This practice note provides the information required from a bargaining agent when filing an objection to a position listed in a post-certification application by an employer for an order to declare a position managerial or confidential.

Under section 73 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act (FPSLRA), if the bargaining agent considers that a particular position in the employer's application is not a position referred to in any of paragraphs 59(1)(a) to (h) of the FPSLRA, the bargaining agent may file an objection in respect of that position.

Pursuant to section 34 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Regulations (the Regulations), an objection that is filed with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) under section 73 of the FPSLRA must be filed no later than 20 calendar days after receipt of a copy of the employer's application. The objection must contain, for each position objected to, the following information:

• the position title, description, number and classification, the department or agency to which it belongs and the geographic location of the position; and
• a statement of the grounds for the objection.

Conditional consent has not been deemed to be an objection

The FPSLREB does not consider conditional consent by a bargaining agent to be an objection under section 73 of the PSLRA. This includes instances in which a bargaining agent files a statement indicating it agrees with the employer about a managerial or confidential position mentioned in an application on the condition that the order declaring another position managerial or confidential be revoked or that a position be returned to the bargaining unit. In such cases, the FPSLREB will process the employer's application as though no objection had been filed.

Consent on one of multiple grounds

In cases where the employer had filed an application for a particular position on the basis of more than one paragraph of subsection 59(1) of the FPSLRA and where the bargaining agent had consented to the application on one of those grounds, the FPSLREB processes the application on the basis of the bargaining agent's consent to that ground.

Key points

• Under subsection 34(2) of the Regulations, the bargaining agent must provide the employer with a copy of its objection.
• Under section 75 of the FPSLRA, if no objection to the employer's application is filed or if an objection was filed by the bargaining agent and was subsequently withdrawn, the FPSLREB will make an order declaring the position listed in the employer's application to be a managerial or confidential position.

For more information…

Please consult:

• Sections 59 to 63 and 71 to 78 of the PSLRA.
• Sections 33 to 35 of the Regulations.