Canada's courts have once again ruled in favour of democracy in the work place.
Just a few days ago, an Alberta provincial court told the Telecommunications Workers Union it could not use the courts to collect union-imposed "fines" on employees who chose to cross a picket line during a strike.
Last fall, an Ontario Court told the Public Service Alliance Union the exact same thing.
The message to union bosses should be loud and clear: You don't have the legal ability to collect your fines in court. Nor can you "sue" employees who fail to pay those fines.
So why is it some union bosses continue to threaten employees who choose to work during a strike with "fines"?
Because too few employees understand their rights, that's why. And union bosses certainly don't volunteer the information because it would undermine their ability to intimidate employees.
That's why, as John Mortimer of Labour Watch says, Canada needs legislative reform to protect unionized employees from unions that refuse to inform employees of their legal rights.
“Unions have broken trust with those they represent by suing them in spite of the law,” said Mortimer.
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3 comments:
So why is it some union bosses continue to threaten employees who choose to work during a strike with "fines"?
Because it's legal for an organization to fine its members. The court cases you cite only state that the courts cannot be used to enforce these fines.
While I don't like the way many unions treat their members or their dues, I don't think the problem is unions themselves, but the laws that affect them.
There is no reason that I shouldn't be allowed to opt out of a union in a workplace or refuse to pay dues so they can't be used for political campaigns I would rather not support, except for laws prevent me from doing so. If I was not a member of the union, they could be upset with me if I was a scab worker, but they certainly could not fine me for it.
My beef is 100% with labour laws. (Though I recognize unions pushed for them in their current form, how can we blame them, given how well it's paid off? Legislators put this incentive system in place as well.)
If we didn't have labour laws and health and safety laws, certainly labour unions would be nothing to scoff at.
... As we progress towards becoming a nation which respects individual liberty and the right of private property, we will learn to recognise that a position of employment is the property of the employer- whether a lemonade stand or GM. We will learn to respect that conditions of employment are rightly freely determined by the employer, and are free to be accepted by the individual employee.
... Unions deny the freedom of the employer and employee.
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