By Maria Giagilitsis

It’s becoming more and more clear that an employee’s use of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace may lead to justifiable discipline by an employer. On October 22, 2010, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board released its decision in West Coast Mazda (d.b.a. West Coast Detail & Accessory Centre) and UFCW Local 1518, in which it dismissed the union’s unfair labor practice complaint and agreed that the employer’s decision to terminate two employees for their Facebook postings during certification was appropriate.

Facebook postings
The facts and timeline in this case are critical: The union applied for certification on August 26; the employer received notice of this application on August 27; and the union was certified one week later on September 8, 2010. There were three key individuals involved in this case: one employee who was a key inside organizer with four years’ service; a second employee who was also a union supporter with two years’ service; and a third employee, the manager, with over four years’ service. All three individuals were “friends” on Facebook.

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By Sara Parchello

The face of unionization in Canada is changing. Although it’s declining in the private sector, it’s increasing in the public sector. A few recent decisions by Canadian courts show this trend.

The most recent is a decision involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (commonly known as the “Mounties”). On April 6, 2009, the Ontario Superior Court gave the Mounties the right to unionize.

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by Dominique Launay

Five weeks ago, we told you about an unfair labor practice complaint against Wal-Mart in Saskatchewan, arising out of its closure of a store in Jonquiere, Quebec. Well, it seems that Saskatchewan isn’t the only province in which Wal-Mart is being dealt blows. The Quebec Labor Relations Board  has also recently ruled against Wal-Mart.

In 2005, Wal-Mart received two applications for certification from the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 486. One was for the main store in Gatineau, Quebec. The other was for the auto center next door. These didn’t end up being normal applications for certification and ended up with considerable debate before the Quebec Labor Relations Board.

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by Karen Sargeant

As many of you will know from earlier blog entries, Wal-Mart’s entry into Canada has been rife with union complaints. Beginning in the 1990s when employees at a Windsor, Ontario, store were automatically certified under relatively new certification provisions, employees and unions have filed numerous unfair labor practice complaints. The most recent of these complaints to be dealt with comes out of Saskatchewan.

What’s interesting about the development in Saskatchewan is that it involves a store in another province — Quebec.

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by Brian P. Smeenk

Wal-Mart, which has until now apparently been union-free, has had a union contract imposed on it in Quebec. The contract covers an auto center, Tire & Lube Express, which is part of a store in Gatineau, near the Ontario border. The small group of about eight employees apparently received union certification three years ago.

Under Quebec’s Labour Code, an employer may have a union contract imposed on it by an arbitrator if it is unable to reach a collective agreement with the certified union. The normal bargaining process must first have failed.

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