Definitive Report - Report No 72, 1964

Case No 211 (Canada) - Complaint date: 02-NOV-59 - Closed

1. 17. This case had already been examined by the Committee at its meeting in February and November 1960, May 1961 and February 1962.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 18. At its meeting in November 1960 the Committee submitted in paragraph 253 of its 49th Report its definitive conclusions and recommendations to the Governing Body with regard to a number of allegations relating to the Newfoundland Labour Relations (Amendment) Act of 6 March 1959, as further amended on 5 July 1960. These included a recommendation to the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government of Canada to certain principles brought into question by the provisions of section 6 A (1) and (5) of the amended Act, as indicated in paragraph 253 (c) (iii) of the said report. Further, in paragraph 253 (c) (iv), (d) and (e) of its 49th Report, the Committee recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to furnish its observations on certain allegations relating to the restriction of strikes by virtue of section 43 A (1) (a) of the amended Act, to acts stated to have been committed by or at the instigation of the Premier of Newfoundland, and to the Trade Union (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1959. These recommendations were approved by the Governing Body at its 147th Session (November 1960).
2. 19. After having noted at its meeting in May 1961 a communication from the Government of Newfoundland dated 28 February 1961, forwarded by the Government of Canada, by which the Committee was informed that amendments to the legislation of Newfoundland were contemplated, the Committee had before it, at its meeting in February 1962, a communication dated 19 February 1962 from the Government of Canada based on information supplied by the Government of Newfoundland. In particular, this communication made reference to a statement by the Premier of Newfoundland as to his intention to repeal certain legislative provisions enacted in the preceding two or three years.
3. 20. In these circumstances the Committee recommended the Governing Body, in paragraph 74 of its 60th Report:
   • ... to take note of the statement of the Premier of Newfoundland, cited by the Government of Canada, that it is the intention of the Government of Newfoundland to ask the legislature of New foundland "to repeal virtually all of the less acceptable new legislation enacted in the past two or three years ", including section 6 A (1) and (5) of the Newfoundland Labour Relations Act, as amended, which were specifically commented upon in paragraph 253 (c)(iii) of the 49th Report of the Committee cited in paragraph 69 above, and to express the hope that such action will be taken without delay.
   • The Committee also requested the Government of Canada to be good enough to keep the Governing Body informed as to further developments in connection with the repeal of the Newfoundland legislation which was commented upon in paragraphs 229 to 238 and 253 (c) (iii) of the Committee's 49th Report.
4. 21. The 60th Report of the Committee was approved by the Governing Body at its 151st Session (March 1962) and the conclusions contained in paragraph 74 thereof cited above were brought to the notice of the Government of Canada by a letter dated 16 March 1962.
5. 22. In a communication dated 8 October 1963 the Government of Canada states that the Newfoundland Labour Relations (Amendment) Act, 1963, a copy of which is furnished, was enacted in June 1963.
6. 23. In the first place, the new amending Act repealed section 6 A of the Act as inserted in 1959 and amended in 1960. Further, the Government points out, section 43 a which had been interpreted by the Canadian Labour Congress as prohibiting strikes, has been repealed and replaced by a new section which spells out the right of a union engaged in a lawful strike to peaceful picketing and also legalises certain other acts in like circumstances.
7. 24. Section 6 A (1) of the Act as previously amended permitted of the dissolution of a trade union in circumstances which the Committee considered in detail in paragraphs 224 to 234 of its 49th Report; the Governing Body, adopting paragraph 242 (c) of that report, expressed the view that the said section 6 A (1) appeared to be incompatible with the principles that workers should have the right to form and join organisations of their own choosing, that workers' organisations should have the right to elect their representatives in full freedom, that workers' organisations should have the right to establish and join federations and Confederations of their own choosing, that such organisations, federations and Confederations should have the right to affiliate with international organisations of workers and that the law of the land should not be such as to impair, nor should it be so applied as to impair, the exercise of the foregoing rights. Section 6 A (5) provided that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council could make regulations providing for the disposition of the assets of a union dissolved in accordance with section 6 A (1), a provision which did not appear to the Governing Body to be compatible with the principle than when an organisation is dissolved its assets should temporarily be sequestrated and finally distributed among its members or transferred to its successor organisation.
8. 25. As the enactment of 1963 does away entirely with these provisions, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to note with satisfaction that section 6 A of the Newfoundland Labour Relations Act, as inserted in 1959 and amended in 1960, has been repealed by the Labour Relations (Amendment) Act, 1963.
9. 26. Section 43 A of the Act, previous to the enactment, was considered by the complainants virtually to make all strikes unlawful. In paragraph 72 of its 60th Report, the Committee took note of the view expressed by the Deputy Attorney-General of Newfoundland that the section outlawed sympathy strikes or boycotts but did not prevent workers striking if, having followed the procedures set forth in the Act, they could not reach agreement with their employer. The new text of section 43 A contained in the Act of 1963 no longer contains the provision which was alleged to be equivalent to an outright prohibition of sympathy strikes and boycotts; its purpose appears to be to authorise and regulate peaceful picketing.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 27. In previous cases the Committee has been guided by the principle that allegations relating to the right to strike are within its competence in so far, but only in so far, as they affect the exercise of trade union rights. In the present case the allegations relating to the restriction of strikes submitted to the Committee related specifically to the text of section 43 A of the Act as it stood prior to the 1963 amendment. As that text has been repealed, the Committee, without expressing any view on any other provisions of the law which may regulate or place temporary restrictions on the right to strike, recommends the Governing Body to note that section 43 A of the Labour Relations Act, as amended in 1959, has been repealed.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 28. In all the circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to note with satisfaction that section 6 A of the Newfoundland Labour Relations Act, as inserted in 1959 and amended in 1960, has been repealed by the Labour Relations (Amendment) Act, 1963;
   • (b) to note also the repeal of section 43 A of the Act, as amended in 1959.