FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Two Fort St. John apartment maintenance workers have been denied certification with a union by the Labour Relations Board.
Construction, Maintenance and Allied Workers Canada (CMAW) applied to represent a local residential building maintenance worker and a residential building manager under section 21 of the Labour Relations Code.
This section relates to trade unions becoming bargaining agents for employees exercising technical or professional skills in a craft.
The vice-chair of the Labour Relations Board, Rene-John Nicolas, dismissed the CMAW’s application for the two workers.
They are the only staff employed by Woodsmere Holdings to work on its 86th Street properties in Fort St. John.
Woodsmere’s next closest worker is on Vancouver Island, some 1,000 kilometres away from Fort St. John.
In an August 18th ruling, Nicolas noted the union is craft-based, operating in construction and maintenance industries, not in residential property.
Despite that, the union said it represents a bargaining unit of workers who do substantially similar work for another employer.
The union claimed that, unless it could apply under section 21, which allows single-employee bargaining units, then residential building maintenance workers would be denied access to collective bargaining.
Nicolas disagreed, stating “access to collective bargaining through single-employee bargaining units is available under section 18(1) of the code,” which relates to the acquisition of these rights.
“Given this finding, a fundamental premise of the union’s argument in favour of establishing compelling circumstances is simply not correct,” Nicolas concluded.
“Absent this premise, I am not persuaded by the union’s argument that compelling circumstances exist in the present case warranting an exception to the board’s policy against new craft or technical bargaining units under section 21 of the code.”
Nicolas noted that it is open to the union to apply under the correct section, but did not comment on whether the board would grant the application.
