Pierre Brun

The appellant union filed grievances on behalf of two employees (one casual, one probationary) who were dismissed.

The collective agreement denied them access to the grievance procedure for dismissals.

The union argued that the public order standard in s. 124 of the Act respecting labour standards, which prohibits dismissal without good and sufficient cause after two years of service, was implicitly incorporated into the collective agreement, giving the arbitrator jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the standard is not implicitly incorporated, the public order nature of the Act renders the collective agreement clauses denying arbitration absolutely null.

Consequently, the grievance arbitrator has jurisdiction to hear the complaints and provide a recourse equivalent to that of the Commission des relations du travail.

The teachers' unions entered into a modification of a collective agreement with the province that affected a minority group composed primarily of younger and less experienced teachers.

The younger teachers complained to the Human Rights Commission that the agreement discriminated against them, violating the equality guarantee of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

The Commission brought the matter before the Human Rights Tribunal.

The respondents filed a motion asking the Tribunal to decline jurisdiction on the ground that the labour arbitrator possessed exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the Human Rights Tribunal had jurisdiction over the dispute, as the essential character of the dispute engaged matters pertaining more to alleged discrimination in the formation and validity of the agreement than to its interpretation and application.