Unions want secret-ballot votes abolished in B.C.
A key recommendation by unions at a hearing of the B.C. Labour Relations Code review committee Wednesday was to dispense with secret-ballot votes and bring back the signing of union cards as the measure of bargaining unit certification.
Keeping secret-ballot votes, however, tops the list of provisions in the existing Labour Relations Code that employer groups want to hang, signalling the pressure the committee is under in its deliberations, which will result in recommendations on revising the code.
“It’s a pressure that any third party feels in any kind of labour-relations event,” said committee chairman Michael Fleming, a lawyer and longtime impartial adjudicator in the labour relations field.
Labour Minister Harry Bains appointed the committee Feb. 6 with Fleming as chairman and labour lawyers Sandra Banister representing union interests and Barry Dong representing employer interests, to undertake the first review of the main legislation governing employment standards in B.C.’s unionized workplaces since 2003.
Premier John Horgan’s NDP promised a review of the code in the election, with a view to remove the secret-ballot provision, and Bains appointed the committee as a provision of its supply and management agreement with the B.C. Green party.
From the union sector’s perspective, the review is a long-awaited chance to advocate for rolling back changes made by the previous B.C. Liberal government that its member unions argue stacked the deck against their ability to organize.
Repealing provisions that allow employers to communicate with employees during unionization drives and removing the essential-service designation from education were common recommendations among the union presenters to Wednesday’s public hearing in Vancouver.
But card-based certification “is the most important change that can be made to restore balance” in B.C.’s Labour Relations Code, said Martina Boyd, staff counsel for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Former premier Gordon Campbell’s B.C. Liberal government, in 2001, brought back the requirement for secret-ballot votes.
On Wednesday, speakers representing unions said the change has resulted in unfair labour practices, with employer tactics during voting periods often amounting to intimidation to dissuade employees from voting in favour of unions.
The perspective of employers who have made submissions, however, is there can be intimidation on employees to sign cards during an organizing campaign, said Dan Baxter, an executive with the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.
“What we would say is a secret ballot is the true measure to clear the air,” said Baxter, director of policy development for the chamber.
The B.C. Chamber of Commerce was one of 13 signatories, along with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Independent Contractors and Business Association and Urban Development Institute, recommending B.C. maintain the existing Labour Relations Code’s status quo.