Collective bargaining is rife with specialized terminology which can seem intimidating. These terms may exclude members who have not had the opportunity to learn the language but who are interested in getting involved. The following glossary will help members familiarize themselves with the terminology used in federal public sector collective bargaining and help make the process more accessible to people without specialized experience in bargaining.
A
ABEYANCE (En suspens): The act of mutually agreeing to postpone the resolution of a pending grievance or motion beyond the designated time limitations, with the intention of addressing and processing it at a later date.
ACTION (Action): Direct action is the collective engagement of union members in activities, such as protests, that directly bring attention to a problem or potential resolution related to contractual or societal matters. Members of labour unions participate in these acts in order to draw attention to an injustice, with the ultimate objective of rectifying it. It effectively encourages people to collaborate together for their own benefit and advancement.
ACCRETION (Accroissement): The addition or consolidation of new employees or a new bargaining unit to or with an existing bargaining unit.
ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASE (Augmentation générale des salaires): A general wage increase that covers all the members of a bargaining unit, regardless of classification, grade or step level. Such an increase may be in terms of a percentage or dollar amount.
ADJUDICATION (Adjudication): Process for settling grievances by a third party when they arise out of the interpretation or application of a collective agreement or an award determined through arbitration, or out of disciplinary action resulting in financial loss or penalty (i.e. discharge, suspension).
ADJUDICATOR/ARBITRATOR (Adjudicateur.trice/Arbitre): Independent person (or chair of a panel), usually chosen by both the employer and union, and sometimes appointed by the government. This third party renders a final and binding decision, to which all parties must adhere.
AGGRAVATING FACTORS (facteurs aggravants): Something that the member does that makes their situation worse; for example, ignoring early warnings.
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (Résolution alternative des disputes): Practices such as mediation, negotiation, facilitation and conflict management that allow individuals and groups to resolve conflicts.
ARBITRARY (Arbitraire): Abrupt, insensitive, indifferent; something done or said without much thought or investigation.
ARBITRAL AWARD (Sentence arbitrale): The terms resulting from an arbitrator or board of arbitration deciding matters upon which the bargaining agent and the employer had reached an impasse at the bargaining table. The arbitral award is binding on the employer, the bargaining agent and all the employees in the bargaining unit.
ARBITRATION (Arbitrage): Method of settling disputes through the intervention of a third party – an individual or a board/panel – whose decision is final and binding.
B
BACK-TO-WORK LEGISLATION (législation retour au travail): A bill that blocks strike action (or a lockout) from happening or continuing. Canadian governments have sometimes also used legislation to impose binding arbitration or a new contract on disputing parties.
BAD FAITH (Mauvaise foi): An action that is carried out with an inappropriate motivation, such as intending to injure or demean someone, seeking retribution, or engaging in deceitful behaviour.
BARGAINING (Négociation): The negotiation by the employer and the employee union or association over the terms and conditions of employment for employees in represented bargaining units.
BARGAINING AGENT (Agent négociateur): Union designated by a labour relations board or similar government agency (for example, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board) as the exclusive representative of all employees in a bargaining unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.
BARGAINING UNIT (Unité de négociation): Unit of employees grouped together by a labour relations board or similar body, for representation by a union for the purpose of collective bargaining.
BARGAINING RIGHTS (Droits de négociation): The rights outlined in Division 5 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act or in Division 2 of the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act. This outlines the rights of workers to negotiate the terms and conditions of employment through their chosen representatives. The bargaining agent is designated by a majority of the workers in a bargaining unit to represent the group in collective bargaining.
BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (BFOR) (Exigence professionnelle justifiée - EPJ): Legal term for the essential tasks required to perform a job. If an employer can establish a particular BFOR that cannot be modified/adapted for an accommodation, the employer may not have to accommodate a worker in that job. BFORs are not preferences; they are duties or elements that are essential to the job. Before the employer can establish a BFOR defence, the employer must show that it cannot accommodate without undue hardship.
BLACKLIST (Liste noire): A list of union members, sympathizers or activists that is circulated among employers to advise them of the union activities of job applicants. Although the practice is illegal, the process of blacklisting survives in many subtle forms.
C
CANADA LABOUR CODE (Code Canadien du Travail): Act of Parliament that consolidates certain statutes respecting labour. The objective of the code is to facilitate production by controlling strikes and lockouts, setting out occupational safety and health requirements, and stating some employment standards.
CALL-IN PAY (Indemnité de présence): Compensation paid to workers who report for work and, for a variety of reasons, the employer decides to send them back home. Examples of call-in pay include: “show up pay” when a worker is called into work by error for overtime work and is sent back home; or wages paid when the worker is required to report and there is insufficient work for a full day.
CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS (Congrès du travail du Canada): Canada’s national labour body, which represents the interests of organized labour and more than three million workers, through major national and international unions, provincial and territorial federations of labour and community labour councils. CAPE became a member of the Canada Labour Congress in 2021.
CASE LAW (Jurisprudence): Decisions made in the past by courts, arbitrators/adjudicators, tribunals, human rights commissions, and labour boards that indicate how someone might decide a new case. Often referred to as “jurisprudence” or “common law.”
CHECK-OFF (Retenue de la cotisation syndicale): Clause in a collective agreement authorizing an employer to deduct union dues from the pay cheques of all employees of the bargaining unit, and sometimes other assessments, and to transmit these funds to the union (see Rand Formula).
CLASSIFICATION PLAN (Plan de classification): Job evaluation process based on a comparison of jobs using factors or aspects of work.
COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT - also referred to as a “contract” or “collective bargaining agreement” (Convention Collective - également appelée « contrat » ou « convention collective de travail »): Contract between the union acting as the bargaining agent and the employer, covering wages, hours of work, benefits, rights of workers and the union, and procedures to be followed when settling disputes and grievances.
COMPONENT (Élément): In larger unions, an organized group of members, locals or branches. For example, the Public Service Alliance of Canada represents many components that represent workers in different types of jobs.
CONCILIATION (Conciliation): A process which attempts to resolve labour disputes by compromise or voluntary agreement. Pertinent legislation applies when negotiations reach an impasse. Either party can request the assistance of a mediator, a conciliator, or the establishment of a conciliation board. The mediator, conciliator or conciliation board does not bring in a binding award and the parties are free to accept or to reject the recommendation.
CONTRACT (Contrat): See collective agreement.
CONTRACTING OUT (Impartition): Employer having work performed by an outside contractor and not by regular employees of the union. Not to be confused with subcontracting, which is when a contractor delegates part of their work to another contractor.
CONTRACT PROPOSALS (Propositions contractuelles): Proposed changes to the collective agreement put forward by the union or employer, and subject to collective bargaining.
COST-OF-LIVING ALLOWANCE (Indemnité de coût de la vie): Periodic pay increases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.
CULMINATING INCIDENT (Incident culminant): Final act or misconduct of an employee that, in the employer’s view, deserves a severe response (usually discharge), because the employee has been disciplined before and the employer has followed the process for progressive discipline.
D
DAY OF REST (Jour de repos): Most employers must allow a worker to have one day off after six consecutive days of work. This day off must include an unbroken period between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
DISCIPLINE (Discipline): Means by which supervisors correct behavioural deficiencies and ensure adherence to established organizational rules. Discipline may include issuing written reprimands, letters of warning and letters of suspension. However, if, after progressive discipline or in the case of a serious single act of misconduct, the employer no longer sees the employment relationship as viable, termination may ensue.
DISCHARGE - also referred to as “dismissal” (Congédiement - également appelé « licenciement »): Employee’s employment is terminated. This is often used to describe situations in which there has been, in the employer’s view, misconduct or poor performance.
DISCRIMINATION (Discrimination): Treating a person or a group of people differently from others, in violation of collective agreements and human rights legislation.
DUES (Cotisations): Periodic payments by union members for the financial support of their union.
DUE PROCESS (Traitement équitable): The right to access the grievance process and a fair and objective hearing for cases that are deemed to have merit. This right is guaranteed to all bargaining unit members under the contract.
DUTY OF FAIR REPRESENTATION (Devoir de représentation équitable): Union’s legal duty to provide fair representation to all employees in a bargaining unit; representation must not be arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith.
DUTY TO ACCOMMODATE (Obligation de prendre des mesures d’adaptation): Legal requirement for employers to proactively eliminate employment standards, practices, policies, requirements, procedures or rules that discriminate against individuals or groups on the basis of a prohibited ground, such as race, sex, disability, age or family status.
E
EMPLOYMENT EQUITY (équité en matière d’emploi): Ensuring equitable representation of equity-deserving groups such as women, Indigenous people, 2SLGBTQI+ people, racialized people and people with disabilities in the workplace, through hiring, promotion, equal wages and other aspects of employment. Employment equity activities seek to eliminate barriers that create discriminatory practices, such as systemically lower pay, and deny access to jobs to members of a designated group. Employment equity activities also seek to address past discriminatory practices.
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS (Normes d’emploi): Minimum standards established by governments that employers and employees must follow.
F
FACT FINDING (Constatation des faits): A procedure, usually advisory, to submit matters that are unresolved in a bargaining impasse. A hearing is held before a fact finder or a panel of three persons: a neutral fact finder, a person selected by the union and a person selected by the employer. A report and advisory recommendations regarding the disputed matters are issued following the hearing.
FEDERAL PUBLIC SECTOR LABOUR RELATIONS ACT (Loi sur les relations de travail dans le secteur public fédéral): Act respecting labour relations in the federal public sector.
FEDERALLY REGULATED WORKPLACES (Liex de travail sous réglementation fédérale): Businesses and industries that operate across provincial and territorial borders, including banks, marine shipping and air transport firms, railways, telephone, internet and cable companies, First Nations enterprises and federal Crown corporations.
FEDERATION OF LABOUR (Fédération du travail): Grouping of local unions and labour councils in a given province; chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress.
G
GENERAL STRIKE (Grève générale): A strike by all or most organized workers in a community, region or nation.
GOOD FAITH (Bonne foi): The mutual legal obligation of the employer and the employee union to negotiate over mandatory subjects of bargaining. In practical terms, this means approaching bargaining with an open mind, following procedures that will enhance the prospects of settlement, being willing to meet as often as necessary, providing the union with the information it needs to bargain meaningfully, discussing the demands of employees freely and justifying negative responses to these demands and considering compromise proposals.
GRIEVANCE (Grief): Written complaint against the employer by one or more employees or a union concerning an alleged breach of the collective agreement or an alleged injustice. The collective agreement usually defines the procedure for handling grievances. The last step of the procedure is usually adjudication/arbitration.
H
HARASSMENT (Harcèlement): Using real or perceived power to abuse, devalue or humiliate someone through, for example, name-calling, jokes, graffiti, insults, threats, rude treatment, or written, verbal or physical abuse.
It can happen once or often and is prohibited by human rights laws. Personal harassment (harassment not based on a prohibited ground for discrimination) is also covered by some collective agreements, provincial legislation, workplace policies and section 125 of the Canada Labour Code.
HUMAN RIGHTS (Droits de la personne): Legal protection against discrimination on certain grounds, which vary federally and provincially/territorially.
I
INJUNCTION (Injonction): Court order restraining an employer or union from committing or engaging in certain acts.
INSUBORDINATION - includes gross disrespect (Insubordination – comprend le manque de respect flagrant): Refusing to carry out an instruction given by a supervisor or manager. This is just cause for discipline when the supervisor or someone else in a position of authority gave the employee an order; the order was clearly communicated to the employee; and the employee refused to obey the order without having an acceptable legal reason.
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (Organisation internationale du travail): Tripartite United Nations agency representing labour, management and government. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it disseminates labour information and sets minimum international labour standards called “conventions,” which it offers to member nations for adoption.
IRREPARABLE HARM (Préjudice irréparable): Harm done to someone that cannot be fixed with any amount of money. For example, denying leave to attend a mother’s funeral.
J
JOB CLASSIFICATION (Classification des emplois): Group of jobs paid at the same wage rate or that involve the same kind of work.
JOB ACTION (Moyen de pression au travail): A concerted, coordinated activity by employees designed to put pressure on the employer to influence bargaining. Examples include: work stoppages or shutdowns, sickouts and protest demonstrations, wearing T-shirts, buttons, or hats with union slogans, holding parking lot meetings, collective refusal of voluntary overtime, reporting to work in a group, petition signing, jamming phone lines, etc.
JOB SECURITY (Sécurité d’emploi): Provision in a collective agreement protecting a worker’s job when, for example, new methods or machines are introduced.
JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTE (Conflit de jurisdiction syndicale): A dispute between two or more unions as to which one shall represent a group of employees in collective bargaining or as to whose members shall perform a certain kind of work.
JUST CAUSE (Motif valable): Valid reason to discipline or fire a worker. The worker must have done something wrong, and the “punishment must fit the crime.”
L
LABOUR COUNCIL (Conseil du travail): Organization composed of locals or branches of affiliated unions in a given community or district.
LABOUR RELATIONS BOARD (Commission des relations du travail): Board established under provincial or federal labour relations legislation to administer labour law, including certifying trade unions as bargaining agents, investigating unfair labour practices, and performing other functions described in the legislation.
LANGUAGE (Libellé): Words used in a collective agreement to define the rights and obligations to which the union and the employer have agreed.
Sometimes the union and the employer do not agree on the meaning of the words. The grievance procedure can be used to resolve such disputes, including seeking adjudication/arbitration to decide what the language means.
LAYOFFS (Licenciements): Temporary, prolonged or final separation from employment as a result of a lack of work.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE (Congé): Period of time when an employee is away from work, with the employer’s permission or because the leave is permitted by law (maternity leave, for example). Depending on the collective agreement and the type of leave, the employee may or may not earn years of service while away. The person is still considered an employee while on leave.
LOCAL - also known as a “branch” (Section locale – aussi appelé « élément »): The basic unit of union organization. Trade unions are usually divided into a number of locals.
LOCKOUT (Lock-out): Action by the employer to prohibit employees from entering the workplace during a labour dispute or employee strike. A lockout is the employer counterpart of a strike and is used primarily to pressure employees to accept the employer’s terms in a new contract. Under the Public Sector Labour Relations Act and the Parliamentary Employees and Staff Relations Act, federal workers cannot be locked out.
M
MEDIATION (Médiation): The involvement by a neutral agent (often provided by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service or state agency) to assist in negotiations by discussing the disputed issues with the parties together or separately, and assisting the parties in reaching a settlement. This is a voluntary procedure that is non-binding on the parties.
METHOD OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION (Mode de règlement des différends): For all bargaining units covered by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, the bargaining agent can choose their preferred method of dispute resolution in the event of an impasse before the round of bargaining begins. This is done by writing to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board. Once made, the choice is binding for that round of collective bargaining.
MITIGATING FACTORS (Facteurs Atténuants): Reasons that might justify or explain someone’s behaviour or result in a reduced penalty. For example, the person has no previous history of discipline or has suffered recent personal difficulties.
O
ORGANIZING (Organisation): Plan or process to bring together unorganized workers to form part of a union.
ORGANIZING MODEL (Modèle d’organisation): Approach to running a union or a union local that puts membership involvement at the centre of each union activity.
OVERTIME (Heures supplémentaires): Hours worked in excess of the regular number of hours fixed by statute or collective agreement.
OVERTIME RATE (Taux d’heures supplémentaires): Higher rate of pay for overtime hours worked (see overtime). Where applicable, this rate will be outlined in the collective agreement.
OFF-THE-RECORD (Officieusement): Discussions or talks that occur where no official record is kept, and notes are not taken. Often these talks are helpful to change the atmosphere and to help clear the air and to understand both parties’ impediments or hurdles.
P
PARLIAMENTARY EMPLOYMENT AND STAFF RELATIONS ACT (Loi sur les relations du travail au parlement): Legislation governing employer and employee relations in the Senate, House of Commons, Library of Parliament, Office of the Senate Ethics Officer, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Parliamentary Protective Service and Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
PAY EQUITY (Équité salariale): Principle of equal pay for work of equal value, which requires that female-dominated groups be paid at the same level as male-dominated groups for work that is judged to be of equal value. A methodology is used to identify wage gaps, and to raise salaries that are lower than those in other comparative groups.
PICKETING (Piquetage): Patrolling by union members near an employer’s place of business to publicize the existence of a labour dispute, hurt the employer’s productivity, persuade workers to join a strike or the union, and discourage customers from buying or using the employer’s goods or services.
PREMIUM PAY (Prime): Wage rate higher than straight time, payable for overtime work, non-standard work schedules, work on holidays or scheduled days off, or for work under extraordinary conditions such as carrying out dangerous, dirty, or unpleasant tasks.
PREVAILING WAGE (Salaire en vigueur): Generally, the wage prevailing in a locality for a certain type of work. The term does not necessarily refer to union wages.
PRIVATIZATION (Privatisation): The transfer of publicly owned resources and services, such as roads, utilities, airports and national parks, to private ownership. In many cases, government still regulates the standards for service operation and maintenance of resources.
PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE (Discipline progressive): Step-by-step approach to discipline. The process often starts with verbal warnings and then moves to written warnings, paid or unpaid suspensions, and, finally, discharge. In general, employers are expected to have just cause and to use progressive discipline to correct misconduct. In cases of serious misconduct, the employer may skip some steps.
PROHIBITED GROUNDS OF DISCRIMINATION (Motifs de discrimination interdits): Grounds of discrimination listed in human rights legislation. It is discriminatory to treat people differently, negatively, or adversely based on these grounds.
PUBLIC SERVICES (Services publics): Services provided by a government to people living within its jurisdiction (municipal, provincial or federal), either directly through the public sector and its workers, or by providing financing so the services can be provided by another means.
R
RAIDING (Maraudage): Attempt by one union to induce members of another union to join its ranks.
RAND FORMULA (Formule Rand): Established arbitral award now enshrined in legislation stating that the employer agrees to deduct union dues from the pay of all employees of the bargaining unit, regardless of whether they are members of the union for the duration of the collective agreement. The Rand Formula is based on the principle that those who benefit from a collective agreement should contribute dues, even when they are not members of the union (see check-off).
RATIFICATION (Ratification): A vote or other action by the union or association to accept a contract that has been negotiated between the union and the employer. Likewise, the action by the governing body to adopt the agreement, thus making it a binding contract.
REDRESS OR REMEDY (Redressement ou recours): What the union asks the employer to do to make the worker “whole”; in other words, taking action that will make it like the member never experienced the problem.
REINSTATEMENT (Réintégration): Return to work after discharge. The terms of the reinstatement can be set out in a settlement agreement, or they may be ordered by an arbitrator/adjudicator, labour board or human rights tribunal.
S
SCOPE OF THE BARGAINING UNIT (Portée de l’unité de négociation): Description of who is in the bargaining unit represented by the union.
SENIORITY (Séniorité): Employee’s status relative to other employees based on years of service. Outside of the public service, seniority is often used for determining order of layoff, promotion, recall, transfer and vacations. Can be based on length of service alone or on additional factors such as ability or union duties, depending on the provisions of the collective agreement.
SERVICE (Service): Length of time an employee has worked for an employer, not just been in the bargaining unit. Benefits such as vacation entitlements are often linked to length of service.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT (Harcèlement sexuel): Vexatious conduct, including touching, and written or verbal comments of a sexual nature, that the harasser knows is unwelcome or that a reasonable person would know is unwelcome. Sexual harassment affects the targeted person’s dignity and self-respect. Employers are responsible for protecting employees from sexual harassment.
SECONDARY ACTIVITIES (Activités secondaires): Strikes, picketing, boycotts, or other activities directed by a union against an employer with whom it has no dispute, in order to pressure that employer to stop doing business with, or to bring pressure against, another employer with whom the union does have a dispute.
SIDE LETTER (Lettre d’entente): An agreement outside the main body of the contract, similar to an addendum, but usually as binding as any other clause in the contract itself unless explicitly stated otherwise.
SHIFT (Quart de travail): Rotating hours of work scheduled on an irregular basis.
SHIFT PREMIUM (Prime de quart): Added pay for work performed during other-than-regular daytime hours.
SLOWDOWN (Ralentissement): Deliberate lessening of work effort without an actual strike, to force concessions from the employer. Variation is a work-to-rule strike: a concerted slowdown in which workers simply obey all laws and rules applying to their work.
SPLIT SHIFT (Quart fractionné): Division of an employee’s daily working time into two or more periods, to meet peak needs.
SHOP STEWARD - also known as “union steward” or “steward” (Délégué·e): Union official who represents a group of members and the union in union duties, grievance matters and other employment-related situations. Shop stewards are usually part of the work force they represent.
STRIKE (Grève): Cessation of work, or a refusal to work or to continue work, by employees to compel an employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment. Usually, this is the last stage of collective bargaining when all other means have failed. Except in special cases, strikes are legal when a collective agreement is not in force. A “rotating strike” is a strike organized in such a way that only some employees stop work at any given time, each group taking its turn. A “sympathy strike” is a strike by workers not directly involved in a labour dispute to show solidarity and bring pressure on an employer. A “wildcat strike” is a strike violating the collective agreement and not authorized by the union.
STRIKEBREAKER/SCAB (Briseur·se de grève): Person who continues to work or who accepts employment to replace workers who are on strike. By filling striking workers’ jobs, strikebreakers weaken or break the strike. The anti-union term for a strikebreaker is a “replacement worker.”
STRIKE VOTE (vote de grève): Vote conducted among all employees of the bargaining unit to determine whether to go on strike.
SUSPENSION (Suspension): Time (paid or unpaid) when an employee is not allowed to work, usually during an investigation or as a form of discipline.
T
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE (Changement technologique): Technical changes in operational machinery or office equipment, new production techniques, change of work processes, such as homeworking/teleworking and work outside normal work locations.
TELEWORK (télétravail): Work done away from the normal places of work such as offices or factories; performed instead in workers’ homes or in other locations.
TERMINATION (Cessation d’emploi): Employment ends for any reason, including layoff, discharge or dismissal for just cause, non-disciplinary termination or the employee’s resignation.
TOTAL, FULL OR COMPLETE DISABILITY (Invalidité totale ou complète): Employee is unable to perform any of their job duties because of an injury or illness.
TRADE UNION (Syndicat): Workers organized into a voluntary association to further their mutual interests with respect to wages, hours, working conditions and other matters.
TRANSFER - also called a “deployment” (Mutation, aussi appelé « transfert »): Moving to another position, job, department, classification or location with the same employer.
TRUSTEE (Fiduciaire): An elected union official whose duty is to monitor the finances of a local union, joint council, conference, or international union. Also, an official appointed by the Independent Review Board or General President of the International Union to manage a local union in trusteeship.
U
UNDUE HARDSHIP (Contrainte excessive): The point after which employers are not obliged to provide an accommodation, as measured by the following:
- Costs would be so high that they would significantly affect the employer’s ability to do business or provide services.
- A change in operations would be so disruptive that the employer could not survive.
- There would be too many negative impacts on workers’ rights under the collective agreement.
- Health and safety concerns would outweigh the benefits of the accommodation.
UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICE (Pratique de travail injuste): An employer or union breaks a labour law. For example, the union might complain that the employer is discriminating against the local or branch president or the employer might complaint that the union is staging a “wildcat” strike. Labour laws provide processes for filing unfair labour practice complaints with the labour board. A member filing against their union files what is known as a duty of fair representation complaint.
UNILATERAL ACTION OR CHANGE (Action ou modification unilatérale): An action taken by an employer impacting, changing or modifying a mandatory subject of bargaining without bargaining with the union.
W
WITHOUT PREJUDICE (Sous toutes réserves): Statement (e.g. “We withdraw the grievance, without prejudice.”) that current action will not affect future rights and actions, even when the facts are the same.
WORKING CONDITIONS (Conditions de travail): Conditions pertaining to the workers’ job environment, such as hours of work, safety, paid holidays and vacations, rest periods, free clothing or uniforms, and possibilities for advancement. Many of these are included in the collective agreement and are subject to collective bargaining.
