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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Stubborn Persistence Of The Lawyer Exemption In Canadian Collective Bargaining Legislation, David J. Doorey Jun 2022

The Stubborn Persistence Of The Lawyer Exemption In Canadian Collective Bargaining Legislation, David J. Doorey

Dalhousie Law Journal

In 1948, the Canadian government introduced transformative collective bargaining legislation that would serve as a template for provincial labour law in the postwar period. However, some employees were excluded entirely from this legislation, including employees in five professions, law among them. By the 1970s, the federal government and most provinces had repealed the professional exclusion from the primary collective bargaining legislation. However, four jurisdictions—Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island (Exclusionary Provinces)—have stubbornly preserved the exclusion. This essay traces the history and justifications proffered for the lawyer exclusion from Canadian collective bargaining legislation from the 1940s to present day. …


Compelled Unionism In The Private Sector After Janus: Why Unions Should Not Profit From Dissenting Employees, Giovanna Bonafede Dec 2021

Compelled Unionism In The Private Sector After Janus: Why Unions Should Not Profit From Dissenting Employees, Giovanna Bonafede

Catholic University Law Review

This Note examines the impact of the 2018 landmark labor law case Janus v. AFSCME. Janus held it unconstitutional under the First Amendment to require public sector employees to pay fees to a union to which they are not a member. The Supreme Court based their decision on the idea that compelling public employees to subsidize union speech to which they disagreed violated their free speech rights. The author argues that the Court’s holding in Janus should be extended to protect the free speech rights of private sector employees through a finding of state action in the private unionized …


The Wagner Model And International Freedom Of Association Standards, Lance A. Compa Sep 2015

The Wagner Model And International Freedom Of Association Standards, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] I first met Pierre Verge just before beginning my service with the NAFTA labour commission in 1995. Not long after that, Pierre Verge and my own labour law professor at Yale in 1972, Clyde Summers, jointly wrote a penetrating evaluation of the first years of the NAFTA labour side accord, which still serves as the best single analysis of that seminal but flawed instrument linking labour standards and a trade agreement (Summers, Verge and Medina, 1998; Verge, 1999; Verge, 2002). Since then, my understanding of international labour standards and how they relate to labour law in North America has …


Constitutional Labour Rights In Canada: Farm Workers And The Fraser Case, Fay Faraday, Judy Fudge, Eric Tucker Jul 2014

Constitutional Labour Rights In Canada: Farm Workers And The Fraser Case, Fay Faraday, Judy Fudge, Eric Tucker

Eric M. Tucker

On 29 April 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada released its much-anticipated decision in Attorney General of Ontario v Fraser, which dealt with the scope of constitutional protection of collective bargaining. The case involved a constitutional challenge to an Ontario statute on the grounds that it violated agricultural workers’ freedom of association and right to equality by excluding them from the statutory protection that is available to virtually all other private sector workers and by failing to provide them with alternative legislative support for meaningful and effective collective bargaining rights. Although the Court upheld the constitutionality of the legislation …


Public Sector Labor Policy: A Human Rights Approach, Robert Hebdon Mar 2014

Public Sector Labor Policy: A Human Rights Approach, Robert Hebdon

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Citizenship At Work: How The Supreme Court Politically Marginalized Public Employees, Ruben J. Garcia Mar 2014

Citizenship At Work: How The Supreme Court Politically Marginalized Public Employees, Ruben J. Garcia

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Undermining Or Promoting Democratic Government?: An Economic And Empirical Analysis Of The Two Views Of Public Sector Collective Bargaining In American Law, Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Mohammad Khan Mar 2014

Undermining Or Promoting Democratic Government?: An Economic And Empirical Analysis Of The Two Views Of Public Sector Collective Bargaining In American Law, Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Mohammad Khan

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Citizenship At Work: How The Supreme Court Politically Marginalized Public Employees, Ruben J. Garcia Jan 2014

Citizenship At Work: How The Supreme Court Politically Marginalized Public Employees, Ruben J. Garcia

Scholarly Works

Collective bargaining by public sector employees has been the subject of recent heated debates in the state legislatures of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. The right of public sector employees to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and the right to participate in politics are among the “citizenship rights” of public employees. In many states, however, the citizenship rights of public employees are under threat both in state legislatures and in the courts. Paradoxically, the ability of public sector employees to change legislation has been hampered over the years by Supreme Court decisions, making it more difficult to organize politically by …


Enforcing European Corporate Commitments To Freedom Of Association By Legal And Industrial Action In The United States: Enforcement By Industrial Action, Lance A. Compa, Fred Feinstein Nov 2012

Enforcing European Corporate Commitments To Freedom Of Association By Legal And Industrial Action In The United States: Enforcement By Industrial Action, Lance A. Compa, Fred Feinstein

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] We believe it is important to discuss industrial action as one way to enforce commitments to abide by international labor standards in part because of the challenges of "hard" law enforcement, not only in an international context but also in the enforcement of domestic labor policies. Because of the challenges presented by "hard" enforcement of labor policy in both the domestic and international context, it is important to examine the dynamics that initially motivate the adoption of IFAs and other commitments to abide by international labor standards as an important aspect of their enforcement. What unions and other advocates …


Beyond Labor Law: Private Initiatives To Promote Employee Freedom Of Association In The Obama Era, William Gould Iv Jan 2012

Beyond Labor Law: Private Initiatives To Promote Employee Freedom Of Association In The Obama Era, William Gould Iv

Indiana Law Journal

Labor and Employment Law Under the Obama Administration: A Time for Hope and Change? Symposium held November 12-13, 2010, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana.


Envisioning Enforcement Of Freedom Of Association Standards In Corporate Codes: A Journey For Sinbad Or Sisyphus?, James J. Brudney Jan 2012

Envisioning Enforcement Of Freedom Of Association Standards In Corporate Codes: A Journey For Sinbad Or Sisyphus?, James J. Brudney

Faculty Scholarship

Since the 1970’s, multinational corporations (MNCs) in large numbers have adopted codes of conduct declaring their commitment to workers’ rights. These codes, however, do not require adherence to specific labor regulations or standards in a global setting. The MNC record on voluntary compliance has been discouraging, especially in labor-intensive industries like apparel, shoes, and toys, where a global supply chain of contractors effectively controls labor conditions. The persistent gap between aspiration and achievement regarding corporate codes has led to disagreement over their meaning and value. MNCs hope to be judged on the basis of the self-regulatory systems they have established. …


Collective Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Charter Cathedral: Union Strategies In A Post B.C. Health World, Michael Macneil Apr 2011

Collective Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Charter Cathedral: Union Strategies In A Post B.C. Health World, Michael Macneil

Dalhousie Law Journal

For the first twenty-five years after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted, it appeared that it would have little impact on Canadian labour laws. The Supreme Court of Canada took the view that the guarantee of freedom of association in the Charter did not include a right to strike and did notprovide protection for collective bargaining. Common law rules regulating picketing did not come within the scope of the Charter's rules on freedom of expression. Academic commentators were divided on whether this was a good or a bad thing, some espousing the hope that the Charter could …


Why The Right-Freedom Distinction Matters To Labour Lawyers-And To All Canadians, Brian Langille Apr 2011

Why The Right-Freedom Distinction Matters To Labour Lawyers-And To All Canadians, Brian Langille

Dalhousie Law Journal

This lecture is about very basic legal ideas such as rights, freedoms, and the distinction between them. It makes the argument that clear thinking about these basic ideas is required and that when these ideas are neglected we have a recipe for real legal confusion. More than that, a failure to attend to these basic concepts and their relationship can produce, as it has in recent Supreme Court of Canada Charter cases on "Freedom of Association," a real threat to the fundamental freedoms of all Canadians


Non-Majority Union Representation Conforms To Ilo Freedom Of Association Principles And (Potentially) Promotes Inter-Union Collaboration: New Zealand Lessons For Canada, Mark Harcourt, Helen Lam Apr 2011

Non-Majority Union Representation Conforms To Ilo Freedom Of Association Principles And (Potentially) Promotes Inter-Union Collaboration: New Zealand Lessons For Canada, Mark Harcourt, Helen Lam

Dalhousie Law Journal

North American union certification violates workers' freedom of association, a fundamental human right well established by the International Labour Organization (ILO); by denying workers the right to be represented when a majority of their co-workers does not favour a union. In Canada, the Supreme Court has drawn on ILO standards to recognize a constitutional right to bargain collectively and organize as part of freedom of association under section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, such recognition of the ILO principles has, as yet, to translate into legislation that would provide non-exclusive, non-majority union representation, at least in …


A Strange Case: Violations Of Workers’ Freedom Of Association In The United States By European Multinational Corporations, Lance A. Compa Nov 2010

A Strange Case: Violations Of Workers’ Freedom Of Association In The United States By European Multinational Corporations, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] A central conclusion of this report is that firms’ voluntary principles and policies are not enough to safeguard workers’ freedom of association. They can be important initiatives, but only when they contain effective due diligence, oversight, and control mechanisms. Otherwise, as shown here, shortcomings in US labor law create enormous temptation - especially among US managers not sufficiently overseen by European parent company officials - to take advantage of them by acts inconsistent with international norms. The pattern that emerges in the examples presented here suggests inadequate due diligence and internal performance controls to prevent and correct US management …


Unfair Advantage: Workers’ Freedom Of Association In The United States Under International Human Rights Standards, Lance A. Compa Nov 2010

Unfair Advantage: Workers’ Freedom Of Association In The United States Under International Human Rights Standards, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Human Rights Watch selected case studies for this report on workers’ freedom of association in the United States with several objectives in mind. One was to include a range of sectors - services, industry, transport, agriculture, high tech – to assess the scope of the problem across the economy, rather than to focus on a single sector. Another objective was geographic diversity, to analyze the issues in different parts of the country. The cases studied here arose in cities, suburbs and rural areas around the United States. Another important goal was to look at the range of workers seeking …


Labor’S Fragile Freedom Of Association Post-9/11, Ruben J. Garcia Jan 2006

Labor’S Fragile Freedom Of Association Post-9/11, Ruben J. Garcia

Scholarly Works

The fragility of civil liberties in the United States became evident after the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11). Labor's freedom of association, which is the right to form unions, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities, is one of the civil liberties at risk in the post-9/11 period. This Article focuses specifically on post-9/11 limitations of labor's freedom of association conducted by the executive branch and the Congress, and the ways that the courts have adjudicated labor rights in the post-9/11 era. Domestic labor law and constitutional rights alone, however, will not stop the collision of security and …


Organizing In The Garment Industry In Mexico: Implications For New Social Movement Theory, Victoria Carty Jan 2004

Organizing In The Garment Industry In Mexico: Implications For New Social Movement Theory, Victoria Carty

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

This paper examines attempts to improve workers' rights in the Maquila Industry in Mexico by using two case studies. It analyzes the struggles that recently occurred at the Kukdong and Duro plants. The underlying question of the research is how to balance the co-existence of market economies with effective means to ensure adequate conditions for workers, and most importantly, ensuring their right to freedom of association. Under recent forms of global economic restructuring, the state is often unwilling or unable to uphold workers' rights. To combat the present form of corporate-driven global capitalism, workers in the South, in solidarity with …


Twenty Years Of Labour Law And The Charter, Dianne Pothier Jan 2002

Twenty Years Of Labour Law And The Charter, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

This article critically reviews the Charter jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada relating to labour law. The rejection of the right to strike and to bargain collectively as part of freedom of association reflect substantial judicial deference to legislative policy choices. Recently, however, a constitutional right of unfair labour protection for particularly vulnerable workers shows some judicial willingness to intervene. While freedom of expression provides significant scope to union supporters, picketing and leafleting are still subject to wide restraint, the exact parameters of which remain unclear. The Charter has had only a modest effect on labour law. Even successful …


Respecting Nonunion Member Employees' Rights While Avoiding A Free Ride, Lehnert V. Ferris Faculty Association, Charles J. Ogeka Jan 1992

Respecting Nonunion Member Employees' Rights While Avoiding A Free Ride, Lehnert V. Ferris Faculty Association, Charles J. Ogeka

Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Politics, Patronage And Public Employment, Robert M. O'Neil Jan 1975

Politics, Patronage And Public Employment, Robert M. O'Neil

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.


Elfbrandt V. Russell: The Demise Of The Loyalty Oath, Jerold H. Israel Jan 1966

Elfbrandt V. Russell: The Demise Of The Loyalty Oath, Jerold H. Israel

Articles

In Elfbrandt v. Russell, the Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision, declared unconstitutional Arizona's requirement of a loyalty oath from state employees. At first glance, Elfbrandt appears to be just another decision voiding a state loyalty oath on limited grounds relating to the specific language of the particular oath. Yet, several aspects of Mr. Justice Douglas' opinion for the majority suggest that Elfbrandt is really of far greater significance: it may sharply limit the scope and coverage of loyalty oaths generally and, indeed, may presage a ruling invalidating all such oaths. Of course, only the Supreme Court can determine this. …


The Status Of The Collective Labor Agreement In France, Robert J. Nye Mar 1957

The Status Of The Collective Labor Agreement In France, Robert J. Nye

Michigan Law Review

This paper is intended to outline in historical perspective the statutory, judicial, administrative and social developments which have made the collective agreement an indispensable accessory to legislative and judicial regulation in France.