A LOOK AT SOME RECENT ATTEMPTS TO FORM UNIONS

In a close vote this week, 55 per cent of WestJet’s pilots rejected unionization, allowing the airline to preserve its status as one of the only major airlines in the Western world without a union.

A store in Jonquière, Que., successfully became the first Walmart location in North America to unionize in 2004. Months later, the retail giant responded by closing up shop, saying the store wasn’t profitable. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the 190 employees who lost their jobs were entitled to compensation from the company.

The Canadian Auto Workers ( now part of Unifor) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have made several attempts to unionize Toyota’s plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ont., to no avail. However, Unifor organizing director John Aman says a recent decision to move production of the Corolla to Mexico from Cambridge has reignited interest in unionization.

A 2012 attempt to unionize junior hockey players in Nova Scotia failed after a certification vote was called off. Unifor has been pushing to organize players across the country, with national president Jerry Dias saying it’s time for teams to share some of their profits with the players, who are unpaid.

Staff lawyers at Legal Aid Ontario are seeking to join the Society of Energy Professionals, but lawyers must get voluntary recognition from their employers in order to join a union, according to the Law Times. Although 80 per cent of them chose to join the union, their employer rejected the request. The lawyers, being lawyers, are going to court to challenge the decision.