ONTARIO

Premier ignores law and order for bad employees

Workers fired for wanting to form a union

Company protected

Workers fired for wanting to join a union want Premier Mike Harris to make sure they get their jobs back and to reinstate a law that would have protected them in the first place.

Members of the ‘Drycore Ten’ were joined by union representatives at a news conference at the Ontario Legislature. Theirs was one of a number of cases documented in recent months in which employers have fired workers before the workplace votes on whether to form unions.

The cases show how the Harris government is using bad legislation to protect bad employers. In June 1998, the Harris government removed the most effective penalty for employers who break the law by intimidating workers in the process of forming a union – automatic certification.

For decades, the Ontario Labour Relations Board had the right to grant automatic union recognition in cases where the employer’s intimidation of workers during organizing drives was so gross or blatant that a workplace vote on whether to form a union could not be trusted to reflect the true wishes of the workers.

The ‘Drycore Ten’ is a group of 10 workers fired in early February by Drycore Electric Inc. for wanting to join a union. The Quebec-based contractor is counting on the firings to intimidate the remaining workers from supporting the union, says the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

OFL president Wayne Samuelson said Premier Harris’ anti-worker law is preventing workers from exercising their democratic right to form a union.

“Parts of the Ontario Labour Relations Act forbid the employer from intimidating workers - threatening discipline or firing of workers who want to form a union. Yet, by passing Bill 31, Premier Mike Harris has told employers: “Don’t worry. Even if you break some parts of the law, we have another part that will let you off the hook.”

“This government is so big on law and order – but not for bad employers.”

IBEW representative Andy Kingsley presented other cases of firings by employers trying to scare workers away from forming a union. “The ‘Drycore’ incident is by no means isolated,” he said. “More and more contractors feel that they have nothing to worry about when they break the law.”