In AUPE v Alberta, 2014 ABCA 43, the Alberta Court held that the essential character of a dispute between the parties was beyond the jurisdiction of a grievance arbitration board where it involved the constitutional validity of s 12(1) of Public Service Employee Relations Act.  The dispute at issue raised the question whether, as a matter of constitutional law alone, an entire group of workers was wrongly excluded by the statute from the bargaining unit.  It was not a dispute under the collective agreement.

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