February 26, 2010
Volume 40, No. 8
Supreme Court Rules on Giant Mine Dispute
The Supreme Court of Canada's ruling with respect to the law suit concerning the 1992 Giant Mine explosion in Yellowknife makes several important clarifications on union status and union liability for members' actions during a labour dispute. The explosion took nine lives.
The Court released a ruling February 18 that overturned a multi-million dollar trial court award for the widows of nine replacement workers who were killed by an underground explosion. In 1995 striking miner Roger Warren was convicted of nine counts of murder and is serving a life sentence.
In 2004, the lower court ordered the Government of the Northwest Territories, security company Pinkerton's of Canada and the CAW to pay over $18 million in compensation to the widows. An appeal court overturned that decision and the award. The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court.
CAW Legal Department director Lewis Gottheil said the detailed ruling by the Supreme Court clarifies several important points of law regarding national unions, local unions and the actions of members. This ruling has important implications that apply across the labour movement in Canada, Gottheil said.
"The court has clarified that a national union and a local union are distinct legal entities which are not generally liable at law for the actions of the other," Gottheil said.
"Also the Supreme Court has indicated that the legal concept of vicarious liability doesn't apply to unions in a situation where a "rogue" member in the course of a labour dispute commits an unlawful act," said Gottheil. "In other words, the fact that Roger Warren was a unionized worker on strike did not make his union responsible for the actions he took."
To read the full Supreme Court ruling online go to http://csc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html and
read the citation for Fullowka v. Pinkerton's of Canada Ltd.
Protection for Precarious Workers in New Brunswick
The government of New Brunswick has introduced new legislation that aims to improve working conditions and employment security for thousands of casual and part-time public service workers.
Bill 35, introduced on February 16, will amend the province's Public Service Labour Relations Act to allow civil servants in both casual and part-time positions to join a union immediately after being hired. The new legislation also guarantees wages and provides recall rights to these workers.
Currently, civil servants in the province must wait six months before gaining access to union rights, which includes collective bargaining and access to a formal grievance procedure. In many cases, employees would be laid off before they reached the qualifying date for unionization. Some have been unable to gain access to union protection for years.
This move is a major victory for labour unions in New Brunswick and is an important step forward to combating the rise of precarious work in Canada, said CAW Atlantic Canada Director Les Holloway.
Holloway said the new legislation is a testament to the hard work and determination of provincial labour unions for nearly two decades. A group of public and private sector unions in the province mounted a court case in 2007 challenging the government's decision to exclude casual workers from its definition of "employee" under the Public Service Labour Relations Act.
"We now need to ensure that an equally urgent solution be found for the rise in precarious work in the private sector," said Holloway.
The new legislation is expected to come into force in June.
Reality Check on Women's Equality
Labour and women's groups have issued a report which they say is a "reality check" describing Canada's lagging performance in achieving women's equality. The report will be used at the Beijing +15 meeting at the United Nations in New York, March 1-12.
"Canadian women have lost ground in many areas in the past 15 years," said Barbara Byers, Canadian Labour Congress Executive Vice President. "Our government has sent a report to the United Nations that paints a rosy picture on women's equality in Canada. We have written our own document and it is a reality check on what the government is saying."
The UN meeting in March will evaluate progress, identify challenges, and recommend policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women. This year holds special significance because it marks the 15th anniversary of the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women.
"Although Canada has made commitments to implement equal pay for work of equal value, the federal government hasn't lived up to these commitments," said CAW Director of Women's Programs Julie White. "This issue will be front and centre for us next week at the UN." White will be attending the UN meeting as part of a labour delegation organized through the CLC.
Kate McInturff, Executive Director of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), said, "Five years ago, Canada was ranked amongst the top ten countries in the world for its achievements in women's human rights; in 2009 Canada had fallen to 73rd in the UN Gender Disparity Index."
The joint report is called Reality Check: Women in Canada and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Fifteen Years On, A Canadian Civil Society Response. To read the full report, please visit: http://www.caw.ca/en/8601.htm
Talks Break Off Between CAW/FFAW and OCI
The CAW/FFAW has applied for conciliation after contract talks between the union and Ocean Choice International broke off February 18 in St. John's, Newfoundland.
CAW/FFAW Chief Industrial Negotiator Ben Baker said the talks with Ocean Choice International (OCI) were bogged down by concession demands by the fish processing company.
"We've been in negotiations for the past two days and, quite frankly, talks have not gone very well to this point because the company came in looking for concessions in a number of key areas," Baker said in a February 18 release. "We've applied for conciliation so we'll be waiting for a conciliator to be appointed and talks will resume once that's done."
The talks affect approximately 1,500 workers at OCI fish processing facilities located in communities throughout Newfoundland.
CAW Team Wins People's Choice Chili Contest
| CAW team 'Local Flavour' won the People's Choice award at the fourth annual St. Catharines Community Care Chili Cooking Contest. Using a recipe for 'Niagara Maple Chili,' the CAW Local 199 team won rave reviews. More than 500 Niagara area residents turned out to sample the 20 different chili recipes, which brought in more than $4,600 for Community Care. Niagara Maple Chili features local ingredients such as beef, pork, sausage, tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, Niagara's Best Brewery dark beer, maple syrup and apples. While spices and beans were imported, the chili had at least 90 per cent Niagara, Ontario content. The recipes and competitors entered in the cook-off were varied with teams from culinary schools, high schools, restaurants, fire fighters, Niagara Parks and the CAW. Karen Golob, John Neely and Doris Maxwell hold some of the local produce/ingredients used to make the Chili. Picture taken by Peter Scott Team "Local Flavour" captain. |
CALM/LABOUR TECH Conference
Want to find new ways of reaching out to members?
Check out two great training conferences for labour communicators and networkers - Windsor, Ontario, May 13-16.
CALM May 13-15 http://www.calm.ca/
LabourTech May 14-16 http://www.labourtech.ca/
