The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly emphasized two central components of work:

Work is one of the most fundamental aspects in a person’s life, providing a means of financial support and, as importantly, a contributory role in society. It is an essential component of a person’s sense of identity, self-worth and emotional well-being. Working conditions are highly significant in shaping the whole compendium of psychological, emotional and physical elements of a person’s dignity and self-respect.

When workers join together and unionize they reduce the inherent power imbalance and inequality of bargaining power between the economically powerful employer and the vulnerable worker.

The lawyers in the Myers Labour Group, beginning with our firm’s founding labour lawyer Mel Myers a half-century ago, believe in these realities and have dedicated their professional careers to representing trade unions, professional associations and employees exclusively, in a broad range of labour and employment law matters.

Members of our Labour Group continue to uphold Mel’s values as we advocate exclusively for the rights of unionized working people.

Our labour lawyers provide advice and representation in all areas of unionized labour law. In addition to representing unions in grievance and interest arbitrations, matters before the provincial and federal labour boards, and in the Courts, we offer ongoing advice to our union clients on:

The vast majority of unions in Manitoba use Myers LLP for their legal needs. Our union clients range from large national and international trade unions and their locals to professional associations and small independent unions. Our clients represent members in public services, education, emergency and essential services, medical and hospital settings, industrial plants, the arts, transportation, the aerospace industry, construction trades and many other private industries and public-sector workplaces.

Our firm strongly believes in the ongoing promotion of the labour movement, and we actively participate in the education of union activists. In addition to hosting the annual 2-day Mel Myers Labour Conference since 2002 (open only to unions), members of our labour department regularly conduct seminars for our clients focusing on more narrow or specialized topics. We are all active members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, a national organization originally founded by Mel Myers, among others, in the late 1980s.