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:: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 ::

Anti-union letter crossed line: labour relations board - Canadian Employment Law Today Article
While the board said much of the letter was indeed a valid exercise of free speech, parts of its crossed the line.

It was critical of two aspects of the sixth paragraph. The statement, “We will not willingly sign an agreement with a third party” would be understood by the ordinary employee as a threat that Guardian would not make reasonable efforts to enter into a collective agreement with a union.

“That is, the employer would not abide by its obligation of good-faith bargaining imposed by the Labour Relations Code,” the board said.

While the employer argued the sentence was simply informing employees that it would not voluntarily recognize the union, the board said that simply wasn’t what the sentence said.

“That is not what it says, and no ordinary employee would likely grasp that nuance in any event,” the board said. “The message is that selecting the union as bargaining agent is not only unwise (an opinion) but futile (a threat).”

posted 6:10 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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