While there are sections in this guide devoted to American, foreign, and international labour law, the majority of this guide is on Canadian labour law. Labour law in Canada is governed by both federal and provincial law. Through case law, it has become clear what sort of labour is the responsibility of the provinces and what is the responsibility of the federal government. Those who work in labour under the powers of s 91 of the Constitution are the responsibility of the federal government. Under the province, the power to enact labour laws is given under s 92 of the Constitution.
CANADA
UNITED STATES
FOREIGN
INTERNATIONAL
BLOGS
CANADA
Primary Sources
To start, you may want to find a good introduction about the topic. You can do this by going to the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) - this is a multi-volume set covering most legal topics. For labour, you will want to go to volume 18, title 84 (for provincial law) and title 84.1 (for federal law). The information in the CED for provincial laws is focused mainly on Ontario and the Western provinces; although this may still be of use to those in New Brunswick, keep this in mind. The CED is also available on Westlaw Canada (this is only accessible to UNB Law students and faculty with a password; it is not available to UNB or STU non-law students or faculty).
An example for labour law in the CED would be if you wanted to find something on intimidation to joining or refraining from joining a union. In that case, you would go to volume 18, title 84, and go to the back of the section, where you would find the index. Go to unfair labour practices, and under that section, you would find “intimidation/coercion 519-21”. The 519-21 does not refer to the page number. It refers to the paragraph number in the title. In this case, go to paragraphs 519-21 and you will find information on intimidation/coercion. In Westlaw Canada, you can browse the volume or conduct a search.
Statutes and Regulations
Federal
Canada Labour Code, RSC 1985 c L.2
Provincial
Industrial Relations Act, RSNB 1973, c I-48
Human Rights Act, RSNB 1973, c H-11
Public Service Labour Relations Act, RSNB 1973, c P-25
Labour and Employment Board Act, SNB 1994, c L-0.01
To find other statutes, you can use sources such as:
CanLII (free internet source that gives access to statutes & cases from all federal & provincial courts, as well as many tribunals);
Westlaw Canada (only accessible to UNB law students and faculty - password required);
Quicklaw (open to all UNB and STU law and non-law students and faculty);
Labour Spectrum (open to all UNB and STU law and non-law students and faculty);
Justice Canada – from the Department of Justice; or
New Brunswick Queen's Printer - Current Consolidated Acts and Regulations
Case law
To find case law, here are some sources you can browse:
Canadian Abridgment Digests, Vol. 62-75: Labour and Employment Law, or electronically available in Westlaw Canada.
Canadian Labour Law Reporter
Labour Arbitration Cases
Using keywords, you can use these sources:
CanLII (free internet source that gives access to statutes & cases from all federal & provincial courts, as well as many tribunals);
CanLII NB Labour and Employment Board Decisions (specific page in CanLII devoted to decisions given by the NBLEB)
Westlaw Canada (only accessible to UNB law students and faculty - password required);
Quicklaw (open to all UNB and STU law and non-law students and faculty);
Labour Spectrum (open to all UNB and STU law and non-law students and faculty);
Maritime Law Book (open to the public; UNB law students and faculty have passwords to obtain extra information).
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources include treatises and articles. They not only give a general overview of the law, but also provide citations to legislation and case law.
Books
Adams, G.W. Canadian Labour Law. 2nd ed. (Aurora, ON: Canada Law Book, 1993). A looseleaf edition on Canadian labour law. LAWRESERVE: KF 3319 .A74 1993.
Brown, Donald J.M. and David M. Beatty. Canadian Labour Arbitration 4th ed. (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 2006) – A loose-leaf series which is constantly updated. This is an excellent starting point to determine relevant case law for all kinds of labour topics. LAWRESERVE: KF 3424 .B7 2006.
Carter, Donald D. Labour Law in Canada (Markham, Ont.: Butterworth’s Canada, 2002). LAWRESERVE: KF 3320 .ZA2 L32 2002.
Labour Law Casebook Group. Labour & Employment Law: Cases Materials, and Commentary. 7th ed. (Irwin Law: Toronto, 2004).
LAWRESERVE:
KF 3318 .L32 2004.
MacNeil, Michael, Michael Lynk and Peter Engelmann. Trade Union Law in Canada (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 1994) – This looseleaf service describes how unions are organized, and their legal status in Canadian law.
LAWRESERVE: KF 3390 .ZA2 M32 1994.
Snyder, Ronald M. Collective Agreement Arbitration in Canada. 4th ed. (Markham, ON: LexisNexis, 2009)
LAWRESERVE: KF 3424 .P34 2009. This is also available electronically within Quicklaw.
Snyder, Ronald M. The Annotated Canadian Labour Code (Scarborough, Ont.: Carswell, 2010) – This annual book provides not only the Canadian Labour Code but also reports on various cases that deal with the individual sections.
LAW-STACKS: KF 3319 .S56 2010.
There are many more books available on labour law. To find more books, search Quest, our online catalogue (use keyword searches with words like labour and industrial relations (use synonyms) or you could use these words in a title search to narrow your focus. A subject search for books dealing with labour issues will also be helpful).
Articles
To find articles on Canadian labour law, go to the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL), which is available in Print and online on Westlaw Canada and Quicklaw.
To see what journals we have in our collection that deal with labour law, go to the A to Z list; here, you can search for a journal by name and see if we have it in print or electronically. Also, remember that there are full-text journals within Westlaw Canada and Quicklaw.
Internet Resources
Canada Industrial Relations Board - this tribunal makes decisions on complaints filed under the Canada Labour Code. Decisions of the Board and statutes it operates under are on the website.
Canadian Labour Congress - this is the umbrella organization for organized labour in Canada. It brings together Canada's national and international unions. Links to various union councils and issues are on the website.
Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources – at U of T – This is a program that specializes in all aspects of employment and labour relationships. The site carries excellent articles, as well as a link to the CIRHR library and links to other resources.
LabourRelations.org – this website lists various labour relations Acts for the federal government and most of the provinces.
Lancaster House – labour and employment law publisher with news and articles on labour and employment law from Canada, and some from overseas.
New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board - "The New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal responsible for adjudicating employment and labour matters" persuant to several pieces of legislation.
New Brunswick Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour - this is the New Brunswick department responsible for labour issues in the province.
New Brunswick Human Rights Commission - "The Human Rights Commission forwards the principles of equality found in the New Brunswick Human Rights Act by promoting an understanding, acceptance and compliance with the Act."
Canadian Civil Liberties Association - "The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is a national organization that was constituted in 1964 to promote respect for and observance of fundamental human rights and civil liberties."
National Union of Public and General Employees - Made up of 11 unions across Canada, this organization's mandate is to monitor labour law developments, give members a presence on the national stage, develop bargaining strategies, etc.
Labour Start Canada - "LabourStart is an online news service...which aims to serve the international trade union movement by collecting and disseminating information." This is the page on Canada.
UNITED STATES
There is a wealth of information on United States labour law; here are some resources from U.S. law school, government departments, and organizations:
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Library - University of California at Berkeley - contains research materials and numerous other guides on labor in the United States
Georgetown University Law Centre Library - Labor and Employment Law Research Guide – this website lists both primary and secondary sources to US labour law.
AFL-CIO - The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is an umbrella organization of 56 national and international unions
THOMAS – from the Library of Congress. This is a good site to view the full text of Public laws from 1973 to the present, as well as the full text of bills from 1989 to the present.
Legal Information Institute (Labor) – From Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, this page lists and provides links to important federal and state laws regarding labour. It also provides links to various federal and state court decisions on labour.
National Labor Relations Board - The NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act that governs relations between unions and employers. The website includes all of the Board's decisions going back to its founding 1935.
U.S. Department of Labor – Law Library – links to Federal and state statutes and cases, as well as government documents.
U.S. Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics - statistics dealing with labour in federal areas, some going back to the early 1980's.
Note: For U.S. journals on labour law, try LegalTrac and HeinonLine, both of which are all on e-resources. Westlaw Canada and Lexis Nexis also have a number of labour related articles in their database. Lexis Nexis is only available in the Law Library at the reference desk computer. It is open for use by any UNB law student or faculty member or UNB or STU non-law student or faculty member.
FOREIGN
NATLEX (National Laws on Labour, Social Security and related human rights) – From the ILO, this website indexes labour laws from all of the countries of the world. Not all of these laws are online or in full text.
WorldLII (World Legal Information Institute) – under ‘catalog’, click on 'subjects,' then 'labour law' to get information on labour laws of various countries. The countries that are included here are as follows:
INTERNATIONAL
International Organizations:
ILO (International Labour Organization) – UN agency promotes social justice as well as human and labour rights. The website has information on labour statistics, worker and employment rights, and social justice.
FedEE (Federation of European Employers) – Information on EU countries about employment law, pay and industrial relations, international treaties and conventions, background papers, and a current news service.
ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) –international organization of affiliated unions. Organizes and directs campaigns to defend and promote workers rights and social causes around the world.
International Treaties and Conventions:
ILOLEX (Database of International Labour Standards) – From the ILO, this website has links to the conventions ratified under the ILO
NAALC (North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation) – From the Commission for Labour Cooperation’s website. The NAALC was established under the NAFTA agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Has full text of the NAALC, as well as information on the Commission, and its reports.
Journals
To see what journals we have in our collection that deal with international labour law, go to the A to Z list; here, you can search for a journal by name and see if we have it in print or electronically.
For international journals on labour law, try LegalTrac and HeinonLine, both of which are all on e-resources. Lexis Nexis also has a number of labour related articles in their database. Lexis Nexis is only available in the Law Library at the reference desk computer. It is open for use by any UNB law student or faculty member or UNB or STU non-law student or faculty member.
BLOGS
Thoughts from a management lawyer – a blog created by a management-side labour lawyer from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto. This blog discusses Canadian labour and employment law with a wide variety of topics.
Schenk & Associates – a blog created by a Vancouver law firm specializing in administrative law and litigation in the labour law field. Also provides links to various labour and employment entities.
Toronto Employment Lawyer – a blog created by a Toronto employment and labour lawyer. His blog deals with mostly Canadian employment and labour issues. He also provides links to various Canadian legal sources.
Workplace Prof Blog – this blog, created by law professors in the United States, covers a wide range of employment and labour law topics.
Doorey’s Workplace law blog – created by a professor at York University, deals with labour and employment law issues in Canada and around the world.
Originally compiled by Daniel Perlin, Reference Librarian
Last updated on May 19, 2010
Updated by Catherine Cotter to reflect New Brunswick content
on August 30, 2010.
