A board ruling in 2021 had already flagged the deal but nobody acted on it
A Nova Scotia employer arrived before the Labour Board confident it had a valid agreement protecting its operations during a potential work stoppage. It did not.
In a March 6, 2026, decision, Labour Board Chair Jasmine Walsh ruled that the 2021 Essential Services Agreement between EMC Emergency Medical Care Incorporated and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Local 015 was legally void, not because it had been terminated, amended or renegotiated, but because the employer's workforce had grown dramatically and the agreement was never updated to reflect it. Both parties were left with no valid agreement, in a legal strike and lockout position, and with no remedy available to the Board under the application before it.
Between 2021 and 2026, EMC's weekly shift totals climbed from 139 to 219, driven by rising call volumes. The 2021 agreement included a Schedule "A" that captured 80% of that year's regularly scheduled shifts, satisfying the legal requirement to identify the employee classifications and numbers needed at any one time during a work stoppage. By 2026, Schedule "A" reflected only 64% of EMC's essential health services work. The workforce had grown substantially; the agreement had not. This failure to update was particularly striking given that a 2021 Board ruling in Canadian Union of Postal Workers v. EMC Emergency Medical Care Inc., 2021 NSLB 78 had already declared the same ESA deprived...
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