UNA asks court to declare Bill 9 of no force or effect on constitutional grounds

United Nurses of Alberta today filed a statement of claim with the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta seeking a declaration the Alberta Government’s Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act violates the freedom of association provision of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is therefore of no force or effect.

The Act, better known as Bill 9, is intended to delay collective bargaining and arbitration for tens of thousands of Alberta public employees, including most of UNA’s more than 30,000 members, until the end of October. It was passed by the Legislature on June 19 and was given Royal Assent, becoming law, on June 28.

The statement of claim notes that in UNA’s case, that Bill 9 overrides a wage reopener provision in the union’s current collective agreement with Alberta Health Services “which UNA and the Employers agreed to during collective bargaining.”

That wage-reopener provision, in the agreement’s final year, 2019, allowed resolution of an impasse through interest arbitration. In the event the parties went to arbitration, the agreement stated: “The arbitration hearing shall be held by no later June 30, 2019.”

The statement of claim says: “The freedom of association the Charter protects includes the freedom of employees to engage in collective bargaining, including good faith negotiations with an employer; and to enter into a binding collective agreement with an employer regarding terms and conditions of employment. Employees have a right to unite, to present demands to employers collectively, to access a dispute resolution mechanism, and to engage in meaningful discussions in an attempt to achieve workplace-related goals.”

It argues the violation of this freedom in Bill 9 “is not justified under section 1 of the Charter,” which states that rights and freedoms set out in the Charter are “subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

The action names 11 UNA members, including President Heather Smith as plaintiffs to the action brought on behalf of all affected UNA members.