Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the West Coast Ports Operations Act, 1995.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  collective agreement

  convention collective

  collective agreement means the collective agreement between the employers and the union, which expired on December 31, 1992, and includes any related arrangements concerning contribution and benefit payments in respect of pensions; (convention collective)

  employee

  employé

  employee means a person who is employed by an employer and is bound by the collective agreement; (employé)

  employer

  employeur

  employer means an employer named in the schedule; (employeur)

  mediator-arbitrator

  médiateur-arbitre

  mediator-arbitrator means the mediator-arbitrator appointed pursuant to subsection 8(1); (médiateur-arbitre)

  Minister

  ministre

  Minister means the Minister of Labour; (ministre)

  union

  syndicat

  union means the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, Ship and Dock Foremen, Local 514. (syndicat)

• Marginal note:Words and expressions

  (2) Unless otherwise provided, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in Part I of the Canada Labour Code.

Supervision of Longshoring Operations

Marginal note:Operations

3 On the coming into force of this Act,

• (a) every employer shall continue or forthwith resume, as the case may be, the supervision of longshoring and related operations at ports on the west coast of Canada; and

• (b) every employee shall, when required to do so, continue or forthwith resume, as the case may be, the duties of that employee’s employment.

Obligations

Marginal note:Obligations of employers

4 Neither an employer nor any officer or representative of an employer shall

• (a) in any manner impede any employee from complying with paragraph 3(b); or

• (b) discharge or in any other manner discipline, or authorize or direct the discharge or discipline of, any employee by reason of that employee’s having been on strike before the coming into force of this Act.

Marginal note:Obligations of union

5 The union and each officer and representative of the union shall

• (a) forthwith on the coming into force of this Act, give notice to the employees that, by reason of that coming into force, the supervision of longshoring and related operations at ports on the west coast of Canada is to be continued or resumed, as the case may be, and that the employees, when required to do so, are to continue or forthwith resume, as the case may be, the duties of their employment;

• (b) take all reasonable steps to ensure that employees comply with paragraph 3(b);

• (c) refrain from any conduct that may encourage employees not to comply with paragraph 3(b); and

• (d) comply with any order or request made pursuant to the collective agreement for the dispatch of employees to supervise longshoring and related operations at ports on the west coast of Canada.

Extension of Collective Agreement

Marginal note:Extension of collective agreement

• 6 (1) The term of the collective agreement is extended to include the period beginning on January 1, 1993 and ending on the date fixed by the mediator-arbitrator.

• Marginal note:Collective agreement binding for extended term

  (2) The collective agreement, as amended by or pursuant to this Act, is effective and binding on the parties to the collective agreement for the period for which the collective agreement is extended by subsection (1) notwithstanding anything in Part I of the Canada Labour Code or in the collective agreement, and Part I of that Act applies in respect of the collective agreement, as so amended, as if that period were the term of the collective agreement.

Marginal note:Strikes and lockouts prohibited

7 During the term of the collective agreement, as extended by subsection 6(1),

• (a) no employer shall declare or cause a lockout against the union;

• (b) no officer or representative of the union shall declare or authorize a strike against an employer; and

• (c) no employee shall participate in a strike against an employer.

Mediator-Arbitrator

Marginal note:Appointment of mediator-arbitrator

• 8 (1) The Minister shall, after the coming into force of this Act, appoint a mediator-arbitrator and refer to the mediator-arbitrator all matters relating to the amendment or revision of the collective agreement that, at the time of the appointment, remain in dispute between the parties to the collective agreement.

• Marginal note:Duties

  (2) The mediator-arbitrator shall, within ninety days after the mediator-arbitrator’s appointment or such longer period as the Minister may allow,

  • (a) endeavour to mediate all the matters referred to in subsection (1) and to bring about agreement between the parties on those matters;

  • (b) if the mediator-arbitrator is unable to bring about agreement in respect of any such matter, hear the parties on the matter, arbitrate the matter after taking cognizance of the report of the conciliation commissioner released to the parties on February 10, 1995, and render a decision in respect thereof;

  • (c) fix a date for the termination of the collective agreement, which date may not be earlier than December 31, 1996; and

  • (d) report to the Minister on the resolution of all such matters.

• Marginal note:Powers

  (3) The mediator-arbitrator has, with such modifications as the circumstances require,

  • (a) for the purposes of the mediation referred to in paragraph (2)(a), all the powers of a conciliation commissioner under section 84 of the Canada Labour Code; and

  • (b) for the purposes of the arbitration referred to in paragraph (2)(b), all the powers and duties of an arbitrator under sections 60 and 61 of that Act.

• Marginal note:Form of decision

  (4) The decision of the mediator-arbitrator in respect of any matter arbitrated by the mediator-arbitrator shall be set out in such form as will enable the decision to be incorporated into the collective agreement in accordance with section 9.

Marginal note:Incorporation in collective agreement

9 When the mediator-arbitrator reports to the Minister pursuant to subsection 8(2), the collective agreement shall be deemed to be amended by the incorporation therein of any amendments agreed to by the parties to the collective agreement pursuant to the mediation and any decision of the mediator-arbitrator in respect of a matter arbitrated by the mediator-arbitrator, and the collective agreement, as so amended, constitutes a new collective agreement that shall be deemed to have effect on and after January 1, 1993.

Costs

Marginal note:Costs

• 10 (1) All costs incurred by Her Majesty in right of Canada relating to the appointment of the mediator-arbitrator and the exercise of the mediator-arbitrator’s duties under this Act are debts due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered as such in any court of competent jurisdiction as follows:

  • (a) one half from the employers, and

  • (b) one half from the union.

• Marginal note:Employers are jointly and severally liable

  (2) The employers are jointly and severally liable for payment of the amount that may be recovered from the employers under subsection (1).

Amendment of Collective Agreement

Marginal note:Parties may amend collective agreement

11 Nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to limit or restrict the rights of the parties to the collective agreement to agree to amend any provision of the collective agreement amended by or pursuant to this Act, other than a provision relating to the term of the collective agreement, and to give effect thereto.

Enforcement

Marginal note:Individuals

• 12 (1) An individual who contravenes any provision of this Act is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine

  • (a) of not more than $50,000, where the individual was acting in the capacity of an officer or representative of an employer or the union when the offence was committed; or

  • (b) of not more than $1,000, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Employer or union

  (2) Where an employer or the union contravenes any provision of this Act, it is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable, for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues, to a fine of not more than $100,000.

Marginal note:No imprisonment

13 Notwithstanding subsection 787(2) of the Criminal Code, a term of imprisonment may not be imposed in default of payment of a fine that is imposed under section 12.

Marginal note:Recovery of fines

14 Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 12 and the fine that is imposed is not paid when required, the prosecutor may, by filing the conviction, enter as a judgment the amount of the fine and costs, if any, in a superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the person in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the person in that court in civil proceedings.

Marginal note:Presumption

15 For the purposes of this Act, the employers and the union are deemed to be persons.

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Coming into force

16 This Act shall come into force on the expiration of the twelfth hour after the time at which it is assented to.