EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader’s aid to Bill 90 and does not form part of the law. Bill 90 has been enacted as Chapter 15 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2008.
The Bill repeals and replaces the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (the old Act). Collective bargaining is extended to part time and sessional employees of colleges of applied arts and technology established under the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002.
Bargaining units for full time employees as well as for part time and sessional employees are set out in Schedule 1 to the Bill. The units may be changed by regulation. See sections 25 to 28 of the Bill.
The provisions in Parts III, IV and V of the old Act dealing with fact finding, voluntary binding arbitration and final offer selection are omitted. Instead, the Bill provides for collective negotiation, conciliation and mediation processes that are similar to those set out in the Labour Relations Act, 1995: see Part II of the Bill.
Collective agreements are addressed in Part III of the Bill. Significant changes from the old Act include: the removal of fixed collective agreement expiry dates (section 8 of the Bill), a more comprehensive approach to grievance arbitration (section 14 of the Bill) and the setting of a period during which working conditions may not be altered except by agreement (section 15 of the Bill).
Part IV of the Bill, which deals with strikes and lock-outs, provides the conditions that must be met before there can be a legal strike or lock-out. These conditions include some conditions from the old Act and some conditions, with modifications, from the Labour Relations Act, 1995. Subsections 59 (2) and 63 (3) of the old Act provided for deemed strike and lock-out. This is not included in the Bill.
Provisions dealing with the representation of members of bargaining units, including certification and decertification of employee organizations as bargaining agents, are revised: see Part V of the Bill. As in the old Act, the College Compensation and Appointments Council established under the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002 has exclusive responsibility for collective negotiations under the Bill on behalf of colleges (section 24 of the Bill). Section 87 of the Bill, which comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation, amends that Act to establish the College Employer Council and to provide that the new Council takes on responsibility for collective negotiations on behalf of colleges. Subsection 83 (1) of the Bill, which also comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation, replaces the definition of “Council” in section 1 of the Bill to refer to the College Employer Council.
Part VI of the Bill expands on provisions in the old Act dealing with unfair labour practices, in a manner similar to the Labour Relations Act, 1995.
Part VII of the Bill provides mechanisms to enforce the Bill. These are similar to the enforcement mechanisms set out in the Labour Relations Act, 1995.
Section 81, in Part VIII of the Bill, provides regulation making authority similar to that provided in the Labour Relations Act, 1995.
Part IX of the Bill deals with transition. Subsections 82 (1) to (3) provide that the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is the bargaining agent for full time bargaining units and continues to represent those units unless its right to do so is terminated in accordance with the provisions in the Bill respecting termination of bargaining rights. Subsections 82 (4) to (7) address collective agreements entered into under the old Act and notice to bargain given under the old Act.
Section 84 of the Bill repeals the old Act, except Part VII, on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent. Part VII of the old Act, respecting the College Relations Commission, is repealed on a day to be named by proclamation. Functions of the Commission that remain relevant become functions of the Minister of Labour or of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, in a manner consistent with their respective roles under the Labour Relations Act, 1995.