Legislation silent on crown employees ‑
taken
to mean exclusion
Exception was municipal employees ‑
most
viewed as covered
Public Service Staff Relations Act ‑ 1967 ‑
Right to bargain for most federal employees. 1999 Supreme Court said did not apply to RCMP, no
bargaining rights
Union to choose strike or arbitration option each
bargaining round
Employees designated essential may not strike
Provinces then passed legislation
Right to organize and bargain for almost all public
employees.
Right to strike in several provinces as well as
federal
Others forbid strikes and require mandatory
arbitration
Quebec – public sector employees have same union and
bargaining rights as
private sector employees except police and firefighters can’t strike but can submit to
arbitration
Ontario – municipal employees can strike but provincial
employees can’t, but can
submit to arbitration