LW1210 – Labour Law in Canada Stage 2 - Organizing a Union in Canada + Terminology With Paul Tilley

Right to Join a Union Regardless of where you live in Canada, you have the legal right to join a union and take an active role in helping to establish a union where you work.

Jurisdiction Matters The specific legal process to have your union legally recognized, or "certified", depends on where your workplace is located. Labour law for most workplaces is covered by provincial legislation, so the specific legal steps to form a union will depend mainly on your province.

Federal Jurisdiction While most workplaces will fall under provincial labour law, some workplaces are covered by federal labour law. These include workplaces in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and in the following industries: broadcasting telecommunications banking air transportation shipping and navigation interprovincial or international transportation of goods or passengers uranium mining and processing grain handling federal crown corporations

Stage 1 – Organizing Usually employee dissatisfaction creates an environment to begin a secret drive to organize Option 1 – A national union approaches the workers Option 2 – The workers approach the union IN SECRET – Initially, employees express their support for the union by signing union membership (Authorization) cards. A movement takes hold to get a majority of workers to sign a union card and pay a nominal fee.

Stage 2 – Cards to Labour Board When the campaign has reached the proper level of support, these cards are then submitted to the appropriate provincial or federal labour relations board (Labour Board), along with what is often called the union's "application for certification." The Labour Board will keep the membership cards confidential and will not tell the employer who has signed or not signed a union membership card.

Stage 3 – Labour Board Approval/Election The appropriate Labour Board can either certify (legally recognize) the union based on a check and count of the membership cards or; In Newfoundland and Labrador, if more than 65% of employees have signed cards, the Labour Relations Board will certify the union without holding a vote. When at least 40% but less than 65% of employees sign union cards, the Labour Relations Board will hold a certification vote (Representation Election), generally within 5 working days. See: Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Board Information Bulletin on Application for Certification See: Canada Industrial Relations Board Information Circular - Applications for Certifications

Labour Board Defines Bargaining Unit  Supervisors and Bargaining Units  Supervisors are excluded from bargaining units  Defined as any individual with the authority to hire, transfer, discharge, discipline, and who uses independent judgment with employees  The Appropriate Bargaining Unit is determined by:  “Community of Interest”  Wages, hours, and working conditions  Traditional industry groupings for bargaining purposes  Physical location and amount of interaction and working relationships among employee groups  Supervision by similar levels of management

Stage 4 – Labour Board Certification For workplaces in industries covered by Federal labour law and for workplaces in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut, if more than 50% of employees have signed cards, the union can be certified. If 35% - 50% of employees have signed union cards, the Labour Board can hold a vote. Once your union has been officially certified by the Labour Board, you can begin to negotiate your first contract (also known as your collective agreement) as members of the union. PROVINCIAL JURISDICTION See: Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Board Information Bulletin on Application for Certification FEDERAL JUSRISTICTION See: Canada Industrial Relations Board Information Circular - Applications for Certifications

Stage 5 – In-House Election The newly certified union represents the workers in a “Union Local” The Local holds an Election amongst its members The elected executive represents the Local’s interests and conducts Bargaining on the member’s behalf.

Stage 6 – Bargaining / Labour Action / Agreement After a union has been certified, employers have to meet with them and engage in what is called “good faith bargaining” This bargaining ideally culminates in a contract – an agreement between the union and the employers. The contract is then voted on by union members. If no contract is bargained, then the union can go on strike to put pressure on the employer. During the strike an employer can hire replacements – which unions called “scabs” to work instead of the striking workers. Employers are not allowed to fire workers while on strike, but they also are not prevented from replacing them with permanent replacements. One of the conditions of settlement of successful strikes is nearly always getting rid of the replacement workers.

Legal Do’s and Don’ts for Managers During Unionization Employer Do’s  Discharge, suspend, transfer, layoff or otherwise discipline an employee for proper cause  Make a change in the operation that is reasonably necessary for the proper conduct of business  Express management views on any matter providing it does not use intimidation or coercion Employer Don’ts  Engage in threats, coercion or intimidation  Interrogate employee about their voting intentions  Hire spies or infiltrators to acquire information or influence union activities  Promise or alter the terms of employment in response to a union drive  Shut down any establishment to avoid or eliminate a union  And many other activities…

Unfair Labour Practices: Union  Bargaining collectively or signing a collective agreement where another union is known to be the bargaining agent.  Interfering with or participating in the formation of an employers’ organization.  Attempting to organize on the employer’s premises during working hours without the consent of the employer.  Using coercion, intimidation, threats, promises, or undue influence to encourage trade union membership.

Starting a union/Removing a union and Replacing a union: Open Periods  A Union can be formed at any time. Workers can also decide to close a union (decertify a union) or replace a union with another. This can only be done at certain times in the Collective Agreement.  No union: No collective agreement: any time  Union: No collective agreement: one year after certification  Union:1 to 3- year collective agreement last three months of agreement  Union: Collective agreement longer than 3 years: last three months of the third year and the last three months of every year after that  Union: Collective agreement continues in operation last three months of the agreement and the last three months of any additional year

LW1210 – Labour Law in Canada Unionization Key Terminology with Paul Tilley

Unionization: Key Terms  Salting  The practice in which unions hire and pay people to apply for jobs at certain companies.  Union Authorization Card  A card signed by an employee to designate a union as his or her collective bargaining agent.  Bargaining Unit  Employees eligible to select a single union to represent and bargain collectively for them.  Union Certification  Occurs when a union becomes the legal representatives for designated employees as granted by the labour relations board.  Decertification  The process whereby a union is removed as the representative of a group of employees.  First Contract Arbitration  Once a newly formed union has been certified, the employer and the union must negotiate a first contract within a specified period of time.

Collective Bargaining  A process through which union leaders and management personnel negotiate common terms and conditions of employment  Union power is achieved through group action enabled by the collective bargaining process 9-17

Collective Bargaining  union and management try to reach an agreement on such issues as pay, pensions, workload and holidays  once an agreement is reached a contract called a collective agreement is signed by both sides that state the terms of the agreement and how long it is in effect

Collective Bargaining  if a dispute arises during the term of the collective agreement than an arbitrator (outside person) settles the dispute

Conciliation / Mediation  after a contract expires and the two sides cannot come to an agreement on a new contract  both union and management may agree to allow a conciliator (outside person) hear both sides and try to bring them to an agreement

Strike / Lockout  Occurs if labour and management cannot come to an agreement and create a collective bargaining agreement (CBA)  labour may strike (withhold labour services) or management may lockout the workers

Strike / Lockout  both sides use this tactic as a last resort as it hurts everyone involved including the economy as a whole (e.g. NHL lockout) Players vs Owners Summary Article  What’s fair?PlayersOwners Summary Article  both sides feel a strike or lockout will force the other side to give in to their contract demands

The Contract  union security  closed shop – membership mandatory OR open shop – membership not mandatory  wages and benefits  cost of living allowances (COLAs) allow wages to keep up with inflation and benefits such as medical, dental, pension and life insurance

The Contract  seniority  laid off based on “last in first out” principle  grievance procedures  procedure to settle disputes between workers and management

Unions & Wages  restricting supply of labour causes wages to increase  increasing the demand for labour causes wages to increase  balances the power of monopolies and oligopolies

Labour Unions  Groups of individuals working together to achieve job-related goals  higher pay  reasonable work hours  better working conditions  better job security  benefits 9-26

Certifying a Union  Determine and seek government approval  The nature of the bargaining unit employees  Certification vote  supervised by a government representative to determine whether the union can be certified, and therefore, legitimately exist  Decertification  The process by which employees terminate their union’s right to represent them 9-27

Local Union  Basic union organization  Focused on a small geographic area  All are members of the same craft or industrial union  May make up the union in a single organization  Powers of locals vary and may include  collective bargaining on behalf of members  disciplining members who violate contract standards  handling employee grievances with management 9-28

National and International Unions  National unions have members across Canada  Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)  National Railway Union (NRU)  Canadian Airline Pilots Union (CAPU)  International unions have members in more than one country  United Steelworkers of America (USWA) 9-29

Closed Shop  Employer can hire only unionized workers  All workers are members of the union and therefore pay union dues  Common in craft trades, such as building/electrical contractors  Provides the most security for union membership 9-30

Agency Shop  An employee need not join the union  Rand Formula  All employees who benefit from union negotiations are required to pay dues to the union whether or not they are a member  Applies to all unions certified under the Quebec Labour Code 9-31

Open Shop  An employer may hire union or non-union employees  Employees not required to join the union  Employees not required to pay union dues 9-32