Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

2017

Publication Title

One Law for All? Weber v Ontario Hydro and Canadian Labour Law: Essays in Memory of Bernie Adell

First Page

229

Keywords

Adell, labour, Weber, unions, collective rights, individual rights

Last Page

254

Abstract

This essay attempts to put forward a research agenda for properly evaluating the changing nature of unions’ human rights representational obligations since Weber. I begin by investigating two legal questions: first, whether unions are held to a more stringent duty of fair representation (DFR) standard in regards to members’ discrimination grievances than prior to Weber and Parry Sound, and second, whether there has been a broadening of the concept of union discrimination under human rights codes, such that unions may be held liable for failing to bring forward discrimination grievances. With the legal picture in place, I then set out a series of empirical questions that need further research to properly assess whether, and to what extent, Weber and Parry Sound have altered unions’ human rights obligations in the administration of collective agreements, and more generally, their approaches to dealing with human rights issues in the workplace. The essay intentionally raises more questions than it answers, with the objective of provoking further research on important issues regarding labour law in action.

Comments

First published in One Law for All? Weber v Ontario Hydro and Canadian Labour Law: Essays in Memory of Bernie Adell (Toronto: Irwin Law Inc., 2017) and posted with permission.

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