Charter of Rights & Freedoms: Part II – Enforcing Rights in the Workplace

May 03, 2024 at
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM PST
Maritime Labour Centre 111 Victoria Drive Vancouver, BC V5L 4C4

IN Person at the Maritime Labour Centre

Charter II explores how the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is used to change laws that infringe the rights of workers and their unions.  In 2007, BC Health Care unions successfully argued that the Charter protects collective agreements from government interference and contract stripping. Unions have won challenges to law which limit the right to strike, prevent workers from unionizing and that have restricted collective bargaining. Charter II reviews the process of using the Charter in a court action, labour board hearing, or arbitration to challenge employer action to government laws. The purpose of this course is to enable unions to understand the significant challenges and implications of using the Charter, which may ultimately end at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Facilitator: Craig Bavis, Victory Square Law Office LLP
Craig Bavis represented the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour in the groundbreaking 2015 Supreme Court of Canada case which established the Charter protecting the right to strike.