The Quebec Court of Appeal recently rendered an important decision in the
area of labour relations. In this matter, a public-sector union had
initially filed a complaint of hindrance of union activities with
Quebec's labour relations board (the Commission des
relations du travail), now known as the Administrative Labour
Tribunal (the "Board"). It alleged that the hindrance
consisted of the employer's prohibition on publishing a
union-related message that was appended to the electronic signature
on work-related emails sent by the employees.
At first instance, the Board decided in favour of the union,
finding that the message added by its members to their e-signature
constituted an exercise of their right to freedom of expression in
a labour relations context. Subsequently, the Superior Court
overturned the Board's decision and dismissed the union's
complaint.
