Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Another in an ongoing series of handouts, news and information that will be of interest to PSAC stewards …

Unfair labour practices interfere with workers’ rights to join and participate in the union, or in the union’s right to represent its members. Unfair labour practices target union representatives or union members for discriminatory treatment because they exercise their union rights. Federal, provincial and territorial labour laws describe unfair labour practices as prohibited conduct, and provide a complaint mechanism to have the matter reviewed. If the labour board agrees that the conduct has violated the law, it can intervene and order that the practice stop.

Before the first labour laws were enacted in Canada, workers had exercised their rights to strike, form unions and bargain collectively before it became “legal” to do so. When these fundamental rights found their place in the early labour laws, they came with protections. Legislators early on decided that legislative provisions were needed to prohibit an employer from abusing its power to circumvent or undermine these rights. Without the protections, it was thought that employers could basically buy the type of union or union representative that served their needs, or use coercion and intimidation to prevent workers from joining or participating in the union or otherwise exercising their rights. These first “unfair labour practice” provisions were the precursors of our modern versions. Today, in every jurisdiction, each labour code outlines in detail those “unfair labour practices” prohibited under the statute.

The law provides a framework to protect union representatives and the members they represent from these illegal practices. Over time, there have been many labour board decisions that have sent a strong message to employers that these rights must be observed and taken seriously. By the same token, an equally strong message has been conveyed to unions that only serious allegations should be brought as unfair labour practice complaints. Therefore, to protect and promote the effectiveness of the union at the workplace, we need to consider the unfair labour practice complaint as but one option among a variety of tools and strategies.

Read more, including some tips for union representatives, in the ‘unfair labour practices’ handout (pdf), prepared by the PSAC Education Section. Visit the Steward’s Network pages at the Regional Website.