Law Times

PAGE 6 u EDITORIAL OBITER By Glenn Kauth Rethinking our approach to labour relations lic-sector wage freeze, Ontario is unlikely to see a wide-ranging attack on unions on the lines of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker' A s Wisconsin voters were getting set to vote in favour of their labour-bashing governor in last week' state. Nevertheless, in ruling on RCMP officers' fight for traditional collective-bargaining rights, the appeal court delivered a blow to the so-called Wagner approach to labour relations with its reaffirmation of the notion that s. 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms "does not guarantee any particular model of labour relations." The appeal court was ruling on the attorney general of Canada' Police Association of Ontario v. Canada (Attorney General), the appeal court considered t wo recent key Supreme Court decisions on labour relations: Health Services and Support – Facilities Subsector Bargaining Association v. British Columbia and Ontario (Attorney General) v. Fraser. Among the principles behind the decision was the notion in Fraser that the right to collective bargaining under the Charter is a derivative one that imposes negative obligations on governments rather than a posi- tive duty of protection or assistance. "Therefore, as I understand the Fraser majority' collective bargaining as a derivative constitutional right, a positive obligation to engage in good faith collective bargaining will only s discussion of of a 2009 Superior Court decision that found federal regulations mandat- ing the Staff Relations Representative Program for labour relations at the RCMP was unconstitutional. The program allows elected staff relations representatives to represent RCMP members' interests in negotiations with management of the police force but doesn't provide for traditional collec- tive bargaining along the lines of the Wagner model with all of its protec- tions and features, such as having a single and exclusive bargaining agent. In ruling against the RCMP officers' associations in Mounted s appeal be imposed on an employer when it is effectively impossible for the workers to act collectively to achieve workplace goals," wrote Justice Russell Juriansz on behalf of the appeal court panel. As a result, because the Court of Appeal found the RCMP staff relations program doesn't make it impossible for officers "to act collectively to pursue workplace issues in a meaningful way, the government in allowing its appeal. The ruling comes at an interesting time given " it sided with the very real challenges facing the labour move- ment. Certainly, while unions will obviously fight to maintain the supremacy of the Wagner model, even organizations like the Canadian Auto Workers have come around to new approaches with its consider- ation of a plan to open up membership to people who don't have bargaining rights. It' To be fair, despite looming battles over government plans for a pub- s reforms in that Ontario Court of Appeal released a decision that put a damp- er on union rights in this province. s recall election, the COMMENT June 11, 2012 • Law Times changes given Canadians' tepid support for unions. While lots of workers would like to have more lee- way to air their concerns to their employers and many Canadians are sympathetic to unions, that doesn't mean they all want to engage in the tradi- tionally adversarial style of labour negotiations that the Wagner model represents. Many people, in fact, equate that approach to threats to their companies' bottom lines and ultimately their jobs given the competitive pressures businesses face. The Court of Appeal ruling, then, is a timely reminder that there are other ways of approaching labour relations that some people might find offer more balance. — Glenn Kauth s good to see and it's frankly time for such A Consider joint articles to help pay debt to profession students who haven't secured articles for this year, there' Law Society of Upper Canada held con- sultations across the province and has prepared an interim report, but the final report on this tricky issue won't be out until the fall. Students who haven't started jobs by Unfortunately for the 150 or more s no quick fix. The s the articling shortage deepens, about 15 per cent of candidates still haven't found placements in Ontario. very different ways. Under the first option, the Aug. 7 won't be called with their class- mates in June 2013. They must find 10 months of articles, which is less than what was necessary when many of us articled. The County of Carleton Law Association is trying to match interested lawyers in the Ottawa area with one another in order to make additional articling positions available. The law society recognizes joint arti- cles. Joint articles can take place in three Law Times articling experience takes place concurrently with two differ- ent firms. The two articling principals both supervise the student during the 10-month term. Students could work for a barrister in the mornings and a solicitor in the afternoons or they could work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the busier lawyer and the other two days for the other one. A second option for shared articles is to A Criminal Mind secondment at different offices during the articling period. I've written a few articles Rosalind Conway have short terms of two months or more with various firms or agencies in a series. This would resemble rotations at a big law firm, but the student would spend them in different offices. This works well if one of the placements is with a government agency or a sole practitioner. The third option involves a single arti- cling principal whose student works on the market will bear what it can, that the students can wait until the law soci- ety establishes a practical legal training course or that it' Of course, there are arguments that schools. While all of that may be fair, these students are in the same position we were all once in and some have spent more than $120,000 to get there. That' far more than we paid. s all the fault of the law s Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON • M1T 3V4 Tel: 416-298-5141 • Fax: 416-649-7870 • www.lawtimesnews.com Group Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Karen Lorimer Editorial Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail J. Cohen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Kauth Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kendyl Sebesta Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael McKiernan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katia Caporiccio CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adela Rodriguez Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alicia Adamson Account Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine Giles Electronic Production Specialist . . . . . . . .Derek Welford Advertising Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kimberlee Pascoe Sales Co-ordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sandy Shutt ©2012 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without writ- ten permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the pub- lisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Law Times disclaims any war- ranty as to the accuracy, completeness or cur- rency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post- consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 • 416-298-5141 clb.lteditor@thomsonreuters.com CIRCULATIONS & SUBSCRIPTIONS $175.00 + HST per year in Canada (HST Reg. #R121351134) and $265.00 for foreign addresses. Single copies are $4.00 Circulation www.lawtimesnews.com about articling, a system I have a great deal of respect for. Those of us who are practising now all benefited from mentoring by another lawyer and we're paying a debt to the profession when we take a student. We're the gatekeepers who can give these students a future in the practice of law. Law Association is asking any local law- yers without articling students to take one or to offer a portion of the arti- cling experience. Again, the portion offered could be as little as two or three of the 10 months of articles. I feel it' In Ottawa, the County of Carleton quickly so that lawyers in Ottawa and perhaps the major cities and large towns across the province can think about the issue, talk to their law associations, and see if they can offer positions to students prior to the critical start date on Aug. 7. Lawyers in Ottawa can contact me at s important to get the word out the e-mail address below or Ted Mann at ted@mannlawyers.com as we're spear- heading this effort for the association. Because time is short, please contact us by June 15. LT Rosalind Conway is a certified specialist in criminal litigation. She can be reached at rosalind.conway@gmail.com. inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times One Corpo- rate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto ON, M1T 3V4. Return postage guaranteed. Contact Ellen Alstein at ............416-649-9926 or fax: 416-649-7870 ellen.alstein@thomsonreuters.com ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries and materials should be directed to Sales, Law Times, 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto, ON, M1T 3V4 or call: Karen Lorimer ....................................416-649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Kimberlee Pascoe ..............................416-649-8875 kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com Sandy Shutt ...... sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com

• Cover