Rights of employees and employers

21(1) An employee has the right

(a) to be a member of a trade union and to participate in its lawful activities, and

(b) to bargain collectively with the employee’s employer through a bargaining agent.

 

Discrimination

22 No employer or any person acting on their behalf shall discriminate against a person in regard to employment or membership in a trade union, or intimidate or coerce a person or impose a pecuniary or other penalty on a person.

 

This means that by law, you as an employee have the right to not only become a union member, but you also have the right to unionize your employer without any penalty to you, intimidation on you or any coercion. No, an employer cannot fire you for exercising this right! In some cases, the labour board can directly certify the employer union for these violations.

 

Certification

Applications for certification

32 A trade union may apply to the Board to be certified as the bargaining agent for the employees in a unit that the trade union considers appropriate for collective bargaining.

 

Evidence in support of application for certification

33 An application for certification shall be supported by evidence, in a form satisfactory to the Board, that

(a) at least 40% of the employees in the unit applied for, by

(i) maintaining membership in good standing in the trade union, or

(ii) applying for membership in the trade union and paying on their own behalf a sum of not less than $2 not longer than 90 days before the date the application for certification was made, or both,

have indicated their support for the trade union, or

(b) at least 40% of the employees in the unit applied for have, not longer than 90 days before the date the application for certification was made, indicated in writing their selection of the trade union to be the bargaining agent on their behalf.

 

34(1) Before granting an application for certification, the Board shall satisfy itself, after any investigation that it considers necessary, that

(a) the applicant is a trade union,

(b) the application is timely,

(c) the unit applied for, or a unit reasonably similar to it, is an appropriate unit for collective bargaining,

(d) the employees in the unit the Board considers an appropriate unit for collective bargaining have voted, at a representation vote conducted by the Board, to select the trade union as their bargaining agent.

 

(2) Before conducting a representation vote the Board shall satisfy itself, on the basis of the evidence submitted in support of the application and the Board’s investigation in respect of that evidence, that at the time of the application for certification the union had the support, in the form set out in section 33(a) or (b), of at least 40% of the employees in the unit applied for.

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(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), the Board shall conduct any representation vote and complete its inquiries into and consideration of the application for certification as soon as possible.

 

This explains the process in which you, the employee can certify (unionize) your employer without the support or direction of your employer through a vote. The employees must have a favourable vote of 51 percent.