Do Restrictions Protect Employee Rights or Union Interests?
Philosophically, the process of determining workplace representation is vested with employees. Yet, the reality in many jurisdictions is that employees seeking to terminate a relationship with a union face incomparable individual exposure and procedural barriers that do not exist in certification processes. They must also deal with quasi-judicial adjudication panels that tend to be pre-disposed to a unionized point of view. The combination of these factors serve to frustrate employees exercising their rights during the revocation process. Are these limitations in the best interests of employees or do they exist to protect the union’s interests? According to one Labour Relations Board decision in Alberta, the answer seems clear. In deliberating on how a revocation application would be dealt with if a tie vote occurred when unionized and non-unionized units were merged, the Board stated: “The truth is that union support waxes and wanes over time depending on things like staff turnover, e
