Publisher: IRC Press
ISBN: 0-88886-395-0
Year: 1995
Price: $30.00 NOW $10.00
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Summary:
When the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted in 1982, labour law experts were concerned that its equality rights section would be used to undermine collective bargaining, and feminist experts worried that its equality provisions would be reduced, making social change impossible. The opposing visions of these two groups were expected to clash, with seniority as a key issue of contention.
This expectation was realistic given the U.S. experience, where collective bargaining and equality rights clashed over the seniority issues following the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination in employment. Seniority rights sometimes slowed down or prevented the integration of blacks and women in the workplace. In times of layoffs, they insured that recently hired employees from these groups were the first to go. This led to innumerable lawsuits, culminating in a series of Supreme Court decisions in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The potential for similar conflicts in Canada is even greater because its antidiscrimination provisions contain no counterpart to the general seniority exemption in American law. Despite this, there has not been a single case of direct challenge to seniority systems under the Charter.
The author explores this and other issues relating to seniority rules and their effect on Canadian women. Readers will learn why more complex antidiscrimination cases involving seniority and equality rights have not been heard in Canada; what arguments could be invoked and how likely it is that they would succeed; what women's best interests are with regard to the seniority issue; and what reforms could be introduced.
Author biography:
Louise Dulude is an Ottawa researcher specializing in the rights of disadvantaged people. She holds law degrees from the University of Montreal (bachelor), McGill University (master's), and the University of Ottawa (doctorate). She has authored reports for the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women (on matrimonial property, taxation, aging, and pensions, among others), for the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, of which she was President from 1986 to 1988, and for the National Council of Welfare ( Women and Poverty, 1979, Women and Poverty Revisited, 1990, and Legal Aid and the Poor, 1995).
Reviews:
“In Canadian law, this is the first complete analysis on the subject… the author… presents not only a full survey of the literature… but, more importantly, a set of concrete solutions to the problem.”
Maurice Drapeau,
Legal Advisor,
Commission des droits de la personne du Québec
“…a clear and comprehensive analysis of seniority an its impact on employment equity for women… Seniority systems and their operation are described in detail, as is their impact on women's employment and jobs path. The author provide a convincing case of how the effect of seniority agreements is to discriminate against women and offers a range of solutions which would accommodate equity concerns in seniority systems.”
Judy Fudge,
Osgoode Hall Law School,
York University |
