- May 26, 2021
- Certifications/Decertifications
With the assistance of the International, Locals 118 and 901 formed a poly-party council to facilitate organizing companies working in stage and trade show industries. In an earlier decision, the Board approved of the newly-formed Council. At issue in this decision was which employees were entitled to have their votes counted in the Application for Certification. In this case Eventstar Services Inc. (the “Employer”) supplies equipment and services for trade show and stage events. The Employer has core workers which it regularly employs, however where an event is large in scope, the Employer calls additional workers to perform the work. On the date of Application, the Employer was engaged to provide support for one of the larger events resulting in a large number of casual employees being employed in addition to those the employees the Employer referred to as its regular or core employees.
The Employer argued that only those who are “core” employees regularly employed by the Employer should be permitted to vote. The B.C.L.R.B. characterized the Employer’s relationship with all of its employees as temporary given that none of them worked on a regular basis. As a result, the B.C.L.R.B. held that all employees employed on the date of Application and within the 90-day period prior to the date of Application were eligible to vote.
Additionally, the Employer sought to include ballots which they claimed were mailed to the B.C.L.R.B. but did not arrive to the B.C.L.R.B. in time for the vote or at all. The B.C.L.R.B. did not allow those votes to be included holding that once the voting card is properly mailed to the voter, it is the voter’s responsibility to ensure that it is received on time.
The representation vote was held and Locals 118 and 891 won by a vote count of 27 to 8. The B.C.L.R.B. subsequently certified the bargaining unit.