A Union for Your Workplace

Your right to organize is protected by legislation. Understanding the law is a critical first step to securing that right.

When you and your co-workers decided it is time to join a union instead of trying to deal with your employer alone, your begin the process of organizing a union.

By joining together with your co-workers, you will have a greater ability to be more effective in getting your employer to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. These workplace improvements are achieved through the process of collective bargaining, which concludes with a legally-binding enforceable collective agreement, signed between the union and the employer.

Most unions also do many other things for their members to help each other. They help their members if they have a problem with health and safety on the job, advocate for them in Workers Compensation or Employment Insurance cases, and offer other programs for members and their families.

There are provincial and federal labour laws that:

• ensure you have the right to join and organize a union
• protect you if your employer tries to stop you from joining a union
• give your union legal recognition, and
• require your employer to negotiate with your union.

Your freedom to join a union is guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In most Alberta workplaces, this right I protected by Alberta Labour Relations Code.

If you are organizing a union, it I essential to follow the correct process because employers often hire lawyers to challenge your legal right to join a union. An established union has the expertise and resources to make sure you avoid the legal obstacles you employers may try to put in your way, and make sure your employer respects you right to join a union.

Labour law terms
Labour laws uses some specific terms that you should be familiar with:

CERTIFICATION
The Code provides the means for your union to be recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for you and your co-workers. This recognition is called certification. Once your union has gained certification, the Code requires an employer to negotiate with your union.

BARGAINING UNIT
A bargaining unit is a group of employees who share a common interest, and are eligible to join a union. A single contract covers all of the employees in a bargaining unit. (There can be more than one bargaining unit in one workplace, and a bargaining unit can include employees at more than one workplace).

AN ESTABLISHED UNION
The IUPAT is an established union that meets the technical rules and requirments of the Alberta Labour Relations Code.

An established union will make the job of organizing a union for your workplace much easier, and make the union at your workplace stronger.

Applying for certification
In order to apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for certification, a union must be able to demonstrate that it has the support of at least 40 percent of the employees in the proposed bargaining unit.

How does a union prove it has the 40 percent support necessary to start an application?
Union support is proven by producing proof of membership in good standing (union applications, initiations and dues) or signed and dated petition cards.

Sample petition card:
EMPLOYEE PETITION 
I, the undersigned, employee of _________________________ have freely signed this petition to support an application for certification by the IUPAT Local 177 for the Labour Relations Board to conduct such secret ballot vote for the purpose of certification of the IUPAT Local 177 as our Bargaining Agent.  

Name (please print) _______________________________________
Address (Street, City) ______________________________   Postal Code _______ 
Home Phone No. (___)_________ Date of signing ____________________________  
Witness Signature Signature 
____________________________ ____________________________ 
IUPAT Local 177
17318 – 106 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5S 1H9
 

The Alberta Labour Relations Code does not allow membership and petition cards to be combined in an application. Therefore union organizers will often have existing members and non-members sign petition cards as the best way to apply for certification. These cards are good for 90 days.

The cards are checked as part of the Board’s investigation of certification applications.

After receiving the union’s application for certification, the Board advises the employer that the application is pending. The employer is then required to notify all affected employees by posting a notice in a conspicuous location at the workplace.

At the same time, the Board appoints an Labour Relations Officer to investigate the union’s application. The Officer’s first task will be to contact the employer to secure a list of all employees in the unit on the date the Board received the union’s application. This information is usually obtained by examining the employer’s payroll records for that date. The Officer will then contact the union in order to examine petition cards or membership evidence.

Will the employer receive information about individual employees as a part of the certification process?
The Code and Board practices protect confidentiality of information about individual employees related to their union membership. The Board will not disclose the names of employees supporting a union application for certification to the employer.

Normally the Board will either grant or deny a certification application on the basis of the Officers’ report, the submissions of the parties and a representation vote. A hearing is generally scheduled by the Board at the time of application and may be necessary when a application is accompanied by unfair labour practice complaints or a dispute about the appropriate bargaining unit.

Appropriate bargaining unit
When a union applies to be certified, it is applying to represent a specific group of employees. The Board decides whether that group of employees is appropriate for collective bargaining purposes. In order to make that determination the Board must specify which employees should be covered by the certification. This is called determination of the appropriate bargaining unit.

The Board usually determines the appropriate bargaining unit before it can decide whether the union has the support of a majority of the employees in that unit. In determining whether a group of employees is appropriate for collective bargaining, the Board will consider a number of factors, including:

• administrative efficiency and convenience in collective bargaining;
• lateral mobility of employees;
• desirability of a common framework of employment conditions for similar work situations;
  industrial stability;
• historical representation patterns;
• nature of the industry; and
• geographic considerations.

Where practical, the Board prefers large bargaining units to small or fragmented groups. However, a smaller unit is permitted as long as it is appropriate.

The employer may not negotiate separate contracts with members of the bargaining unit.

Proving support for the union
Certification will be granted only if a sufficient number of employees in the appropriate bargaining unit want union representation. Under the code, the wishes of the employees can be demonstrated:

• by having the union submit evidence that enough of the employees in the appropriate unit are members in good standing or signed petition cards;
• and a mandatory representation vote.

All representation votes are conducted by the Board. The Board appoints a returning officer to supervise the vote and both the union and employer are entitled to appoint a scrutineer to be present when the vote is conducted.

How is a representation vote held?
The returning officer appointed by the Board will set the date, time and place for taking the vote and will ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote has a reasonable chance to do so. A representation vote generally takes place within ten days of the application for certification or at the earliest opportunity. All employees in the bargaining unit are eligible to vote and the returning officer will establish a voter’s list. The vote may be held at the employer’s premises during working hours.

All votes are conducted by secret ballot. If there is any disputes as to the elegibility of an employee to vote, the employee in question will be permitted to cast a ballot. That ballot, however, will be kept separately in a sealed envelope, and the ballot box will also be sealed until the Board decides if that employee was eligible to vote. Once all questions of elegibility have been determined, all eligible ballots will be counted.

In order for a union to be certified after a certification vote has been ordered, a majority of the employees who vote must support representation by the union. If the union does not get majority support, its application will be dismissed.

The effect of certification
Once the Board issues a certification, the union becomes the exclusive bargaining agent for every employee in the bargaining unit, whether or not the employee is a member of the union.

The employer is not entitled to bypass the union and negotiate separate and individual contracts of employment with any of the employees in the bargaining unit.

Employee protection during organizing
There are legal provisions that protect your right to organize without interference from your employer.

An employer cannot discriminate against an employee because the employee supports, or has joined the union. Working men and women have the legal right to union representation.

It is an unfair labour practice for an employer to participate in or interfere with the formation or administration of a trade union or the representation of employees by a trade union (Section 146).

These actions are examples of prohibited practice by employers:

• Terminating or disciplining an employee for joining or organizing a trade union (Section 147(a))
• Bargaining with one trade union for a unit that is represented by another union (Section 147(e))
• Making it a condition of employment that a person not join a trade union (Section 147(b))
• Denying employees their entitlement to pension rights or benefits because of their participation in a strike or lockout (Section 153)

If the Board finds the complaint is justified, it may take whatever interim or final action it feels is necessary to rectify the breach of the Code complained about, include ordering that:

• The practice be stopped;
• an employee suspended or discharged be reinstated and compensated;
• an employee be reinstated or admitted as a member of a trade union; or an unfair disciplinary action or penalty be lifted, and compensation paid (Section 16).

WORK UNION/LIVE BETTER - FACTS ABOUT ORGANIZING 
The Law
Alberta Law protects your legal right to belong to a union. 
Union Protection
Your rights to decent wages and working conditions can only be protected by union collective agreements. 
Costs
You do not pay any initiation fee when you join during an organizing drive. 
Confidentiality
All conversations and cards are strictly confidential.