Essential services mediations at the Labour Relations Board (LRB) will commence on June 2, 2025 and continue daily for six weeks. Of CSSEA’s approximately 200 members, there are over 130 employers with outstanding plans that still need to be finalized. With the assistance of the mediators at the LRB all plans must be finalized by July 17, 2025. Given the high volume of outstanding plans, the Board is, on average, scheduling four employers per day per mediator (the Board has assigned up to three mediators to assist). Depending on the nature of the outstanding plan, Employers will be scheduled for between 30 minutes and two hours for their mediation sessions. HRLR staff will be available to assist Employers and may need to support multiple Employers concurrently.
Dispute Resolution Process
If issues cannot be resolved through mediation, the mediator will issue a report under Section 72(4) of the Labour Relations Code; the report will form the basis of an Order. If general policy issues arise and cannot be resolved, they may be referred to a Vice-Chair for an expedited hearing and binding adjudication. An explanation of the dispute resolution process can be found here.
Fees
The cost of the mediation is $500 (plus GST) per day per mediator, which will be split between the Employers and Unions; therefore, the Employer’s cost will be $250 (plus GST) per day per mediator. The $250 (plus GST) will be apportioned between Employers each day for the services of the mediator. For example, if there are four Employers on one day, each will be required to remit $62.50 (plus GST). Further logistical details on billing will be provided as they become available.
Schedule
Employers that have mediations for week one, June 2 to 6, 2025, have been notified by their HRLR Consultant/Advocate of their date and time.
Once the Board has finalized the schedule for weeks two to six, your HRLR Consultant/Advocate will advise you of your date and time. We strongly encourage employers to continue with local-level discussions prior to the mediation. The more the parties are able to narrow the issues prior to mediation, the more productive mediation will be in the limited time available.
Should you have any questions, please contact your HRLR Consultant/Advocate.