The Labour Relations Amendment Act

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Second Session, Thirty-Eighth Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version. If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 37

THE LABOUR RELATIONS AMENDMENT ACT

Explanatory Note

(Assented to )

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

C.C.S.M. c. L10 amended

The Labour Relations Act is amended by this Act.

The following is added after subsection 87.1(3):

Determination within 21 days

87.1(3.1)

Except in the circumstance mentioned in subsection (4), the board shall make its determination under subsection (3) within 21 days after it has notified the parties of the application, even if an unfair labour practice complaint has been filed under subsection 30(1) alleging a failure to bargain in good faith under subsection 63(1).

3(1)

Subsection 87.3(1) is amended by replacing everything before clause (b) with the following:

Settlement

87.3(1)

If the board determines under subsection 87.1(3) that the party making an application under subsection 87.1(1) is bargaining in good faith but that a new collective agreement is unlikely to be concluded within 30 days if the parties continue to bargain,

(a) the employees shall immediately terminate any strike;

(a.1) the employer shall immediately terminate any lockout;

3(2)

The following is added after subsection 87.3(1):

New application

87.3(1.1)

If the board determines under subsection 87.1(3) that the applicant party is not bargaining in good faith, that party may at any time after the determination is made make a new application under subsection 87.1(1) for the board to settle the provisons of a collective agreement.

3(3)

Subsection 87.3(2) is replaced with the following:

Arbitration

87.3(2)

Within 10 days after a determination by the board that the applicant party is bargaining in good faith but that a new collective agreement is unlikely to be concluded through further bargaining, the employer and the bargaining agent may serve a notice on the board stating that they wish to have the collective agreement settled by arbitration. The notice must name a person who has agreed to act as arbitrator.

3(4)

Subsection 87.3(5) is amended by striking out "A collective agreement" and substituting "Subject to subsection (5.1), a collective agreement".

3(5)

The following is added after subsection 87.3(5):

Extension of term of agreement

87.3(5.1)

A collective agreement settled by an arbitrator or the board more than six months following the expiry date of the previous collective agreement shall remain in effect for six months following the date of settlement.

Coming into force

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

Explanatory Note

The Labour Relations Act now provides that if a strike or lockout has continued for at least 60 days, either party may apply to the Labour Board to have the collective agreement settled by the Board or, if the parties agree, by an arbitrator. This Bill makes the following changes to that process.

The Manitoba Labour Board must make its initial determination – as to whether there is good faith bargaining and whether an agreement is likely to be concluded through bargaining alone — within 21 days after the Board notifies the parties that it has received an application.

The party making the application must be bargaining in good faith in order for the Board to proceed to settle the collective agreement.

If the Board's initial determination is that the applicant is not bargaining in good faith, the applicant may re-apply at a later date.

If an agreement is settled more than six months after the last collective agreement expired, the new agreement is to remain in effect for a period of six months after it is settled.