Bill C-25

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Eligibility	168. No person may act as a member of the public interest commission in respect of a matter referred to conciliation if the person has, at any time during the six months before their date of appointment, acted in respect of any matter concerning employer-employee relations as counsel or agent of the employer or of any employee organization that has an interest in the matter referred to conciliation.
Notification of establishment	169. (1) The Chairperson must, without delay, notify the parties of the establishment of the public interest commission and of the name or names of its member or members, as the case may be.
Effect of notification	(2) The notification constitutes conclusive proof that the public interest commission has been established in accordance with this Part and, after it is given, no order may be made or process entered into, and no proceedings may be taken in any court, to question the establishment of the commission or to review, prohibit or restrain any of its proceedings.
Death, incapacity or resignation of single member	170. (1) In the event of the death, incapacity or resignation of the member of a public interest commission that consists of a single member before the commission makes a report to the Chairperson, the Chairperson must recommend to the Minister the appointment of another person from the list submitted under section 166 and the Minister must, without delay, appoint that person or another person on the list. That person must recommence the conciliation proceedings from the beginning.
Vacancy - commission with three members	(2) If a vacancy occurs in the membership of a public interest commission that consists of three members before the commission makes a report to the Chairperson, the vacancy must be filled by the Minister, on the recommendation of the Chairperson, by appointment in the manner provided for in section 167 for the selection of the person in respect of whom the vacancy arose.
Delivery of notice	171. After a public interest commission is established, the Chairperson must, without delay, deliver to it a copy of the notice given under subsection 161(1), if one was given.
	Powers and Functions
Assistance to parties	172. As soon as possible after being established, the public interest commission must endeavour to assist the parties to the dispute in entering into or revising a collective agreement.
Procedure	173. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Part, the public interest commission may determine its own procedure, including the date, time and place of its proceedings, but both parties must be given a full opportunity to present evidence and make representations.
Quorum and absence of members	(2) The chairperson of the public interest commission and one other member constitute a quorum in the case of a commission consisting of three members but, in the absence of a member at any proceedings of the commission, the other members may not proceed unless the absent member has been given reasonable notice of the proceedings.
Powers	174. (1) The public interest commission has all the powers of the Board set out in paragraphs 40(1)(a), (d), (e) and (h) to (j).
Delegation	(2) The public interest commission may authorize any person to exercise any of its powers set out in paragraphs 40(1)(d), (e), (i) and (j) and require that person to report to it on the exercise of those powers.
Factors to be considered	175. In the conduct of its proceedings and in making a report to the Chairperson, the public interest commission must take into account the following factors, in addition to any other factors that it considers relevant:
	(a) the necessity of attracting competent persons to, and retaining them in, the public service in order to meet the needs of Canadians;
	(b) the necessity of offering compensation and other terms and conditions of employment in the public service that are comparable to those of employees in similar occupations in the private and public sectors, including any geographic, industrial or other variations that the public interest commission considers relevant;
	(c) the need to maintain appropriate relationships with respect to compensation and other terms and conditions of employment as between different classification levels within an occupation and as between occupations in the public service;
	(d) the need to establish compensation and other terms and conditions of employment that are fair and reasonable in relation to the qualifications required, the work performed, the responsibility assumed and the nature of the services rendered; and
	(e) the state of the Canadian economy and the Government of Canada's fiscal circumstances.
	Report
Report to Chairperson	176. (1) The public interest commission must submit a report to the Chairperson as to its success or failure in assisting the parties to the dispute and as to its findings and recommendations within 30 days after it is established, or within any longer period that may be agreed on by the parties or determined by the Chairperson.
Report to be signed	(2) The report must be signed by the chairperson of the public interest commission, or by the single member, as the case may be.
Report not to require legislative implementatio n	177. (1) The report may not, directly or indirectly, recommend the alteration or elimination of any existing term or condition of employment, or the establishment of any new term or condition of employment, if
	(a) the alteration, elimination or establishment would require the enactment or amendment of any legislation by Parliament, except for the purpose of appropriating money required for implementation;
	(b) the term or condition is one that has been or may be established under the Public Service Employment Act, the Public Service Superannuation Act or the Government Employees Compensation Act;
	(c) the term or condition relates to standards, procedures or processes governing the appointment, appraisal, promotion, deployment, rejection on probation or lay-off of employees; or
	(d) in the case of a separate agency, the term or condition relates to termination of employment, other than termination of employment for a breach of discipline or misconduct.
Matters not negotiated	(2) The report of the public interest commission may not deal with a term or condition of employment that was not the subject of negotiation between the parties during the period before conciliation was requested.
Findings and recommendati ons of majority	178. (1) If the public interest commission consists of three members, the findings and recommendations of a majority of the members in respect of the matters in dispute are deemed to be those of the commission.
Findings and recommendati ons when majority cannot agree	(2) If a majority of members of the public interest commission cannot agree in respect of the commission's findings and recommendations, the findings and recommendations of the chairperson of the commission in respect of the matters in dispute are deemed to be those of the commission.
Reconsiderati on of matters contained in report	179. The Chairperson may direct the public interest commission to reconsider and clarify or amplify its report or any part of the report.
Copy of report to be sent to parties	180. The Chairperson must, as soon as possible after receiving the report or, if the Chairperson makes a direction under section 179, as soon as possible after receiving the reconsidered report, send a copy to the parties and cause the report, or the reconsidered report, as the case may be, to be published in any manner that he or she considers appropriate.
Agreement to be bound	181. If, before the public interest commission submits its report to the Chairperson, the parties agree in writing that one or more recommendations to be made by the public interest commission in the report are to be binding on them, each such recommendation, once made, is binding on them and must be given effect.
	Alternate Dispute Resolution Process
Alternate dispute resolution process	182. (1) Despite any other provision of this Part, the employer and a bargaining agent for a bargaining unit may, at any time in the negotiation of a collective agreement, agree to refer any term or condition of employment of employees in the bargaining unit that may be included in a collective agreement to any eligible person for final and binding determination by whatever process the employer and the bargaining agent agree to.
Alternate process applicable only to terms referred to it	(2) If a term or condition is referred to a person for final and binding determination, the process for resolution of a dispute concerning any other term or condition continues to be conciliation.
Agreement not unilaterally changeable	(3) Unless both parties agree, the referral of a term or condition to a person for final and binding determination remains in force until the determination is made.
Form of determination	(4) The form of the final and binding determination must, wherever possible, permit the determination to be
	(a) read and interpreted with, or annexed to and published with, a collective agreement dealing with other terms and conditions of employment of the employees in the bargaining unit in respect of which the determination applies; and
	(b) incorporated into and implemented by any instrument that may be required to be made by the employer or the relevant bargaining agent in respect of the determination.
Binding effect	(5) The determination is binding on the employer, the bargaining agent and the employees in the bargaining unit and is deemed to be incorporated into any collective agreement binding on the employees in the bargaining unit in respect of which the determination applies or, if there is no such agreement, is deemed to be such an agreement.
Eligibility	(6) A person is not eligible to be appointed as a person who makes a final and binding determination under this section if the person has, at any time during the six months before their date of appointment, acted in respect of any matter concerning employer-employee relations as solicitor, counsel or agent of the employer or of any employee organization that has an interest in the term or condition referred for final and binding determination.
	Vote on Employer's Offer
Minister may order vote to be held	183. (1) If the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest that the employees in a bargaining unit be given the opportunity to accept or reject the offer of the employer last received by the bargaining agent in respect of all matters remaining in dispute between the parties, the Minister may
	(a) on any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate, direct that a vote to accept or reject the offer be held by secret ballot as soon as possible among all of the employees in the bargaining unit; and
	(b) designate the Board, or any other person or body, to be in charge of conducting that vote.
Vote does not delay right	(2) The direction that a vote be held, or the holding of that vote, does not prevent the declaration or authorization of a strike if the employee organization that is certified as the bargaining agent is not otherwise prohibited from making the declaration or authorization, nor does it prevent the participation in a strike by an employee if the employee is not otherwise prohibited from participating in the strike.
Consequences of favourable vote	(3) If a majority of the employees participating in the vote accept the employer's last offer,
	(a) the parties are bound by that offer and must, without delay, enter into a collective agreement that incorporates the terms of that offer; and
	(b) any strike that is in progress when the Board or other person or body in charge of conducting the vote notifies the parties in writing of the employees' acceptance must cease immediately, and the employees must return to work as soon as the employer determines that it is practicable for them to do so.
Powers respecting vote	(4) The Board or other person or body in charge of conducting the vote must determine any question that arises under this section, including any question relating to the conduct of the vote or the determination of its result.
	DIVISION 11
	STRIKE VOTES
Secret ballot vote	184. (1) In order to obtain approval to declare or authorize a strike, an employee organization must hold a vote by secret ballot among all of the employees in the bargaining unit conducted in a manner that ensures that the employees are given a reasonable opportunity to participate in the vote and be informed of the results.
Application to have vote declared invalid	(2) An employee who is a member of a bargaining unit for which a vote referred to in subsection (1) was held and who alleges that there were irregularities in the conduct of the vote may, no later than 10 days after the day the results of the vote are announced, make an application to the Board to have the vote declared invalid.
Dismissal of application	(3) The Board may summarily dismiss the application if it is satisfied that, even if the alleged irregularities did occur, the outcome of the vote would not have been different.
New vote	(4) If the Board declares the vote invalid, it may order that a new vote be held in accordance with the conditions it specifies in the order.
	DIVISION 12
	UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES
Meaning of ``unfair labour practice''	185. In this Division, ``unfair labour practice'' means anything that is prohibited by subsection 186(1) or (2), section 187 or 188 or subsection 189(1).
Unfair labour practices - employer	186. (1) Neither the employer nor a person who occupies a managerial or confidential position, whether or not the person is acting on behalf of the employer, shall
	(a) participate in or interfere with the formation or administration of an employee organization or the representation of employees by an employee organization; or
	(b) discriminate against an employee organization.
Unfair labour practices - employer	(2) Neither the employer nor a person acting on behalf of the employer, nor a person who occupies a managerial or confidential position, whether or not that person is acting on behalf of the employer, shall
	(a) refuse to employ or to continue to employ, or suspend, lay off or otherwise discriminate against any person with respect to employment, pay or any other term or condition of employment, or intimidate, threaten or otherwise discipline any person, because the person
	(i) is or proposes to become, or seeks to induce any other person to become, a member, officer or representative of an employee organization, or participates in the promotion, formation or administration of an employee organization,
	(ii) has testified or otherwise participated, or may testify or otherwise participate, in a proceeding under this Part or Part 2,
	(iii) has made an application or filed a complaint under this Part or presented a grievance under Part 2, or
	(iv) has exercised any right under this Part or Part 2;
	(b) impose, or propose the imposition of, any condition on an appointment, or in an employee's terms and conditions of employment, that seeks to restrain an employee or a person seeking employment from becoming a member of an employee organization or exercising any right under this Part or Part 2; or
	(c) seek, by intimidation, threat of dismissal or any other kind of threat, by the imposition of a financial or other penalty or by any other means, to compel a person to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member, officer or representative of an employee organization or to refrain from
	(i) testifying or otherwise participating in a proceeding under this Part or Part 2,
	(ii) making a disclosure that the person may be required to make in a proceeding under this Part or Part 2, or
	(iii) making an application or filing a complaint under this Part or presenting a grievance under Part 2.
Exception	(3) The employer or a person does not commit an unfair labour practice under paragraph (1)(a) by reason only of
	(a) permitting an employee or a representative of an employee organization that is a bargaining agent to confer with the employer or person, as the case may be, during hours of work or to attend to the business of the employee organization during hours of work without any deduction from wages or any deduction of time worked for the employer; or
	(b) permitting an employee organization that is a bargaining agent to use the employer's premises for the purposes of the employee organization.
Exception	(4) The employer or a person does not commit an unfair labour practice under paragraph (1)(b)
	(a) if the employer or person is acting in accordance with this Part or a regulation, a collective agreement or an arbitral award; or
	(b) by reason only of receiving representations from, or holding discussions with, representatives of an employee organization.
Exception	(5) The employer or a person does not commit an unfair labour practice under paragraph (1)(a) or (b) by reason only that the employer or person expresses their point of view, so long as they do not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises or undue influence.
Exception	(6) The employer or a person does not commit an unfair labour practice under any of paragraphs (1)(a) or (b) or (2)(a) to (c) by reason only of any act or thing done or omitted in relation to a person who occupies, or is proposed to occupy, a managerial or confidential position.

Bill C-25

DIVISION 11

STRIKE VOTES

DIVISION 12

UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES