WORKERS FEEL ‘TRICKED’ INTO UNION, BLAME NEW LABOUR LAW
Provincial changes mean certification can occur without employees voting
A new labour law in Alberta designed to empower workers has left a group of Calgary labourers saying they feel tricked, bullied and voiceless.
Workers with Icon West Construction allege they were “deceived” into signing union cards and unwittingly made history in what’s believed to be Alberta’s first union certification without an employee vote, since recent labour law changes occurred.
Changes to union certification labour rules were made Sept. 1, 2017, named The Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act. The Workers say that in the fall, members of Local No. 1111 of the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union (which has since been taken over by Local 92) approached Icon workers at the gate of their secured workplace at the Telus Sky site on Centre Street and 7th Avenue
One Icon labourer, who had previously worked at a union work site two years earlier, says he was approached during his lunch hour in October by a union official with Local 1111.
“He told me I owed about $250 in past dues but that the union had a promotion, and if I paid $2 now, I would have what I owed wiped away,” said the worker, who, along with the other four employees spoken to by the Herald, requested anonymity for fear of being blackballed from future work by the union.
“So I gave him $2,” says the recent immigrant to Canada. “Who wouldn’t pay $2 to get a $250 debt wiped clean?” asked the worker.
However, “he used my signature not for a receipt, like he said, but to sign me up for the union,” the labourer said.
John Desrosier, business manager of Local 92 of the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union, said he doesn’t believe that Icon workers were “duped” into signing the union certifica- tion cards under false pretences.
“The labour code has been changed, so they got an automatic certification and we had those numbers and then it went to review at the labour board and the labour board made their decision,” said Desrosier, who was reached in Edmonton on Thursday.
“I doubt if anybody was tricked,” said Desrosier, who has fought for workers’ rights for 25 years. “Were they tricked into getting higher wages, benefits and representation? I don’t know if that would be a trick.”
A second labourer with Icon says workers’ income has dropped from $28 per hour to $25.37 — a drop of $2.63 an hour since the union certification was approved by the ALRB (Alberta Labour Relations Board.) The union also takes another $1.06 per hour from their pay, as well as another monthly fee in dues.
“My last paycheque was short $700 thanks to this union certification,” says the worker.
“All of my years of seniority, hard work and skill are not taken into account as a result of this union certification,” said the worker. “Now, all the young newbies are being paid the same as me. It’s unfair and it’s wrong.”
Under the Alberta NDP government’s new law, private ballot votes are no longer required to certify a union. All that’s needed is for at least 65 per cent of employees at a given site to sign a card and pay $2.
On Dec. 22, the ALRB upheld the union certification after refusing to allow the workers to vote on the certification or strengthen their written statements complaining about the practice.
On Wednesday, Blake Leew, project manager for Icon, filed a sworn affidavit and an application for a judicial review at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, objecting to the ALRB’s decision that shows employees were given less than one day to file written objections.
The judicial review is to be heard March 7 at the Calgary Courts Centre.
Leew says that on Dec. 21, he “received a number of emails from employees who expressed that they did not want to be part of a union, or that they had not understood that signing up for the union could result in certification of the union without a vote.” Copies of those emails were also attached to the affidavit.
The appeal says: “The Board breached the rules of natural justice and the duty of fairness which it owed to the Applicant and the employees in refusing to hear evidence, failing to consider evidence, (and) disregarding evidence ... thereby unfairly affecting the Applicant’s and the employees’ ability to respond to the Application.”
A third worker at Icon says union officials used manoeuvres “to get us to sign those union cards.”
This worker never signed a card, however many of his colleagues, who struggle with English, were allegedly told that they needed to pay $2 and sign the card to ensure they receive their pension benefits. Others were reportedly told they would never work in Calgary again if they didn’t sign the card, he said.
“We were harassed,” said the third labourer, who is one of 18 employees on the site.
On Dec. 5, 2017, Union Local No. 1111 applied to be the certified bargaining agent for the Icon employees.
On Dec. 14, Icon and the employees received an ALRB investigation report stating that “you may file written objections to the application ... prior to 9 a.m. on Dec. 18.”
The report indicated that more than 40 per cent of the employees signed up for the union. On Dec. 17, the union objected to the ALRB report saying it had received 65 per cent support. It wasn’t until Dec. 20 that these issues were ironed out.
On Dec. 20, the ALRB indicated to Icon that any objections to the automatic union certification needed to be submitted by 9 a.m. the next day, Dec. 21.
Icon and many of the employees (with the help of a law firm) filed objections on Dec. 21, but it was a few hours past the deadline set out by the ALRB. The submission included a handwritten note by an employee and seven emails, mostly written in broken English from the multinational crew.
All the submissions were declared inadequate by the ALRB at a Dec. 22 hearing.
“Every single person at the meeting wanted a vote,” said one of the 11 employees who attended the ALRB hearing. “We didn’t get a fair shake in the meeting. (The board) didn’t want to hear our stories of bullying by the union officials and how we felt misled.
During the hearing, the session was adjourned for 45 minutes so the employees could submit further written information. They were told by an ALRB official to keep their submission to a few bullet points. The employees wrote in part: “We all want a vote; 90 per cent are here; and six feel misled.”
But the board explained to the workers that the written statement was insufficient, that it would not allow another adjournment for the workers to write a more specific submission and the request to have a secretballot vote was denied.
The board’s reasons for denying the workers’ requests were given in a six-page Jan. 15 decision. “Of note,” states the report, “alleged concerns were raised regarding the nature of support, only after it became known that there would not be a vote.”
The second employee Postmedia talked to says he and his colleagues didn’t provide more detail in their written submission because they didn’t know they had to, but mostly because they feared retaliation. However, once they learned that there would be no vote, they were then prepared to use their names but their request for another adjournment to write a more fulsome complaint was denied.
The board members present — Chair William Johnson, Jason Copping and Peter Marsden — heard allegations of this behaviour toward the workers by union officials but didn’t change their ruling.
How’s that for empowering workers and increasing fairness?
Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray, who is also the minister responsible for Democratic Renewal, provided a written statement to respond to the workers’ concerns.
“Our government made changes to the certification process to make it simpler and fairer for all parties,” reads Gray’s statement.
“If the Labour Relations Board verifies a clear majority of more than 65 per cent of employees sign cards, a vote is not required. In this particular instance, the Labour Relations Board found that the 65 per cent threshold was met and that automatic certification would occur,” added Gray.
According to Hansard, during debate on Bill 17 in the legislature on May 25 last year, Gray responded to a question saying: “We have kept the secret ballot vote as part of our labour relations system.”
Therefore, while the ALRB is not required to hold a vote, it still has the discretion to do so.
In this columnist’s opinion, a vote should have been ordered after the board members heard disturbing allegations of union members using questionable tactics to get Icon workers to sign cards, particularly those with language barriers.
Leew says he doesn’t believe the workers feel intimidated by him at all, and he told them that if they want the union, he won’t stand in their way. As for the union, however, most of the employees are furious about how they were treated, as demonstrated by their emails and by five employees’ interviews with Postmedia.
“They were told, ‘You’ll never work in this town again,’ (and) ‘you owe the union $200 in arrears, but if you pay $2 and sign this card, your debt will be wiped out,’” said Leew.
One of the workers, who said they voted for the NDP in the May 2015 election, is urging Premier Rachel Notley to make private votes required if a majority of workers ask for one.
“My rights as a worker have been trampled. I am having troubles now making ends meet. I feel totally violated. I hope by speaking out, Rachel Notley will change this undemocratic law.”
I am having troubles now making ends meet. I feel totally violated. I hope by speaking out, Rachel Notley will change this undemocratic law.