Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm pleased to briefly outline the role of the employer of the core public administration with respect to Bill C-62, an act to amend the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act and other acts. The core public administration comprises the departments and organizations named in schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act.
To begin, I would like to stress that the government is committed to restoring the fair and balanced labour laws that recognize the important role of bargaining agents in protecting the rights of employees. Bill C-62 would achieve this by returning the labour relations regime, and the roles and responsibilities of the employer, to what it was before legislative changes were introduced in 2013.
With Bill C-62, we are returning to the pre-2013 collective bargaining system, and the employer's role in it. In the event that bargaining comes to an impasse, bargaining agents would be given the power to determine which dispute resolution process they wish to use, conciliation/strike or arbitration.
The dispute resolution method would not be predetermined by imposition of the legislated provisions of the act. Nothing in Bill C-62 changes the role of the employer from what it was before 2013.
Another way the legislation would create a more balanced system relates to how public interest commissions and arbitration boards must weigh factors when making awards or recommendations. Under the current system, they must give greater consideration or more weight to recruitment and retention as well as to Canada's fiscal circumstances.
Under Bill C-62 these two factors would be among other factors a third party decision-maker must consider. It will be up to the decision-maker to determine how much weight would be given to each factor. However, the employer would retain the right to make arguments on the state of the Canadian economy as well as on the need to attract and retain competent persons to the public service to meet the needs of Canadians.
These are among the criteria that can be argued before a public interest commission or arbitration board, the only change being that those on the commission or board have the flexibility to weigh the factors as they see fit.
In the area of essential services, the key principle is ensuring the safety and security of the public. Under the current system, which Bill C-62 seeks to change, the employer has the exclusive authority to designate essential services.
Bill C-62 would allow bargaining agents to represent the interests of employees in negotiating essential services. The employer would no longer have the exclusive right to determine which services are essential and to designate the positions necessary to deliver these services
Rather, the employer would work with the bargaining agents to identify essential service positions, and would enter into essential services agreements with them. These agreements identify, first, the types and numbers of positions in the bargaining unit needed for the employer to provide essential services and, second, the specific positions necessary for that purpose.
In the new system, the role of the Treasury Board Secretariat would be, first of all, to provide guidance and advice to departmental officials; second, to review, at the department's request, any positions in dispute; third, to negotiate essential services agreements at the national level; fourth, to apply to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board for unresolved matters and to provide representation; and finally, to maintain a central database of all positions identified as providing an essential service.
Mr. Chair, these are just a few examples of how Bill C-62 will restore the system to the way it existed before 2013 and the employer in its previous role.
Thank you.