Last month, I wrote an article about workers employed by Foothills Creamery filing a union certification application.
If their application ends up being successful, it would mean that over 30 factory workers would be unionized.
Well, it turns out, that the employer is not too keen on their workers unionizing, probably to the surprise of very few readers of The Alberta Worker.
Earlier this month, Local 401 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, which filed the application, filled another application with the Alberta Labour Relations Board, but this time acccusing Foothills Creamery of unionbusting.
To be clear, this week’s new applications report from the ALRB, which summarized this application, never used the term unionbusting, but let me share the details with you and you can decide for yourself if it counts.
In the report, the ALRB indicates that Local 401 claims that one of the workers who would fall under this proposed bargaining unit was told by the company’s maintenance manager that he would support the worker’s obtaining his power engineer certificate only on the condition that the worker vote against joining Local 401.
As well, apparently, the demand planning manager and the production supervisor for Foothills Creamery held captive audience meetings. These are typically mandatory meetings held during working hours and to disseminate anti-union propaganda. Union representatives are banned from such meetings, and sometimes workers can face discipline for refusing to participate or even pushing back against claims made in the meetings.
In fact, when two of the affected workers refused to participate in these meetings, according to Local 401, the production supervisor repeatedly requested that they meet with the company.
The demand planning manager and the production supervisor also approached workers on their breaks, as summarized in the report, and told them the union was “not good”.
Finally, Local 401 claimed that the production supervisor reassigned a worker to new tasks, which isolated him from his fellow workers to diminish his influence on their decision regarding unionization.
Local 401 claimed in their application to the ALRB that these actions violate multiple sections of Alberta’s Labour Relations Code.
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 refuse to employ or to continue to employ any person or discriminate against any person in regard to employment or any term or condition of employment because the person is a member of a trade union or an applicant for membership in a trade union, has indicated in writing the person’s selection of a trade union to be the bargaining agent on the person’s behalf, has testified or otherwise participated in or may testify or otherwise participate in a proceeding under this Act, or has exercised any right under this Act
Labour Relations Code, 149.1.a.i, 149.1.a.ii, 149.1.a.iv, & 149.1.a.viii
No employer or employers’ organization and no person acting on behalf of an employer or employers’ organization shall impose any condition in a contract of employment that restrains, or has the effect of restraining, an employee from exercising any right conferred on the employee by this Act; or 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.b & 149.1.c
Listed in the application as employer representatives are Bill McKenzie, who has been CEO since 2021, and David de Groot, a partner with the Calgary law firm Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, LLP.
Because the ALRB does not archive their new application reports, I have included a copy of this week’s report below for your convenience.
