A duty of fair representation complaint was dismissed by the Alberta Labour Relations Board largely because the employee failed to tell the union about his concerns and that he wanted the union to follow up on them. The union can’t help you if you don’t tell them about your problems and ask them for help. The Board also noted that part of an employee’s obligation to help himself was to take steps to file his own grievance in situations where the collective agreement would allow it (as was the case here): Ammar v Amalgamated Transit Union, Local No. 569, 2025 ALRB 26

The Supreme Court of British Columbia issued a stay under the Arbitration Act and declined jurisdiction to hear an issue involving the termination of an employee in Virginia in a case that gave me flashbacks to the horrors of my Conflicts of Laws class back in law school. An arbitration had already commenced in Virginia and the court found it was more convenient and cost-effective to allow that process to continue rather than risk duplicating proceedings by permitting an action in BC: Mavrakis v TELUS International (Cda) Inc., 2025 BCSC 378

The Alberta Labour Relations Board found a duty of fair representation complaint to be untimely. The employee argued unsuccessfully that the limitation period should not have started because this was a situation of a continuing breach similar to what is seen in human rights complaints: Adams v General Teamsters, Local Union No. 362, 2025 ALRB 27

The Manitoba Court of King’s Bench allows the City of Winnipeg’s application to strike a constructive dismissal claim filed by a former Winnipeg police officer. The Court held the collective agreement was the sole avenue for redress for unionized employee’s like the plaintiff and, even if the union declined to bring a grievance on her behalf, a civil lawsuit was not available to her: Duncan v. The City of Winnipeg, 2025 MBKB 33

Another in a series of complaints brought by former employees of CNRL who were denied religious exemptions from the company’s Covid-19 vaccination policy, Alberta Human Rights Commissioner Shim overturned the Director’s decision to dismiss and directed the complaint to a hearing. : Tennant v Canadian Natural Resources Limited, 2025 AHRC 28

The Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal this week in the Harbour Air case. Recall that British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld a “succinct” termination clause finding it compliant with the Canada Labour Code.