New Union organizing rules in place in British Columbia

Just before they took to their constituencies or other destinations as part of a two week Easter break, the British Columbia government announced some changes to labour legislation in the province that will make for a single step union certification process.

The process in place prior to the amendment was a two-step system with required a minimum of 45% of workers on a job site to sign membership cards and once that threshold was met,  workers then had to restate their desire to join a union through a second vote.

The Amendments to the Labour Code were announced by Labour Minister Harry Bains last Wednesday, the Minister noting how the current two step process can at times lead to interference in the bid to unionize by workers.

“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve seen that many people want to make their workplaces safer, provide more input to their work schedules and negotiate better wages and benefits, and they should be able to this without barriers, The current two-step system can lead to interference in organizing. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, workers who wish to collectively organize must not be impeded in any way.”

Under the new amendments, there are two key elements towards worker unionization 

If 55% or more of employees in a workplace indicate their intent to unionize by signing union membership cards, a union will be certified and no further vote is required.

If between 45% and 55% of employees sign union membership cards, a second step consisting of a secret ballot vote is required for certification.

The provincial information release of last week also noted how the amendments will have an impact on the provincial construction sector.

The amendments to the Labour Relations Code will also affect construction sector unions by allowing workers annual opportunities to switch unions if they are unhappy with their current representation. Current rules can effectively prevent workers from changing unions for three years. 

The amendments recognize that individual construction projects may only be one or two years in duration, preventing some workers from ever being able to change unions under the current system.

In response to the Amendments, the BC Liberals noted of the change to the secret ballot process in any initial unionization drive from the amendment, as well as to express their concerns over the lack of consultation that the Government took on towards the changes.

On the North Coast, MLA Jennifer Rice was also making use of her Social Media stream, relaying the government side of the Legislatures themes on how the new amendments will improve labour conditions in the province.

One union on the North Coast, UFAWU-Unifor has already taken note of the amendment and how it may be able to use the new mechanism to build its membership.

The amendment of last week could also see a number of other local employers seeing a renewed drive for unionization from their workforce in the weeks and months to come.

More on Labour on the North Coast can be reviewed here.

Further notes on the Legislature can be explored from our archive pages here.