Employer Question: My company has a union representing most of our employees. The other day one of my employees told me that several of them are unhappy with their union and want to get rid of it. He asked me how to go about this. What should I do?

Answer: The first thing you will want to do as an Employer, is not get involved. The Labour Relations Act for the Province of Manitoba deals with this. Specifically, Section 6(1) of The Labour Relations Act prohibits participation by an employer in the selection or representation of employees by a union, and an employer found to be in contravention of this Section commits an Unfair Labour Practice. If you are approached by an employee seeking advice on the decertification (i.e. getting rid of) of a union, you should refer them directly to the Manitoba Labour Board for information on labour laws and regulations or suggest that they seek advice from a lawyer or consultant who regularly deals with such matters.

Employee Question: We have a Union where I work. I am a member of the Union but I feel that we don't get proper service from the Union. Many other workers feel this way and we would like to get rid of the Union. How do we do this?

Answer: Whenever employees call us with this question, we first ask them if they have spoken to the Union about their concerns. Often, the answer to this is no. When this is the case, our first advice is to have the employee(s) speak to their Union about what is troubling them and attempt to have the matter corrected. When they advise that they have spoken to the Union and nothing has improved, we advise them what the law says about "getting rid of" or "decertifying" the Union.

The Labour Relations Act for the Province of Manitoba deals with this at Sections 49(1) and 49(2). In short it states that an employee claiming to represent a majority of employees represented by a Union can apply to the Labour Board to have the certification of the Union cancelled, thereby "getting rid" of the Union. The Sections also identify when such an application will be accepted by the Board, and that is identified in Section 35 of the Labour Relations Act.

Section 35 specifically identifies when you can apply to the Board, and this is governed by the effective dates of the Contract (Collective Agreement) and its' length. For example, the dates to apply (open period) are different depending on whether the Contract is for a term of 18 months or less or for a term of more than 18 months.

Any application to be made must be in the form of a petition clearly identifying the printed names and signatures of the employees. For information, you can contact the Labour Board or seek assistance from a lawyer or consultant who regularly deals with such matters.

Employer Question: One of my employees confided in me that a few of his co-workers are trying to get a union into our Company, and they are signing Union Membership Cards. I don't think we need a Union and I am thinking about calling all my employees together for a meeting to talk to them about this. What should I do?

Answer: Under no circumstances should you have a meeting with your employees to discuss whether or not they should have a Union. This is known as a "captive audience" meeting and to do so, is contrary to Section 6(1) of The Labour Relations Act. Under that Section, an Employer can be found in breach of the Act, and they commit an Unfair Labour Practice if they become involved in or interfere with the selection of a union by the employees. It is a choice to be made by the employees themselves, without fear of any reprisal(s) by the Employer. To be found to have committed an Unfair Labour Practice can result in monetary penalties and if the Board so judges based upon the circumstances, they can automatically certify the Union to represent your employees without a vote of the Employees ever taking place.

You, as an Employer, have certain rights during a Union organizing campaign, but those rights are limited by The Labour Relations Act. When you first become aware that your employees are organizing your best approach is to either just let it run its' course or seeking advice from a lawyer or consultant who regularly deals with such matters. The Unions know their rights - make sure you know yours.

Employer Question: The Union Steward at our Company has been filing grievances on the most insignificant issues, and in most cases the problems could have been avoided by a simple conversation. How do I get this Steward to change his approach?

Answer: Tactics like this sometimes signal real problems with key supervisory or management staff in their dealings with their staff. The way to get to the root of the problem is first to examine the supervisory style of your key managers in the areas where the grievances are being filed. Experience has shown that in many instances, things like inconsistent supervisory practices or outright poor people skills on the part of managers or supervisors leads to unions filing seemingly frivolous grievances. In fact, it may be those very practices that caused the Employees to get a Union in the first place. Their approach is triggered by a belief that the only way to get through to a poor supervisor is to file grievances until he/she changes their practices.

Employer Question: I have about 30 employees and they just joined a Union. I really am not concerned about that other than now I have to negotiate a contract. The Union sent me this 40 page document and I am not sure where to begin.

Answer: This is one of our most common questions. Where do we begin? What do we do? Our first advice is to suggest you get assistance with the negotiation of the Contract. Get someone who has done this before to assist you in going through the steps. Under Manitoba Law the Parties are guaranteed a first contract as the Labour Board will impose a contract if the parties are unable to settle one by themselves. This is found in Section 87 of The Labour Relations Act.

Be certain that you know the rights available you such as the Appointment of a Conciliation Officer; when it is timely to apply to the Board to impose an Agreement; what constitutes Bargaining in Bad Faith, etc.

Just because the Board will impose an Agreement if requested by either party to do so, don't take the position that the Board should impose everything and not agree to anything. The best deal for you continues to be one you can negotiate. Keep an open mind on all of the articles, one by one, and where you cannot agree, then the Board may have to deal with it. The fewer the articles before the Board, the better, in our view.

Employer Question: I have decided to get representation in negotiations. What will it cost me to have representation to negotiate a contract from start to finish?

Answer: Most individuals, whether lawyers or consultants will charge by the hour for negotiations services. We can't speak for others but while we also have an hourly rate for services, we also provide a flat-fee service, where for a pre-determined rate we guarantee that our fees will not exceed that rate for the entire project. We track all our hours and if our hours on the project works out to less than the flat-fee our client gets the lesser of the two rates. On average our flat fee rate to negotiate a first agreement from start to finish is from $7,000.00 to $10,000.00. A renewal Agreement is usually anywhere from $4,000.00 to $8,000.00. And, when we negotiate on an Employer's behalf, we also provide free advice on Labour Relations Issues for the life of the Agreement.