ACT FAST!

IMPORTANT: To NOT be included as support for the union, your union Card Cancellation must be given to the union before the union applies to the Labour Board to unionize your workplace.

HELP: 1.888.652.2687 – Help@LabourWatch.com

ACT FAST!

IMPORTANT: To NOT be included as support for the union, your union Card Cancellation must go to the union and the Labour Board BEFORE the union applies to the Labour Board to unionize your workplace.

HELP: 1.888.652.2687 – Help@LabourWatch.com

You can email Card Cancellations to the union and the Labour Board.

Labour Board email address: – information@lrb.bc.ca

Union email address: find online.

Overview

Unions try to convince employees that being unionized is a good thing. Unions are allowed by the BC Labour Board to make false promises and to lie to get you to sign a card and to vote yes – if there is a vote.

ACT FAST!!: Unions can unionize you without a democratic secret ballot vote.

You might see strangers inside or outside your workplace trying to talk to employees or handing out printed documents. You might get texts, emails or direct messages on your social media account like Facebook. Other times you won’t know because the union and its employee supporters will work in secret from employees who want to stay union-free. This is called “union organizing” or a “union drive”.

Union cards must be signed and dated at the same time. It is illegal to leave the date blank and fill it in later. Signed cards expire after 6 months.

IMPORTANT: BC law allows a union to use a document of an employee who is unionized by them in a different workplace. This means if you have 2 or more jobs and you are unionized in one – that union can use that fact to apply to unionize you at a different workplace WITHOUT telling you – WITHOUT your permission.

A union has 2 ways to try to unionize you:

1. Union has cards for 45% to less than 55% of the employees it wants to unionize and makes an Application. The Labour Board must order a secret vote.
2. Union has cards for 55% or more of the employees it wants to unionize and makes an Application. The Labour Board can unionize you without a secret vote.

If a union applies to the Labour Board, your workplace must post or email a Labour Board Notice. An employee who wants to object to anything has just 1 business day to do so and must follow the Notice and other Board Rules.

Whether you signed a union card or not, you may or may not get a vote.

If you don’t want to be unionized, and there is a vote – then vote NO. If you want to be unionized, vote YES.

NOTE: More key information below. We also have Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers about unionization.

What is a Union?

A union is an organization that “represents” employees by trying to negotiate a collective agreement (contract) with the employer about your employment.

Union Dues and Other Fees

Employees MUST pay the union an amount of money that your employer MUST take from your pay and send it directly to the union – these are “Union Dues”. Unions may also be able to make you pay Initiation Fees and Special Assessments either directly to the union or by payroll deduction.

What Does it Mean to be Unionized?

Once unionized, you will need to go to the union with certain workplace concerns. You can no longer work with your employer to deal with things that are in the collective agreement. There may or may not be a union-run vote (called a “ratification vote”) to approve or say no to a collective agreement.

IMPORTANT: Unions and employers are allowed to agree to have a person called an Arbitrator decide on a collective agreement and force it onto employees without a union-run ratification vote.

What is a Union Card?

A union card is a piece of paper or electronic form that unions want employees to sign. It makes you a union Member. As an actual union Member, you must obey internal union rules or you could lose your union Membership.

The union may be able to force your employer to terminate your employment if you do not become a union Member, resign or are expelled from union Membership. If you sign a union card, make sure you get a copy for yourself. Take a picture with a cell phone.

Union cards are legal contracts. Sometimes union cards are an application by you to become a Member in the union or they might make you a Member immediately. Sometimes, after a union gets into the workplace, all unionized employees are forced to become Members of the union to keep their job. If you refuse to become a Member the union may be able to make your employer terminate you.

What Does it Mean to Cancel a Card?

Cancelling a card means you signed a union card to support the union and have changed your mind. A union card can only be cancelled if your Card Cancellation document is sent to the union and to the Labour Board before the union files its Application to unionize your workplace.

NOTE: Unions in Canada have given Labour Boards union cards that were never signed by employees. This is card fraud. The BC Labour Board is not known to check with every single employee to find out about this illegal activity so unions don’t get caught. If you find out a union is organizing, and you know you do not want to be unionized then do a Card Cancellation, send it to the union and the Labour Board - and keep a copy as proof, even if you have not signed a union card.

Why Cancel a Union Card?

Deciding whether you want to be unionized is a personal choice. Employees cancel cards for many reasons. You might choose to cancel because:

• You didn’t realize what it meant to sign a union card.
• You find out you were lied to when you signed.
• You decide that the promises the union made are too good to be true.
• The union or its supporters scared or threatened you to sign a card.
• You didn’t realize that you will have to pay for the union.
• You like your employer and don’t want a union speaking for you.
• You don’t want to work where there might be a strike or a lock-out (no work).
• You don’t want to have to picket (walk outside the workplace with a sign) during a strike or a lock-out.
• You don’t want to work where there are seniority rights - where employees who have been employed longer get the most benefits instead of employees who are the best workers.

How Do You Cancel Your Card

Contact the union and the BC Labour Board in writing so that you have proof of your cancellation. Do this as soon as you decide to cancel your union card so that it will not count towards the 45% or more support the union needs to apply to try to unionize your workplace. Use our LabourWatch Form.

Was Your Cancelled Card Still Used?

You may never ever be able to find out if a union card with your name on it was filed by the union (whether signed by you or signed by someone else – an illegal action known as card fraud).

If you think a union used your cancelled card, contact the Labour Board within 1 day of when the union applied. Ask that the union’s evidence be checked by the Labour Board for “fraud or misrepresentation”. Follow the instructions on the Notice from the Labour Board and call them to understand the steps you must take.

If the union used your cancelled card, then the union has acted dishonestly (“card fraud”). Your cancellation must be received by the Labour Board and the union before it applies. You are also welcome to contact LabourWatch if you are going to challenge a union about cancelled cards that you know you sent to the union and the Labour Board before the union applied to the Labour Board.

If you are afraid to tell the union you want to cancel your card, you should send an email to the Labour Board saying you signed a card; you want to cancel or revoke your card. Give the reasons you are afraid to tell the union. Attach a completed Card Cancellation Form.

You Cancelled Your Card – But There is Still a Vote

Even if you cancel your card, there may still be a vote because the union reached the 45% to less than 55% level. Don’t worry, cancelling your card does not mean you don’t get to vote. The question at the vote will be something like: Do you want to be represented by the (union name)? Voting “NO” is the only way to try and stop the union from unionizing your workplace.