PEA Wins Right to Proceed With Lawyer Rates of Pay Arbitration

Dear PEA members,

In an award issued on August 30, 2024, Arbitrator Jim Dorsey confirmed that rates of pay for classifications of newly included government civil lawyers and articled students can be arbitrated under Article 32.10 of the PEA Main Collective Agreement.

Shortly after Bill 5 brought government lawyers into the PEA by legislation, the Union grieved that the Employer had introduced a new classification of government civil lawyers and articled students in the Collective Agreement, and that, in the absence of agreement between the Parties, the Union had the right to refer the issue of salary to an arbitrator to make a final and binding decision on rate of pay.

This grievance marks the latest chapter in government lawyers’ attempts to voluntarily negotiate their pay with the Employer, since being separated from the Crown Counsel classification in 2019. Since that time, their pay has fallen significantly behind Crown Counsel.

The Employer put forward a preliminary objection to the grievance, which was heard on the basis of written submissions by the Parties.

After reviewing the submissions, the Employer’s preliminary objection was dismissed. The Arbitrator found that lawyers and articled students were included in the bargaining unit by decisions of the Legislature and executive branch of government, and that the decision to introduce their job classifications as previously excluded employees for the first time under the collective agreement was a management human resource decision which triggered the application of Article 32.10.

This is an important award that takes the Union closer to addressing the historical injustices in the treatment of government civil lawyers’ rates of pay. The PEA will continue to fight for lawyers and articled students to exercise their rights under the Collective Agreement. The Union is now preparing for arbitration on rates of pay, scheduled in November 2024.

The Union wishes to acknowledge the great work of PEA’s legal counsel Jodie Gauthier and Henry Goddard-Rebstein and members of the Government Lawyers Sub-Chapter executive.

In solidarity,

Micah Weintraub, Chair, Government Lawyers Sub-Chapter Executive

Laura Kate Jeffreys and Melissa Moroz, PEA Labour Relations Officers