Thank you, Chair.
This is an amendment proposed by CUPE in relation to dispute resolution. In their testimony to committee, they found that the dispute resolution mechanism in part 8 inexplicably and unfairly distinguishes between employees and bargaining units. Those are their words. They say that the provisions are of concern to CUPE because they appear to limit the ability of bargaining agents to pursue remedies on behalf of their members.
Without a rationale, the exclusion from the complaint process seems arbitrary and unnecessarily limits the duty of bargaining agents to exercise all the rights of their members on their behalf. The proposed legislation recognizes that employees who complain are vulnerable to reprisals by providing a complaint process for such situations, but at the same time, the existing rule limits the capacity of unions to exercise the rights of their members on their behalf.
Their recommendation is to amend these two proposed sections, 149 and 150. This is on page 6 of their submission. They were on the record.
Thank you.