object of protecting essential services (i.e. no minimal impairment). Without evidence, it is not self-evident that interruption of these services would endanger the lives and safety of the population. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> Furthermore, the arbitration system provided by the Acts was not an adequate replacement for the employees' freedom to strike. Serious doubt is cast upon the fairness and effectiveness of an arbitration scheme where matters which would normally be bargainable are excluded from arbitration. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> "If freedom of association only protects the joining together of persons for common purposes, but not the pursuit of the very activities for which the association was formed, then the freedom is indeed legalistic, ungenerous, indeed vapid.” ||
 * Facts:**
 * Facts:**
 * Judicial History Issues & Holding:**
 * 1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> **Are the provisions of the //Public Service Employee Relations Act//, the //Labour Relations Act// and the //Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act// of Alberta, which prohibit strikes and impose compulsory arbitration to resolve impasses in collective bargaining inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms **NO**
 * 2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> **Are the provisions of the Acts relating to the conduct of the arbitration and which limit the arbitrability of certain items and require the arbitration board to consider certain factors in making the arbitration award were inconsistent with the Charter. The first Act applied to public service employees, the second to firefighters and hospital employees and the third to police officers. **Was not answered.**
 * Issues & Holding:**
 * Reasoning:**