- May 26, 2021
- Certifications/Decertifications
IATSE, Local 262, filed an application pursuant to s. 39 of the Labour Code, R.S.Q., c. C‑27 (the “Code”) claiming that the employees working at Cineplex Entertainment’s new VIP Cinemas in Brossard, QC, were included in its existing bargaining unit covering employees employed at the adjacent Brossard Cineplex Odeon Cinema (“Brossard Cinema”).
Cineplex Entertainment operates 16 cinemas at the Brossard Cinema. IATSE has bargaining rights with respect of employees employed at Brossard Cinemas except projectionists. In 2012, Cineplex Entertainment built four new “VIP”-type cinemas (“VIP Cinemas”) near the existing Brossard Cinema. A corridor connects both buildings. The VIP Cinemas has a separate entrance and ticket office, but shares an address and telephone number with the Brossard Cinema. Cineplex Entertainment posts the ticket prices and the schedules of the movies showing at both Cinemas in a single area on its website. The activities and attendance information of VIP Cinemas are not treated separately from those of Brossard Cinema.
The Commission determined that employees of VIP Cinemas are included in the bargaining unit covering employees at Brossard Cinema for which IATSE Local 262 is the bargaining agent. It held that the VIP Cinemas’ services were an extension of those offered by Brossard Cinemas, rather than a separate business. Generally, new positions or job duties will be included in an existing bargaining unit that is broadly defined unless they are significantly different from the existing positions and job duties and there could be no community of interest such that collective bargaining could not be effected for all employees. In this case, the fact that VIP Cinemas offered enriched or more sophisticated services did not change the nature of the services offered by Cineplex Entertainment to the point where employees employed at the VIP Cinemas are excluded from the original certificate. As such, the application was granted.