Earlier this month, I wrote an article about underground construction workers in Alberta trying to unionize.
Local 2404 of the Pile Drivers, Divers, Bridge, Dock & Wharf Builders Union filed the union certification application back in March for workers employed by Marathon Underground Constructors Corporation.
Based out of Ontario, Marathon offers several services in underground construction, including design, engineering, management, geotechnical investigation, utility mapping, environmental assessment, risk management, and training.
The Alberta Labour Relations Board had scheduled a hearing for the 8th to entertain arguments as to whether these workers should be able to unionize with Local 2404.
They still have not issued the certification.
In fact, a week after the hearing, Marathon submitted their own application, this time accusing the union of trying during working hours to persuade worker to unionize and making promises to workers if they vote to unionize.
Both of these, if true, violate Alberta’s Labour Relations Code, specifically sections 151.1.d and 151.1.f:
No trade union and no person acting on behalf of a trade union shall, except with the consent of the employer of an employee, attempt, at an employee’s place of employment during the working hours of the employee, to persuade the employee to become, to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member of a trade union; [or] use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises or undue influence of any kind with respect to any employee with a view to encouraging or discouraging membership or activity in or for a trade union including activity relating to making or revoking an election
But Local 2404 did not take those accusations lying down and submitted their own application, accusing Marathon of unionbusting.
Okay, they did not specifically use the term unionbusting, but what they claimed happened sure sounds like unionbusting.
According to last week’s new applications report published by the ALRB, Local 2404 submitted their application the same day that Marathon submitted theirs.
In their application, the union claimed that Marathon “used threats and intimidation to compel employees from becoming members of” Local 2404.
Now, to be fair, Marathon does not seem to have a problem with these workers unionizing per se, just not with Local 2404.
You see, the application summary also reports that Local 2404 provided employee information to another union (one that is unnamed in the summary), or at least facilitated the provision of that information to the other union.
Local 2404 claimed in their application that this amounted to “unlawful support to another union”.
In their application, Local 2404 argued that these action violate several sections of Alberta’s Labour Relations Code. They claim that the alleged threats and intimidation violate sections 148.1.a.ii and 149.1.c.
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall participate in or interfere with the representation of employees by a trade union
Labour Relations Code, 148.1.a.ii
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall seek by intimidation, dismissal, threat of dismissal or any other kind of threat, by the imposition of a pecuniary or other penalty or by any other means, to compel an employee to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member, officer or representative of a trade union
Labour Relations Code, 149.1.c
The support for another union, however, violates section 148.1.b, according to Local 2404
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall contribute financial or other support to a trade union.
Labour Relations Code, 148.1.b
