BC Labour Relations Code Review Committee Report ISSUE 11: MERGERS OF UNION LOCALS
Understanding the issue
National and international unions have constitutions and by-laws under which a union local is chartered. These constitutions and by-laws usually stipulate the national or international union has general rights over the union local, including:
- The right to place a union local under trusteeship and have it governed by designated officials; and
- The right to decide whether the union local can merge with another local of the same union or another union.
Under the Code, national and international unions are not recognized as trade unions in B.C. The Board therefore has limited jurisdiction over internal union matters such as those referred to above.