An English teacher working for a French-language school service centre, who filed a complaint against his union because it wanted to communicate with him in French, has had his complaint dismissed.
The Administrative Labour Tribunal granted the union’s motion for dismissal, stating the complaint does not fall within its duty of fair representation to its members.
Last October, the union at the Centre de services scolaires francophone informed the teacher that, from then on, he would have to speak French to the members of the union executive.
The union added it would now also only communicate with him in French.
In response, the teacher filed a complaint against his union for breach of its duty of fair representation, arguing that his human rights and wish to communicate in English should be respected.
The man also requested that the union provide him with all documents relating to his personal file.
The union asked that both demands be dismissed, and the tribunal agreed.
“The tribunal concludes that the two allegations made by the complainant against the union have nothing to do with its role as an intermediary between him and the employer,” writes the judge. “He is complaining about the union’s conduct in its relationship with him as a member of the bargaining unit.”
“Internal communication issues, including all language-related problems, do not fall within a union’s duty of fair representation,” the court added.
“As for access to the complainant’s file, the tribunal is of the opinion that it is not up to it to intervene. The solutions sought attest to this. He is not asking that a claim be submitted to an arbitrator as if it were a grievance; he is asking for changes in the union’s behaviour and for a copy of his file. The breaches raised are not covered by the duty of fair representation set out in section 47.2 of the Code, and therefore fall outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction,” the judge concludes.
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 9, 2024.