BC FORUM News - from the BC Federation of Labour Labour Code changes help restore fairness and balance April 30, 2019 - Proposed revisions to the BC Labour Code will help restore much-needed fairness at unionized worksites across the province. “B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a r e m a i n s a l o w -wage province, and precarious work is on the rise. The best a n t i d o t e t o e c o n o m i c i n e q u a l i t y i s g r e a t e r u n i o n d e n s i t y , ” s a y s B C F e d e r a t i o n o f L a b o u r President Laird Cronk. Fewer unions means lower pay for everybody. The BCFED w e l c o m e s g o v e r n m e n t ’s m o v e t o e x p a n d s u c c e s s o r s h i p r i g h t s t h a t p r o t e c t w o r k e r s w h e n c o n t r a c t s e r v i c e s a r e r e t e n d e r e d . “T h e c o n t r a c t r e t e n d e r i n g p r o c e s s i s u s e d a n d a b u s e d to arbitrarily terminate collective agreements and maintain poverty-l e v e l w a g e s , ” s a y s C r o n k . Contract flipping is rampant in sectors such as construction, food and building services, security and health care. “C o n t r a c t f l i p p i n g p r o m o t e s a r a c e t o t h e b o t t o m . W o r k e r s can lose pay and benefits - or even their job - w h e n t h e i r e m p l o y e r ’s c o n t r a c t i s r e t e n d e r e d o r f l i p p e d . T h e y n e e d t o r e a p p l y f o r t h e i r o w n j o b s , ” s a y s C r o n k . The BCFED w e l c o m e s L a b o u r C o d e a m e n d m e n t s t h a t e n s u r e w o r k e r s ’ Charter right to join a union but is concerned that the two-step certification process remains in place, albeit with a shorter time frame. BC’s L a b o u r C o d e w i l l p r e s e r v e a s e c r e t -ballot vote for employees who want to join a union, but with a reduced delay of five days from the curren t t e n . “A s e c o n d v o t e i n a n y f o r m i s a d e l a y t a c t i c t h a t f a v o u r s t h o s e w i t h p o w e r i n w o r k p l a c e s w i t h o u t a u n i o n , a n d t h a t ’s t h e e m p l o y e r , ” says Cronk. A second vote should not be necessary when more than 55 percent of employees in a workplace sign cards s a y i n g t h e y w a n t t o f o r m a u n i o n . “M y s i g n a t u r e i s g o o d e n o u g h t o g e t a passport, a mortgage or to vote. My signature on a union card should be enough to indicate t h a t I w a n t t o b a r g a i n c o l l e c t i v e l y w i t h m y e m p l o y e r , w i t h o u t a d e l a y e d s e c o n d b a l l o t . ” “W e welcome the new rules that limit employer interference during the five-day delay before the second certification vote. The labour movement will be closely monitoring the impact of t h e s e L a b o u r C o d e c h a n g e s a t w o r k s i t e s a c r o s s t h e p r o v i n c e , ” a d d s C r o n k . Th e B C F e d e r a t i o n o f L a b o u r ’s “W o r k e r s D e s e r v e B e t t e r ” c a m p a i g n e m p h a s i z e s w o r k e r s ’ s t o r i e s that show how broken and unfair current labour laws are. The Minister for Labour Harry Bains and BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver have received over 4,000 emails asking for fairer labour laws. Weaver has indicated that he does not support changing the existing two-step certification process. The BC Labour Code regulates when and how employees can join unions and the rights and obligations of unions and unionized employers. The BC Federation of Labour represents over 500,000 members from affiliated unions across the province, working in every sector of the economy. | 
