TORONTO – The Ontario Public
Service Employees Union has filed a challenge under the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms hoping to resolve a
long-standing inequity affecting thousands of workers employed
directly by the Ontario government.
OPSEU is challenging
provisions under the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining
Act (CECBA) which make it illegal for workers to get a
binding decision on disputes over job classification. In 1995,
the Harris Tories changed CECBA, eliminating the ability to
resolve classification issues.
“Sections 51 and 52 of CECBA
prohibit access to an independent, final and binding resolution
for employees who have a dispute with how their job is
classified,” said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “For
the past 14 years, Ontario government workers have had no means
of addressing their constantly-changing job duties and
responsibilities. This has to change.”
More than 18 per cent of the
province’s 44,000 direct employees have disputes over their job
classifications. While the government acknowledges that the
classification system needs a major overhaul, there is no way to
get a resolution without a binding method to decide each case.
“The very foundation of law
provides that, at the end of the day, if two parties can’t agree
there is an independent person to make a final decision,” Thomas
said. “For well over a decade, our members have not had that
option. It is our position this violates the Charter, and we
will testify to that fact in Superior Court.”
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