Two of Canada’s biggest government unions will face off against the province before the labour relations board this summer in a continuation of a four-year fight over mandatory criminal record checks.

The dispute has been going on since 2005, when the then-NDP government expanded the field of civil servants who must undergo criminal record checks. Previously, the checks had been required only for people in positions of authority.

The province expanded its criminal record checks in November 2005 in response to some big losses of government money — including close to $1 million from the social services department.

A former social services manager, Evelyn Hynes, later pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Hynes was hired by the government in 1989 before criminal record checks were brought in. It turned out she had a previous run-in with the law in the 1980s when she was convicted of defrauding a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce branch in Newfoundland of more than $600,000.

If you have an old criminal record, its imperative that you apply for a Canada Pardon so that you will be safe with your work.