BARGAINING POLICIES OF THE CANADIAN FEDERAL-GOVERNMENT - ACCORDING TO THE LAW AND ACCORDING TO ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS

The Public Service Staff Relations Act in 1967 introduced an essentially decentralized collective bargaining system, in which impasses would normally be resolved by arbitration. The possibility for a union to select instead the conciliation-strike route was written into the act because of the 1965 strikes by postal workers. The restricted list of arbitrable matters, some important gains obtained through strike action, but mainly the 1975-78 wages control and the 6 per cent and 5 per cent restraint program of 1982-85 have convinced all important units to move away from arbitration to conciliation and strike for final settlement of conflicts. Units also regrouped for bargaining purposes. In 1985 and 1988 bargaining was conducted at a highly centralized level. In 1991 there was a close-to-general strike in the federal public service. Bargaining on wages has been replaced by an imposed unilateral wages policy. All these radical changes have happened without any important modification in the fundamental provisions of the Public Service Staff Relations Act.