(=_=)
2015-01-13 21:36:50 UTC
I'm betting they're going to win their case. And WE, as a citizenry, will be
better off for it.
Unions give employees an avenue to file grievances on major issues affecting
their lives or their workplace conditions.
Female police officers will no longer have their sexual assault or sexual
harassment complaints ignored.
Unsafe working conditions, biased and incompetent management, and improper
training will be addressed.
From the public's standpoint, incompetent police officers will be subject to
reviews under scrutiny of union representatives as well as supervisors - and
much less likely to be protected from discipline by just being shuffled off to
another town or city to cover up their actions.
Good luck to all of us with this Supreme Court decision.
_____________________________________________________________
Montreal Gazette /Postmedia News 01.12.2015
Mounties await Supreme Court decision on whether they can unionize
Mounties are eagerly anticipating a decision this Friday from Canada’s top
court over whether they can unionize.
Currently, RCMP members are not part of the labour relations regime established
for other federal public sector workers. Instead, they elect staff relations
representatives to advocate on their behalf on pay and workplace issues.
Critics say these in-house representatives are “part of the chain of command,”
and that RCMP regulations preventing Mounties from forming an independent
association to engage in collective bargaining is a violation of their Charter
rights.
One York University labour expert has gone so far as to suggest that the
current RCMP labour management model wouldn’t be out of place in China.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The RCMP is the only major police force in Canada without a union. In 2009, an
Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the ban on forming a union was a
violation of the Charter, but that decision was overturned by the Ontario Court
of Appeal in 2012.
In filings with the Supreme Court of Canada, the Mounted Police Association of
Ontario and the B.C. Mounted Police Professional Association — informal Mountie
associations that are not recognized by RCMP management — cited studies that
have made “damning observations” of the RCMP’s work conditions, including heavy
workloads, an ineffective promotion system and a failure to meet the needs of
injured members.
Total compensation for Mounties continues to fall outside the average of the
top three police forces, said Rob Creasser, a spokesman for the Mounted Police
Professional Association of Canada, the umbrella organization for the
provincial police associations.
Creasser said the current system of representation is more akin to “collective
begging” than collective bargaining because all staff relations representatives
can do is make recommendations to management and the Treasury Board about pay.
“It doesn’t allow them to be effective. They have no power,” he said.
A union would also have been more effective in acting on recommendations for
improved weapons and armor following the shooting deaths of four Mounties in
Mayerthorpe, Alta., Creasser said.
But in court filings, lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada said that
staff relations representatives have provided members a “meaningful” process
for resolving workplace issues since 1974 and that management is duty-bound to
consider their representations in good faith.
Even though their relationship with management is collaborative and
non-adversarial, staff relations representatives speak “frankly and critically”
on areas needing improvement, they argued.
They cited the Ontario appeal court ruling, which found that the existing
system passed constitutional scrutiny because it allowed members to form
voluntary associations; provided for extensive collaboration between staff
relations representatives and management; and allowed for the creation of a
Legal Fund, a voluntary not-for-profit corporation that provides legal aid and
protection to members and is funded by dues paid by members.
In an interview, Abe Townsend, a member of the national executive of the RCMP
staff relations representative program, said his team has been able to bring
about a number of positive changes, including improved accommodations for
members who provide relief duty in the Arctic, greater transparency in the
promotions process, and more options for training.
On the issue of pay, Townsend provided a copy of a briefing note that staff
relations representatives distributed to parliamentarians last month
highlighting how total compensation for RCMP constables, including benefits and
pension, was lagging behind compensation packages in Vancouver, Toronto,
Winnipeg and the Ontario Provincial Police. This sort of advocacy for members
occurs routinely, he said.
However, David Doorey, a professor of work law at York University, has a
decidedly different opinion of the RCMP’s labour relations model. Writing on
his blog after the Ontario appeal court ruling, Doorey compared the current
system to China’s model of “forced state unionization.”
“As long as the employer goes through the motion of meeting with the
state-created, non-independent association, nodding along to the suggestions it
makes, there will be no violation of (the Charter),” he said. “Can you see
why our model of freedom of association is beginning to look like the Chinese
model?”
better off for it.
Unions give employees an avenue to file grievances on major issues affecting
their lives or their workplace conditions.
Female police officers will no longer have their sexual assault or sexual
harassment complaints ignored.
Unsafe working conditions, biased and incompetent management, and improper
training will be addressed.
From the public's standpoint, incompetent police officers will be subject to
reviews under scrutiny of union representatives as well as supervisors - and
much less likely to be protected from discipline by just being shuffled off to
another town or city to cover up their actions.
Good luck to all of us with this Supreme Court decision.
_____________________________________________________________
Montreal Gazette /Postmedia News 01.12.2015
Mounties await Supreme Court decision on whether they can unionize
Mounties are eagerly anticipating a decision this Friday from Canada’s top
court over whether they can unionize.
Currently, RCMP members are not part of the labour relations regime established
for other federal public sector workers. Instead, they elect staff relations
representatives to advocate on their behalf on pay and workplace issues.
Critics say these in-house representatives are “part of the chain of command,”
and that RCMP regulations preventing Mounties from forming an independent
association to engage in collective bargaining is a violation of their Charter
rights.
One York University labour expert has gone so far as to suggest that the
current RCMP labour management model wouldn’t be out of place in China.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The RCMP is the only major police force in Canada without a union. In 2009, an
Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the ban on forming a union was a
violation of the Charter, but that decision was overturned by the Ontario Court
of Appeal in 2012.
In filings with the Supreme Court of Canada, the Mounted Police Association of
Ontario and the B.C. Mounted Police Professional Association — informal Mountie
associations that are not recognized by RCMP management — cited studies that
have made “damning observations” of the RCMP’s work conditions, including heavy
workloads, an ineffective promotion system and a failure to meet the needs of
injured members.
Total compensation for Mounties continues to fall outside the average of the
top three police forces, said Rob Creasser, a spokesman for the Mounted Police
Professional Association of Canada, the umbrella organization for the
provincial police associations.
Creasser said the current system of representation is more akin to “collective
begging” than collective bargaining because all staff relations representatives
can do is make recommendations to management and the Treasury Board about pay.
“It doesn’t allow them to be effective. They have no power,” he said.
A union would also have been more effective in acting on recommendations for
improved weapons and armor following the shooting deaths of four Mounties in
Mayerthorpe, Alta., Creasser said.
But in court filings, lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada said that
staff relations representatives have provided members a “meaningful” process
for resolving workplace issues since 1974 and that management is duty-bound to
consider their representations in good faith.
Even though their relationship with management is collaborative and
non-adversarial, staff relations representatives speak “frankly and critically”
on areas needing improvement, they argued.
They cited the Ontario appeal court ruling, which found that the existing
system passed constitutional scrutiny because it allowed members to form
voluntary associations; provided for extensive collaboration between staff
relations representatives and management; and allowed for the creation of a
Legal Fund, a voluntary not-for-profit corporation that provides legal aid and
protection to members and is funded by dues paid by members.
In an interview, Abe Townsend, a member of the national executive of the RCMP
staff relations representative program, said his team has been able to bring
about a number of positive changes, including improved accommodations for
members who provide relief duty in the Arctic, greater transparency in the
promotions process, and more options for training.
On the issue of pay, Townsend provided a copy of a briefing note that staff
relations representatives distributed to parliamentarians last month
highlighting how total compensation for RCMP constables, including benefits and
pension, was lagging behind compensation packages in Vancouver, Toronto,
Winnipeg and the Ontario Provincial Police. This sort of advocacy for members
occurs routinely, he said.
However, David Doorey, a professor of work law at York University, has a
decidedly different opinion of the RCMP’s labour relations model. Writing on
his blog after the Ontario appeal court ruling, Doorey compared the current
system to China’s model of “forced state unionization.”
“As long as the employer goes through the motion of meeting with the
state-created, non-independent association, nodding along to the suggestions it
makes, there will be no violation of (the Charter),” he said. “Can you see
why our model of freedom of association is beginning to look like the Chinese
model?”