Every worker deserves a union!!

In British Columbia, workers have strong rights when it comes to joining a labour union. These rights are protected by the BC Labour Relations Code. Key rights include:

1. Right to Join a Union

• Employees have the legal right to join or form a union without interference from their employer. You cannot be disciplined, fired, or treated unfairly for expressing interest in or supporting union activities.

2. Right to Organize

• Employees have the right to engage in union organizing activities, such as signing membership cards, attending meetings, and encouraging coworkers to join the union. These activities are protected, and employers are prohibited from trying to stop them.

3. Freedom from Employer Interference

• Employers are forbidden from interfering in union activities, including:
  • Attempting to influence employee decisions on union membership.
  • Threatening job loss, pay cuts, or other penalties if employees join a union.
  • Offering benefits or promotions to discourage union membership.

4. Certification Process

• If enough employees support unionization (by signing union membership cards), the union can apply to the BC Labour Relations Board for certification. If at least 55% of the workers in a bargaining unit sign union cards, the board can certify the union without requiring a vote. If between 45-55% of workers sign cards, a secret-ballot vote will be held.

5. Protection from Retaliation

• It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for joining a union, organizing union activities, or participating in the certification process. This includes firing, demoting, reducing hours, or altering job conditions due to union involvement.

6. Right to Strike

• Once a union is certified, employees have the right to engage in strike action, under specific conditions, to resolve collective bargaining disputes. Strikes must follow legal procedures, including a vote by union members and notice to the employer.

7. Right to Collective Bargaining

• Certified unions have the right to negotiate a collective agreement on behalf of their members, setting out wages, working conditions, and other employment terms.

These rights ensure that workers in BC can freely associate and seek better working conditions through union representation. If an employer violates these rights, workers can file a complaint with the BC Labour Relations Board.

Working time is for work

Working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution during work hours, except that your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work.

Employers, unions, and individuals can be guilty of coercive or intimidating conduct. If they are, it is an unfair labour practice.

Coercion and intimidation include things like force or threats. The Board will look at all the circumstances surrounding the conduct to decide whether it was likely to have unlawfully influenced an employee’s right to choose whether to become or to stay a union member.

Examples of conduct the Board has found is intimidating or coercive include:

–a union organizer inaccurately telling employees that they would lose their jobs if they did not sign a union membership card (when there was no union security clause to that effect)

-a supervisor telling a crew that the plant would be closed and moved to another country if the union was certified

–a manager asking employees if they signed union membership cards

–managers in a branch of a large chain telling employees in one-on-one meetings that the employer had closed other branches after they unionized

-an employer calling employees at home and asking if they planned to vote for the union

–an employer encouraging employees to form a plant committee as an alternative to the union and helping them to do so

–an employer encouraging employees to support one of two unions and giving the preferred union employee contact information to make it easier for it to organize

–an employer holding one-on-one interviews with employees telling them to ignore the union and its organizers

–an employer holding a mandatory meeting and telling employees that the union had a negative impact at other businesses. The employer also asked employees to join a different union

–an employer telling employees that it could not increase wages because of the union’s organizing drive and certification, even though it had planned the increase before the union organizing drive started (so giving the increase would not have been a violation of the Code)

What is an unfair labor practice?

Conduct that interferes with the employee’s right or ability to make up their own mind about whether to support a union is called an unfair labour practice. There are a number of important rights and obligations under the Labour Relations Code (the Code) that are intended to build and support an employee’s choice to access collective bargaining and the collective bargaining process.

The Code prohibits unfair labour practices, whether they are committed by employers, by unions, or by individuals acting on the employer or the union’s behalf.  However, there are some prohibitions in the Code that specifically target employer conduct and others that specifically target union conduct. Unfair labour practices can happen at any time but often occur:

• When employees are trying to join a union, to organize their workplace, or when the union has filed an application for certification.
• During collective bargaining
• When there is a strike or lockout

Some conduct may be covered by more than one of the unfair labour practice sections in the Code. This is a general guide.