We help navigate complex labour relations.

The arbitration of rights disputes under the collective agreement is at the core of our practice. We are routinely consulted regarding all aspects of the grievance process, including the drafting and filing of grievances, assessing the prospects of success at arbitration, and marshalling and presenting the union’s case before the arbitrator.

We have extensive experience and industry knowledge to help our clients bargain effectively from the union side of the table and we regularly assist at every stage of the process: in advance, behind the scenes, or at the bargaining table. With the benefit of our strategic, focussed, and candid advice, our clients regularly secure material and priority advancements to their employment terms and conditions.

Unions routinely rely on our firm for advice in asserting their constitutionally-protected right to strike. We recognize that striking is the powerhouse of collective bargaining and is necessary for workers to come together to overcome their individual vulnerability, negotiate with employers and exert meaningful influence over their working conditions. We counsel unions regarding the conduct, scope, and strategy of permissible strike activity and we defend unions and their members against employer injunctions seeking to restrict those activities.

We regularly represent unions at interest arbitration, including at conciliation, mediation-arbitration, and before arbitrators or panels. We have extensive experience preparing and presenting at interest arbitration. That experience in interest arbitration means that we can bring strategic and nimble advice to our client’s decision-making and ensure that they put the best possible case before the interest arbitrator. We know how to do it efficiently and effectively to secure the best possible results for our clients.

We regularly advise unions with members alleged to have engaged in serious misconduct, and can often help to negotiate a fair resolution to the discipline for the member. Where settlement is not practicable, we have a long track record of successfully challenging unfair and disproportionate employer discipline at arbitration.

We conduct and provide advice regarding investigations into sensitive allegations of misconduct, including allegations of harassment or discrimination by managers, between members, or alleged misconduct by senior union leaders. We help our clients to navigate the complex and often competing interests in such cases, and assist in addressing the allegations after the investigation is complete.

We are routinely sought out to take on complex civil litigation on behalf of unions, including in urgent and extraordinary circumstances. We are recognized as experts in the exclusive jurisdiction model of labour relations, and regularly secure the dismissal of injunctions and other civil claims which arise out of the application or interpretation of collective agreements, or amount to an allegation that the union has breached its duty of fair representation.

We advise unions who seek to assert and expand the constitutional rights of their members. We have been actively in involved in litigation regarding the scope of the Charter’s guarantee of a meaningful process of collective bargaining, including the right to strike, as a component of free association.

We appear before a wide variety of specialized administrative boards and tribunals. Our practice is informed by extensive experience both challenging and defending the reasonableness and correctness of administrative decisions on judicial review.

We provide unions with advice and support in discharging their duty of fair representation, including where members are uniquely challenging or demanding. We also have an excellent record of success in defending claims that our clients have violated the duty of fair representation.

We have a special interest and expertise in the protection and enforcement of human rights in the modern workplace. We represent unions and their members before both labour arbitrators and human rights tribunals to advance and resolve individual and systemic claims of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, and sexual orientation, to ensure appropriate and ongoing accommodations for disability- and family status-related needs at work, to identify and advocate for human rights considerations in discipline matters, and to defend against allegations of human rights violations by the union itself.

We are the counsel of choice where unions face high-stakes disruption, conflict, and uncertainty, including in circumstances of crisis. No matter the problem or potential consequences, we help our clients chart the path forward with integrity, discretion, and very good judgment.

We are lucky to serve many clients who are bold, progressive, and engaged directly in important public interest advocacy and litigation. We also recognize our special duty as lawyers to address injustice and inequality. To that end, we take on pro bono cases for individual non-unionized workers, charitable and non-profit organizations, as well as very small unions and their members. In all aspects of our practice, we litigate strategically to advance the overall interests of unions, associations, and the labour movement generally.

We represent unions before labour relations boards and tribunals in acquiring bargaining rights and work jurisdiction, and enforcing those rights vis-à-vis employers and other bargaining agents.

We have years of experience helping unions structure their internal affairs to represent their members more effectively. Union clients frequently request our assistance to review and amend their constitution and bylaws and to advise on restructuring their offices and representative frameworks.

We provide advice to unions and their members regarding their pension and disability benefit entitlements, including workplace safety and insurance claims and appeals, appeals of determinations by long-term disability plan insurers, collective agreement benefit obligations, as well as plan design and administration.

We assist unions in establishing and maintaining relative pay equity within their workplaces, including in the negotiation and implementation of pay equity plans, the evaluation and classification of positions, and the elimination of gender and other wage gaps.

We defend individual union members who face allegations of professional misconduct in front of their regulators.

We advise unions in connection with their employment of union staff, including with respect to employment contracts, minimum employment standards, as well as termination and severance.

We design and deliver training seminars and resources for our clients, their stewards, and their members, including in the areas of collective bargaining, the investigation and arbitration of grievances, discrimination and harassment claims between members, and the duty of fair representation.