Oh my goodness, my business life is about to change - significantly! I have been certified by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. They have authorized my applicant union to compel me to attend bargaining sessions to write my first collective agreement. I am in over my head.
Really, the situation is not so dire. Your business relationship with your newly unionized employees is not radically different. Yes, they can require you to attend negotiations. Yes, you must negotiate in good faith to try to make a collective agreement. But, you cannot be forced to agree. In fact, the written document will only be the items to which you choose to agree. Please remember, it takes two parties to make a deal. If a demand is unreasonable, you may reject it.
So, from that start, what is reasonable? Consider all the existing terms of employment. Nothing nee, nothing reduced, nothing added. This is a solid starting point. Write down what already exists. It is not onerous to record in writing whatever you are already doing.
The Labour Board grants recognition to the union for a specified bargaining unit. Setting out what the order says is helpful so everyone can know who is covered and who is not. Supervisors and Managers are nearly always out. Covered employees may include full time, part time, temporary, students and even casuals, if you employed them at certification. But, normally the Union can’t demand to represent anyone not employed at date of application.
The Union should have some representational rights so union people can speak on behalf of employees. That is their job to represent. They stand in the place of the individuals and by law, the employer must make agreements with the union. Deals with individuals are not appropriate. So these rules need to be written. Include that appointments must be arranged on reasonable notice. No employer needs to jump.
The Labour Relations Act stipulates that every dispute under a collective agreement must be finally resolved by arbitration. Therefore, every c/a must have an arbitration process. How one gets there through a grievance procedure should be outlined. Thisprocessmay include time lines so problems can be addressed promptly. Nothing should fester. Since going to arbitration can be expensive, the dispute resolution process should have enough steps to allow parties to examine the dispute thoroughly.
An arbitrator, by law, can be asked to apply and interpret all employment-related legislation. So a first agreement normally indicates the duty of the employer to follow and comply with the Human Rights Code, the Employment Standards Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. None of this would be surprising as all these laws
were already binding.
So what else makes sense? A clause setting out the wages. Same for hours of work and overtime. Add vacations and statutory holidays. Add something for leaves of absence of which there are so many in the ESA.
Maybe promotions need to be explained? Unions usually like to settle selection issues by applying seniority. How that would work needs to be explained. And, if lay offs may be an issue, you will need a procedure.
The Labour Act also requires that every collective agreement run at least 12 months. So every agreement needs a termination clause. With one of those naturally comes a renewal procedure.
And there you go ! No big deal. On its face, not a prospect to keep you up at night.
Unless, ….