- June 10, 2021
- Unfair Labour Practices
The Union was engaged in an organizing campaign targeted at the employees of the Employer.
On September 8, 2017, the Union filed an application with the Tribunal for an interim order that the employer cease interfering with the association of employees and intimidating individual employees contrary to section 3 and 12 to 14 of the Labour Code (the “Code”). On the morning of the hearing, the Employer alleged that the Union was unlawfully soliciting support contrary to section 5 of the Code.
In order to justify an interim order, a party must show that there is a serious issue to be tried; that in the absence of the order, the party would suffer irreparable harm; and that the balance of convenience favours the granting of the order.
The Tribunal held that the Union had met all three criteria. Specifically, the Employer’s written communications with employees suggested and implied that the benefits they enjoyed were at risk and the quality of labour relations would suffer as a result of unionization. The Employer had also informed employees how to resist the pressure to sign a membership card, how to retract a membership card after it was signed, and of loss of pay in the event of a strike. The Tribunal therefore ordered the employer to stop communicating in writing with its employees to discuss, directly or indirectly, the organizing campaign.
The Tribunal dismissed the employer’s application for an interim order on the basis that the evidence presented by the employer did not meet the requirements for granting such an order.