PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Unions must act fairly and honestly when dealing with employees' concerns about a breach of a collective agreement.
Unions have to fairly represent employees who bring a complaint to them concerning the collective agreement. If they do not the employee can take the case to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
When you have brought an issue to the attention of the union you may not get the result you had hoped for, but the union will have fulfilled their duty if they acted fairly and honestly. When the matter involves two union members, it may mean both parties receive representation from the union.
A duty of fair representation means that unions cannot act in an arbitrary or discriminatory way or in bad faith in considering whether to file a grievance or when they are representing an employee.
Arbitrary treatment can occur when a union decides whether to make a grievance without looking into the situation. The union must do a proper investigation before deciding whether to go ahead with a grievance. At the very least, the union must interview the person making the complaint and any other employees who are involved.
The union cannot act in bad faith. For example, if the union was not honest they could be found to have acted in bad faith. Other examples are if the union intends to harm the person making the complaint or is spiteful or hostile.
The union cannot discriminate against you based on something like your race, sex or whether they like you. They cannot act in a way that results in discrimination, even if they did not mean to discriminate.
The Regina Public Library and Saskatoon Public Library are hosting free Law Fair events during Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week to connect people with free legal information, assistance, and support. Attend to acquire legal knowledge and to broaden awareness of legal rights and responsibilities!