Court File and Parties
3107-99-R Canadian Independent Union of Manufacturing Employees, Applicant v. Waterloo Furniture Components Ltd., Responding Party v. The United Steelworkers of America, Local 7155, Intervenor.
3346-99-U United Steelworkers of America and its Local 7155, Applicant v. Waterloo Furniture Components Ltd., Responding Party v. Canadian Independent Union of Manufacturing Employees, Intervenor.
BEFORE: David A. McKee, Vice-Chair.
APPEARANCES: Robert B. Reid, Steve Santos, Tom McInnes and Vince Vocal for the Canadian Independent Union of Manufacturing Employees; Erin R. Kuzz, W.S. Cook, R. Phillion and B. Wettlauger for the Waterloo Furniture Components Ltd.; Mark Rowlinson, George Casselman and David Hilker for The United Steelworkers of America, Local 7155.
DECISION OF THE BOARD; March 15, 2000
Reasons for Decision
1This is an application for certification brought by the Canadian Independent Union of Manufacturing Employees (“CIUME”) pursuant to section 8 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, S.O. 1995, ch. 1 (the “Act”). It seeks to represent a bargaining unit of employees employed by Waterloo Furniture Components Ltd. (“WFC”). This is a displacement application. The CIUME wishes to displace the intervenor, The United Steelworkers of America, Local 7155 (“USW”) as the bargaining agent for these employees. Since the CIUME has not previously applied for certification, the first issue to be dealt with in this case is whether or not CIUME is a trade union within the meaning of section 1(1).
2There are also allegations of employer support and other breaches of the Act both in the application for certification and in an application under section 96 of the Act in Board File 3346-99-U. These two files have been set down to be heard together. However, the parties agreed to separate the issue of the status of the trade union from other issues arising from the section 96 application or the allegations contained in the application for certification. Accordingly, this portion of the decision deals only with the status of the CIUME within the meaning of subsection 1(1).
3The facts are as follows. Steve Santos, for reasons not relevant here, became disenchanted with his representation by USW. He spoke to a friend, Mike Herman, who is an employee of the Waterloo Board of Education and belongs to an independent union which represents the custodial workers of that Board. Mr. Herman advised him of the existence of the Canadian National Federation of Independent Unions (“CNFIU”). This is an independent umbrella organization with fourteen affiliated local unions. It has been in existence, apparently, since 1979, and has been affiliated with the Labourers International Union of North America since 1998. Perhaps originally Mr. Santos saw the CNFIU simply as a source of assistance in dealing with his executive and obtaining financial information. Vince Vocal, President of CNFIU, and James Whyte, Business Representative, assisted Mr. Santos in drafting letters to USW. Eventually, Mr. Santos was provided with access to the documents that he sought. He was not satisfied with the result